Mixed-Method Study of Utilizing Portfolios to Document and Assess Co-Curricular Activities: Student and Advisor Perceptions
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Co-Curricular Framework: Development, Overview, and Integration with Curriculum
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Student Survey Results
3.2. Student Focus Group Results
3.3. Faculty Advisor Survey Results
“Any method of streamlining files and information to an electronic format that is all housed in one place is preferable. While the ePortfolio hasn’t been without issues, it is a step in the right direction and I think it is a necessary transition to move towards an electronic format.”
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. D’Youville School of Pharmacy Portfolio Requirements
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- Students must complete 2 co-curricular activities every semester.
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- Definition: Any activity that is done outside of school.
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- Students must complete 1 pharmacy-related service (service learning) activity every semester.
- ○
- Definition: Activity that is pharmacy related, has a pharmacy preceptor, and allows students to apply pharmacy skills.
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- Students must have evidence of achieving the following professionalism/self-awareness activities by the end of the P1 year*.
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- Attending DYCSOP White Coat Ceremony (4.1).
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- Attend a chapter meeting of a professional student organization (4.1/4.4).
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- Complete APhA Career Pathways.
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- Complete certification in:
- ▪
- APhA Immunization Delivery (4.1/4.4),
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- Basic Life Support and CPR (4.1/4.4).
- ❑
- Students must have evidence of achieving the following professionalism/self-awareness activities by the end of the P2 year*.
- ○
- Obtaining a New York State Pharmacy Internship Permit (4.4).
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- Attend a chapter meeting of a professional student organization (4.1/4.4).
- ○
- Attending one meeting of a local pharmacy organization/CE Meeting (4.1).
- ❑
- Students must have evidence of achieving the following professionalism/self-awareness activities by the end of the P3 year*.
- ○
- Attend a chapter meeting of a professional student organization (4.1/4.4).
- ○
- Complete certification in:
- ▪
- APhA Medication Therapy Management (4.1/4.4).
- ❑
- Students must complete the following by the end of the P3 year:
- ○
- Completion of 18 hours of pharmacy-related service (service learning),
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- Show evidence of achieving all eight co-curricular educational outcomes at least once,
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- Activities indicated by * above may not be utilized to fit this requirement.
Appendix B. Focus Group Questions
Paper and ePortfolio |
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ePortfolio Only |
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References
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Outcome | Description | Sample Activity |
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3.2: Education | Educate all audiences by determining the most effective and enduring ways to impart information and assess learning. |
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3.4.1: Collaboration | Effectively collaborates with health care professionals, policymakers, administrative, and support personnel to engender a team approach to patient-centered care. |
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3.5: Cultural Sensitivity | Recognize social determinants of health to diminish disparities and inequalities to access to quality care. |
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4.1: Self-Awareness | Examine and reflect on personal knowledge, skills, abilities, beliefs, biases, motivation, and emotions that could enhance or limit personal and professional growth. |
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4.2: Leadership | Demonstrate responsibility for creating and achieving shared goals, regardless of position. |
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4.3: Innovation and Entrepreneurship | Engage in innovative activities by using creative thinking to envision better ways of accomplishing professional goals. |
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4.4: Professionalism | Exhibit behaviors and values that are consistent with the trust given to the profession by patients, other healthcare providers, and society. |
