Personal Development Portfolio Research Articles

Extramural but not Extracurricular

This paper considers the introduction of a Personal Development Portfolio into our assessment for architectural education. When revising out undergraduate course structure we moved to a fully integrated model, where assessment was based on a portfolio or ‘body of work’ produced during a ten-week studio project. These projects introduce, develop and integrate understanding and ability of the key knowledge and skills of the curriculum; design, communication, realisation (technology) and contextual studies. Each year of study also includes one unit where professional knowledge is also assessed. Alongside these ‘learning outcomes’ we introduced a PDP: a separate report documenting and reflecting on everything that falls outside the predicted aims of the project.

Extramural but not Extracurricular

This paper considers the introduction of a Personal Development Portfolio into our assessment for architectural education. When revising out undergraduate course structure we moved to a fully integrated model, where assessment was based on a portfolio or ‘body of work’ produced during a ten-week studio project. These projects introduce, develop and integrate understanding and ability of the key knowledge and skills of the curriculum; design, communication, realisation (technology) and contextual studies. Each year of study also includes one unit where professional knowledge is also assessed. Alongside these ‘learning outcomes’ we introduced a PDP: a separate report documenting and reflecting on everything that falls outside the predicted aims of the project.

Using a portfolio‐based process to develop agility among employees

The fast‐paced and changeable nature of contemporary society results in organizations that increasingly need to train their employees to become more energetic, flexible, and adaptable: the so called “agile” employees. This study used personal development portfolios including frequent feedback interviews (with mentors and peers) over 2.5 years to assist 32 employees working in an organization undergoing change to become more agile. A portfolio implies setting agility goals, recording and assessing progress in one's agility. Data were collected on employees' agility, and were related to their portfolio. Results showed that the portfolio use significantly increased employees' agility and significantly enhanced the agreement between self‐rated and other‐rated agility. Findings favor the use of development portfolios by organizations in improving agility among their employees. Therefore, this study gives tools for the practice of Human Resources Development (HRD).

ASB Staff Development Program Framework - Activating Sustainable Endeavour (Draft for Discussion)

The overarching aim of the strategy is to build a self-sustainable framework of support and development of academic staff ensuring that is aligned with faculty strategic priorities. That is one which looks first at the financial and organizational performance measures that are most critical to our business. Leadership is called for from senior management. However, the top down approach alone is unlikely to be sufficiently engaging in an academic environment where critical thinking is a core competence. Therefore, to achieve this aim of developing a sustainable and action-oriented community of practice, an Action Research method is suggested. Such methods incorporating a peer review, mentoring and peer coaching approach provide the means to build a supportive, collegial environment of scholarly inquiry that extends shared interests within a discipline or program around key strategic agendas of the faculty. A portfolio based approach to recording and transmitting a legacy of learning from such action research clusters engaged in professional development is proposed and a sample of such a portfolio is given in appendix 5. The comprehensive staff development program proposed below has three parallel threads. One thread concerns ways of tackling the ASB strategic priorities such as mapping curricula, embedding graduate attributes and meeting requirements of alignment with key UNSW goals. The second thread is the intervention methodology employed to ensure discipline-focus, support and sustainability. The third thread relates to the recurrent, core staff development activities that must be initiated each session which are run in parallel with, but distinct from, those in the first thread. That is recurrent activities such as induction of new staff, writing course outlines, preparation for assessment and any other activities required by schools or individuals The document is also in three main parts. The first section outlines the current strategic Learning and Teaching priorities in the faculty. Section 2 addresses the suggested implementation process. The third section discusses parallel development activities such as mentoring and coaching. The appendices give details of a potential portfolio of courses for each of the two streams, possible future staff development offerings (subject to demand), a suggested format for a Personal Development Portfolio for staff, Current faculty Cross–skilling initiative, and details of the Action research and learning cycle.

The effect of web-based portfolio use on academic achievement and retention

The web-based portfolio emerged as a result of the influence of technological developments on educational practices. In this study, the effect of the web-based portfolio building process on academic achievement and retention is explored. For this purpose, a study platform known as a computer-assisted personal development portfolio was designed for 30 Turkish students who participated in a web-based portfolio process. The academic achievements of the students were examined through an experimental design in which participants were divided into an experimental group and a control group and given a pre-test and a post-test. The results of the study revealed that the levels of both academic achievement and retention in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Similar practices can be applied to the teaching of medicine, economics, physical sciences, humanities and other subjects in order to extend students’ performance and achievement levels.

