Context
The USQ student population is very different to many universities in that 80% of students do not avail themselves of the opportunity to attend on campus. Instead they study at a distance or off campus using online materials and learning support. Using ePortfolios means that a student can create and showcase their learning and skills regardless of location or mode of study. At USQ, Mahara is the institutionally supported ePortfolio platform which supports implementation and delivery of ePortfolios. While student ePortfolios have been used in other disciplines within the University, i.e. Arts, Education, Nursing, Creative Arts, it had not been a priority in the business disciplines.
The use of ePortfolios in the business arena was trialled in stage 1 of the project in the courses of BUS3000 and WIL3000 in semester 3 2014. These two courses are the Work Integrated Learning capstone courses for all students undertaking programs in commerce, business and law, where students undertake up to 120 hours of work placement in their chosen industry. It was felt that the integration of ePortfolios into the work integrated learning courses has a sound foundation of providing strategies to students regarding reflection in the "real" world of work and demonstrating skills. While ePortfolios might not have significant uptake in some areas of the workforce at the moment (Okoro, Washington & Cardon, 2011), the processes that the student undertakes as part of developing their ePortfolio are essential skills in the 21st century workforce (Graves & Epstein, 2011), such as reflecting on practice, returning to critical incidents for personal investigation and interrogation, and demonstrating skills and competencies. ePortfolios also provide a central location for students to gather and showcase their learning and experiences, which can then be used to develop portfolios for workplace activities including interviews, promotions, professional development, and so on.
Stage 2 of the project has been designed to continue the roll out of ePortfolios primarily in the accounting discipline in four Accounting Major courses at the front end of the program which will provide scaffolded progression to the capstone course trialled in Stage 1. It was acknowledged that this would take a longer period than the grant to complete but engagement in the OLT project provided strong impetus for a staged project to integrate ePortfolios across the accounting major. As such the staging of the implementation of ePortfolios during and post the grant was planned as follows:
The use of ePortfolios in the business arena was trialled in stage 1 of the project in the courses of BUS3000 and WIL3000 in semester 3 2014. These two courses are the Work Integrated Learning capstone courses for all students undertaking programs in commerce, business and law, where students undertake up to 120 hours of work placement in their chosen industry. It was felt that the integration of ePortfolios into the work integrated learning courses has a sound foundation of providing strategies to students regarding reflection in the "real" world of work and demonstrating skills. While ePortfolios might not have significant uptake in some areas of the workforce at the moment (Okoro, Washington & Cardon, 2011), the processes that the student undertakes as part of developing their ePortfolio are essential skills in the 21st century workforce (Graves & Epstein, 2011), such as reflecting on practice, returning to critical incidents for personal investigation and interrogation, and demonstrating skills and competencies. ePortfolios also provide a central location for students to gather and showcase their learning and experiences, which can then be used to develop portfolios for workplace activities including interviews, promotions, professional development, and so on.
Stage 2 of the project has been designed to continue the roll out of ePortfolios primarily in the accounting discipline in four Accounting Major courses at the front end of the program which will provide scaffolded progression to the capstone course trialled in Stage 1. It was acknowledged that this would take a longer period than the grant to complete but engagement in the OLT project provided strong impetus for a staged project to integrate ePortfolios across the accounting major. As such the staging of the implementation of ePortfolios during and post the grant was planned as follows:
At the completion of Stage 1 (the first project with BUS3000 and WIL3000), the project for ACC1101 Accounting for Business Decisions will begin, with projects for ACC2113 Management Accounting, ACC2115 Company Accounting, and ACC3118 Auditing to follow. The proposed schedule of projects is as follows:
· ACC1101 is developed in S3 2014 for implementation in S1, 2015.
· ACC2113 developed in S1 2015 for implementation in S2, 2015.
· ACC2115 and ACC3118 developed in S2, 2015 for implementation in S1, 2016
It is anticipated that once embedded ePortfolios will continue to be used in each offering of the courses when delivered i.e. BUS3000 is to be delivered again in Semester 2 and 3 2015.
Methodology
An action research method is adopted as a mechanism to provide a participative and reflective approach to the implementation at USQ (Greenwood & Levin, 1998; Reason & Bradbury, 2003). Action research traditionally involves planning, acting, observing and reflecting (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2001; Altricher et al., 2002). It is an iterative process, in which a range of qualitative and quantitative methods are applied to secure foundation data and inform a program of action, to test options and outcomes, to evaluate benefits, and to review processes before a revised program is implemented if necessary. Within this project, data was gathered from representative stakeholders including academics, students, employers, discipline leaders.
· ACC1101 is developed in S3 2014 for implementation in S1, 2015.
· ACC2113 developed in S1 2015 for implementation in S2, 2015.
· ACC2115 and ACC3118 developed in S2, 2015 for implementation in S1, 2016
It is anticipated that once embedded ePortfolios will continue to be used in each offering of the courses when delivered i.e. BUS3000 is to be delivered again in Semester 2 and 3 2015.
Methodology
An action research method is adopted as a mechanism to provide a participative and reflective approach to the implementation at USQ (Greenwood & Levin, 1998; Reason & Bradbury, 2003). Action research traditionally involves planning, acting, observing and reflecting (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2001; Altricher et al., 2002). It is an iterative process, in which a range of qualitative and quantitative methods are applied to secure foundation data and inform a program of action, to test options and outcomes, to evaluate benefits, and to review processes before a revised program is implemented if necessary. Within this project, data was gathered from representative stakeholders including academics, students, employers, discipline leaders.