LEARNING & TEACHING ENHANCEMENT SEMINAR, 13 MARCH 2019
held in Room 3008, Education Building, from 12h45 – 13h45
Ms Mariëtte Volschenk, a lecturer at the Stellenbosch University Centre for Health Professions Education in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, was the presenter at the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Seminar on the 13th of March 2019. Her areas of expertise include learning technologies, postgraduate teaching and supervision, and programme renewal. She has a special interest in the impact of electronic portfolios on student learning. The topic of her presentation was “Examining e-Portfolios for post-graduate learning: A message from Medicine and Health Science". The main focus of the presentation was on exploring how various facets of e-Portfolio learning impact on learning and identity trajectories of post-graduate students in a selected context.
Ms Volschenk commenced her talk by providing some background and context to the research project. She then introduced the audience to socio-cultural learning theory as theoretical perspective employed in the project. She also explained the programme design and demonstrated how students were supported in developing a teaching philosophy statement as an important part of the e-portfolio, before turning to the challenges, pitfalls and student experiences of the e-portfolio intervention. Showcasing the Mahara e-Portfolio platform on SUNLearn was another interesting part of her presentation.
During the ensuing question-and-answer-session, the following issues were addressed: the time that it took for students to feel comfortable with technology; the size of the group that provided support to students (e-designers, mentors, etc.); and the challenge of getting students to move towards critical reflection.
The presenter's take-home-message was that e-portfolios have the potential to increase learners' self-awareness, foster self-directed learning, promote critical reflection and advance personal and professional development.
A podcast and power point of the session is available here: http://www.sun.ac.za/english/learning-teaching/ctl/t-l-resources/t-l-seminars
For more information about, feel free to contact the presenter, at mvolschenk@sun.ac.za
The next Learning and Teaching Enhancement Seminar will take place on 09 May 2019.
