In 2003, UBC launched a campus-wide pilot project that explored the use of e-Portfolios for members of the university community. The project spanned 13 projects at a variety of levels throughout UBC, and included participation from more than 2000 students, instructors, and staff in total. The pilot project ended in 2006 and since then some of the projects have continued to grow; the users that utilize e-Portfolios range from first year undergrads to continuing studies students. An e-Portfolio can include anything from academic research papers, to work samples, to personal reflections. It allows the user to take ownership over the content, and develop a cohesive collection of work that best represents their skills and achievements.

The Doctor of Pharmacy program (Pharm.D) from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC, utilizes e-Portfolios as “learning portfolios” to better prepare second year Doctoral Pharmacy students for upcoming clinical rotations. We spoke with Dr. Patricia Gerber, Assistant Professor and Clinical Coordinator, about some of the benefits and challenges of using e-Portfolios, and how they are integrated into the learning objectives of students.

The pilot project began in August 2009, and was launched in full force on May 1st 2010. While still in the preliminary stages, these learning portfolios create a hands-on, individualized process for students to outline a list of previous experiences as well as future goals and objectives prior to each of the 12 four-week rotations that they will complete. Essentially, the portfolio component of this project is a website (hosted on UBC Blogs) that houses all of this information. These e-Portfolios also benefit the rotation supervisors (clinical pharmacists called “preceptors”) that each student is assigned to. According to Patricia, it “really gives them [preceptors] an idea of who they [students] are.” Each month, preceptors receive a link to the learning portfolio for the new students that they will be working with. This interaction allows preceptors to engage with each student’s portfolio ahead of time, and allows for a better understanding of what each student has accomplished, and wishes to accomplish in the next four weeks. Furthermore, many experiential training programs in North America have already begun to adopt a similar method, and learning portfolios have been proven useful to health professionals as a means to promote reflection and track student learning. It “becomes a place to house [student CV’s]…[and] then [we decided] why not personalize it while we can,” notes Patricia. Although the learning portfolio is a mandatory component of the second year Pharm.D program, students do not receive a grade or assessment upon completion. Patricia explains that the e-Portfolios are strictly used as a housing tool to showcase each student’s objectives, and have been explicitly designed for this function due to the elaborate process of evaluation that is already in place after each rotation.

Patricia concluded the interview by sharing her thoughts about this project. Although still in its infancy, Patricia “appreciates the value in its potential to grow”, and is looking forward to how it will evolve. By June 2011, this pilot project will have been in place for one year, and Patricia anticipates bringing concrete data back to the table and sharing the next step towards further engagement in the future.

To view a template of the Pharm.D learning portfolio, please visit:
http://blogs.ubc.ca/cspaul2/

To view the support site complimentary to the Pharm.D learning portfolio, please visit:
http://blogs.ubc.ca/pharmd/

For an introduction to e-Portfolios at UBC and beyond, please visit:
http://www.slideshare.net/cspaul/introduction-to-eportfolios-at-ubc-and-beyond