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4.4.2: Service (Civic Engagement) | Demonstrate compassion, productivity, and responsibility by serving in volunteer community activities. |
|
Survey Item | Class of 2020 Paper N = 62, (%) | Class of 2021 Electronic N = 41, (%) | p Value |
---|---|---|---|
Improved understanding of the educational outcomes. | 42 (67.7) | 41 (100.0) | <0.0001 |
Encouraged me to think about the reasons behind activities. | 39 (62.9) | 37 (90.2) | 0.002 |
Made me a more effective learner. | 31 (50.0) | 28 (68.3) | 0.066 |
Given me the opportunity to fine tune my organizational skills. | 42 (67.7) | 31 (75.6) | 0.390 |
Encouraged me to reflect on personal strengths, weaknesses, and professional goals. | 37 (53.6) | 32 (46.4) | 0.052 |
Determine the steps I need to take to achieve my professional goals. | 35 (56.6) | 30 (73.2) | 0.085 |
Making a portfolio was a valuable activity. | 35 (56.6) | 33 (80.5) | 0.012 |
I would have participated in all activities even if it was not a requirement. | 58 (93.5) | 38 (92.7) | 0.864 |
Had difficulties keeping track of my experiences and reflections. | 30 (48.4) | 17 (41.5) | 0.490 |
Liked recording my experiences and reflections in the format. | 18 (29.0) | 29 (70.7) | <0.0001 |
Did not have difficulty retrieving evidence of my experiences and sharing them with my advisor. | 45 (72.6) | 41 (100) | <0.0001 |
Communicating with and updating my advisor about my experiences was a seamless process. | 48 (77.4) | 35 (85.4) | 0.318 |
Felt supported by my faculty advisor. | 62 (100) | 37 (90.2) | 0.012 |
Did not have difficulties categorizing by educational outcome. | 62 (100) | 29 (70.7) | <0.0001 |
Felt supported by the course coordinators. | 56 (90.3) | 38 (92.7) | 0.678 |
Instructions for completing assignments and deadline were useful and readily available. | 50 (80.6) | 34 (82.9) | 0.770 |
The professional development course helped me succeed. | 41 (66.1) | 37 (90.2) | 0.005 |
Number of assignments were reasonable. | 48 (77.4) | 35 (85.4) | 0.318 |
Time needed to complete assignments was reasonable. | 58 (93.5) | 37 (90.2) | 0.540 |
I will share this with my future employer a. | -- | 34 (82.9) | -- |
The ePortfolio was a convenient place to store my activities a. | -- | 38 (92.7) | -- |
Theme 1 | Theme 2 | Theme 3 | Theme 4 | Theme 5 | |
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Co-curricular requirements are major factors in decision to participate in activities. | Increased burden, loss of autonomy. | Generally viewed as a valuable activity but time consuming. | There is a need to train students. | There is a need to train advisors. | |
Summary of Responses | Most students agreed that they choose what they needed to fulfill the requirements. | Students agreed that there is a higher expectation now of what they need to do before they graduate. There was a concern that they cannot participate in activities of interest to them because of time constraints. | Students agreed that it pushed them out of their comfort zone to try new activities and the reflections made them think about what they do. | Difficulty mapping Several comments about wanting the school to provide a list of co-curricular activities ahead of time. | Lack of consistency among advisors. |
Student Quotes | “I chose what was needed to fill requirement rather than what I would have liked to take.” | “More expected out of the students to prove that we are more wholesome as pharmacists.” “Better if there wasn’t a cap on what you have to do, more room to choose fewer but cooler ones.” | “Does make you have to step out of boundaries.” “Different experiences that you wouldn’t do on your own, things you might not feel comfortable doing, takes you out of your comfort zone.” | “Mapping is the hardest part, typically bounces ideas off other students.” “Evidence part is very confusing.” “Pictures for evidence.” “Give a list of activities where the students can choose from.” | “Students take it as one thing, and advisor takes something else.” |
Theme 1 | Theme 2 | Theme 3 | Theme 4 | Theme 5 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Co-curricular requirements major factor in decision to participate followed by time-constraints. | Co-curricular activities and portfolio documentation viewed as valuable to their professional development. | There is a need for further training to improve mapping and use of e-portfolio. | Mostly the use of e-portfolio to track activities and progression was favored by students. | Need to educate students about the purpose of co-curricular requirements and the self-assessment process and encourage more autonomy. | |
