Capstone electronic portfolios of master's students: An online ethnography

Abstract

My exploratory ethnographic study examined the development of reflection among master’s students as they completed a capstone electronic portfolio, or eportfolio, project in an online post-secondary institution in western Canada. These eportfolios were developed by the students both individually, and also in collaboration with their peers, while they engaged in feedback-giving and feedback-receiving interactions at various stages of the eportfolio development process. My study considers, through the lens of an Internet subculture, aspects of eportfolios related to pedagogy, technology, interaction, and reflection within a community of learners. The methodology for this study was an ethnography, in which the eportfolio interactions, and student presentations were observed. Triangulation of data collection was established through surveying six students in a written questionnaire with closed- and open-ended questions, and interviewing the same six students in semi-structured interviews of open-ended questions. Data were also collected from twenty-one archived student eportfolio presentations. The eportfolio pages became the focal point for the community of learners to gather, which resulted in increased student engagement, further interaction (with peers, instructor, and course resources), and gradually led to the development of reflection. As a form of both affirmation and reassurance, students sought the opinions of one another on the pages of their eportfolios. Since each course provided access to examples of eportfolios from previous cohorts, there was an evolution in the responses of the students who participated in the courses. The rich data rendered findings that elucidate the experiences of master’s level students in the three iterations of this course.