Summary of Responses | Several responses indicated that students participated in some events just to meet the school requirements and had to forego other activities that they liked because the educational outcomes were already satisfied by activities they had already completed. Other factors included level of interest in topic and scheduling. | All students felt they understood the purpose of completing co-curricular activities. Most students thought that the process was useful and a valuable activity. Some felt the ePortfolio was necessary for documentation and that they would not have kept track of their progress otherwise. | There was confusion among several students about mapping to educational outcomes and made uploading evidence into the e-portfolio difficult. They had to go to the slides outlining the process for help or had to seek help from advisors. | Four out of 5 students thought the use of e-portfolio to tracking activities was easy. | Some students confused the evidence of learning with evidence of participation. Comments included use of a sign off sheet or pictures could replace the reflection. There were also comments that they preferred to choose activity based on interest alone, which defeats the purpose of exposing student pharmacists to different experiences to promote their professional development. |
Student Quotes | “I wouldn’t do activities if they were not required.” “Different categories make you try different things outside of your normal interests.” | “Yes to ePortfolio being a valuable activity—I see what I learned and strengths and weaknesses.” “EPortfolio very useful for keeping CV up to date.” | “Uploading is the most confusing part.” “Figuring out what event fits what category. Can fix it by telling us this event is good for this category.” | “No [to difficulty in tracking activities] …all listed by what you did by date.” | “Idea of ePortfolio is good but not organized. Rather do things interesting to me instead of different outcomes and mapping.” |
Survey Item | Responses N = 13 (%) |
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Creating and maintaining an ePortfolio has made my advisees cognizant about the educational outcomes. | 12 (92.3) |
Creating and maintaining an ePortfolio has made my advisees more effective and independent learners. | 9 (69.2) |
Creating and maintaining an ePortfolio has made my advisees think about the skills and knowledge they want to acquire and steps needed to achieve them. | 10 (76.9) |
The ePortfolio allows my advisees to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses, and identify areas for improvement. | 11 (84.6) |
Creating and maintaining the ePortfolio was a valuable tool for my advisees in helping prepare them for a career of lifelong learning. | 12 (92.3) |
Creating and maintaining my ePortfolio was a valuable activity for my advisees. | 11 (84.6) |
It was easy for my students to keep track of their experiences via the ePortfolio. | 8 (61.5) |
The ePortfolio was a convenient place for my advisees to store examples of their work. | 10 (76.9) |
It was easy and convenient for me to review the experiences and reflections of my students via the ePortfolio. | 8 (61.5) |
Communicating with and being updated by my advisee about their experiences was seamless. | 5 (38.4) |
The instructions provided to me, as an advisor, were a useful resource. | 11 (84.6) |
The instructions provided to my advisees were a useful resource. | 11 (84.6) |
The instructions for deadlines and completing assignments were readily available and useful. | 11 (84.6) |
The number of assignments per semester/year were reasonable. | 13 (100.0) |
The amount of time needed to complete assignments was reasonable. | 12 (92.3) |
It was easy and convenient for me to review the experiences and reflections of my students in the class of 2020 through their paper portfolios. | 7 (53.8) |
Keeping track of activities in a paper format was a valuable activity for my advisees. | 7 (53.8) |
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Share and Cite
Belousova, V.; Hassan, A.K.; Lampkin, S. Mixed-Method Study of Utilizing Portfolios to Document and Assess Co-Curricular Activities: Student and Advisor Perceptions. Pharmacy 2019, 7, 170. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7040170
Belousova V, Hassan AK, Lampkin S. Mixed-Method Study of Utilizing Portfolios to Document and Assess Co-Curricular Activities: Student and Advisor Perceptions. Pharmacy. 2019; 7(4):170. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7040170
Chicago/Turabian StyleBelousova, Victoria, Amany K Hassan, and Stacie Lampkin. 2019. "Mixed-Method Study of Utilizing Portfolios to Document and Assess Co-Curricular Activities: Student and Advisor Perceptions" Pharmacy 7, no. 4: 170. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7040170
APA StyleBelousova, V., Hassan, A. K., & Lampkin, S. (2019). Mixed-Method Study of Utilizing Portfolios to Document and Assess Co-Curricular Activities: Student and Advisor Perceptions. Pharmacy, 7(4), 170. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7040170