Building an e-Portfolio with a learning plan centric approach

A portfolio records achievements in the personal growth process. A personal development e-Portfolio assists an individual in planning his/her development path and reflecting upon his/her own learning. In this article, we propose an approach to constructing a personal development portfolio. An abstract information model is presented to support such a portfolio. The information model is proposed based upon and according to IMS standards. The use of this approach is illustrated by way of a prototype e-Portfolio system. The usage scenario and limitations of such a portfolio are also discussed.

Evaluation of the personal development portfolio in higher education: An explorative study

Personal Development Profiles (PDPs) have been an important and necessary feature of United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education for more than a decade. There is significant agreement as to their core purpose and their key features are of relevance to higher education institutions internationally, irrespective of whether an equivalent formal system or process is in place. The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate the use of PDPs within a Child Health Nursing Programme in a UK University, looking at the experiences of both teaching staff and of students coming to the end of their three year programme of study. A convenience sample of final year pre-registration Child Health Nursing students and their lecturers was used for the purposes of this study with mixed methods of collection used to generate the required data. A survey was conducted with questionnaires. Following the analysis of the questionnaires, a discussion group was undertaken with the students. A series of questions was developed to guide this discussion. The structure offered by the system of PDPs evaluated here was seen to offer much in the way of potential value. Staff saw it as offering direction, a tool for discussion and a clear time and reason for meeting their students. Students similarly appreciated the structure it provided, but did describe it as somewhat repetitive. These findings were clearly of use in terms of evaluating this ongoing work, but also offer the potential to inform the work of other educational institutions.

A review of further training for GP appraisers in Scotland

A one-day further intensive skills (FIS) course has been developed to provide additional training for existing general practitioner (GP) appraisers in Scotland. The course focuses on skills in developing the appraisee's personal development portfolio (PDP) and skills in responding to significant issues (with emotional content) presented by appraisees - both key areas for effective appraisals. The course is briefly described. An initial pilot of the course led to some changes being made to the content, as it was discovered that the inclusion of training on Summary Form completion in the pilot made the course too dense and distracted from the experiential elements of the training. Two subsequent course deliveries were evaluated by conducting semi-structured interviews with over 40% of the participants from these two courses. The main purpose of the evaluation was to discover to what extent the participants felt they had benefited from the training and whether they felt the training had led to any changes in their practice as appraisers. Secondary aims were to discover the acceptability of the use of video recording as a training technique and views regarding a reaccreditation process for appraisers. Key findings were that almost all participants found this training beneficial and judged it to have led to positive changes in their practice, as well as reassuring them that their skills were up to scratch. Some appraisers felt that it had encouraged a slightly more challenging approach. The acceptability of the use of video recording during the training, as a means of allowing participants to gain further benefit from the work undertaken after the course was finished, was tested. This technique received a mixed response, with opinion divided as to whether it added value. Opinion amongst the participants was also mixed regarding whether this training should contribute towards their reaccreditation as appraisers. However, a number of participants felt this could be a valid element in an appraiser reaccreditation process.

The Policy Brief: Building Practical and Academic Skills in International Relations and Political Science

The policy brief is an innovative and underutilised form of teaching, learning and assessment which provides undergraduate students with practical skills that translate directly into the workplace. This alternative to standard essays also challenges students to expand their research, writing and presentation skills. Further pedagogical advantages include assisting students in building personal development portfolios, improving internship programmes and making it difficult to plagiarise. International relations and political science curricula in the UK would benefit from the wider use of this tool.

Appraisal, Assessment and Career Development for Doctors in Training: The Mersey Deanery Personal Development Portfolio

To develop a robust valid and exportable appraisal and assessment process for doctors in training which is portfolio based and works at all hospitals within the deanery. It is called the personal development portfolio. For every senior house officer, there was a recorded meeting with his or her supervisor, at the beginning, midterm and at the end of the post. An outside assessor witnessed the exit assessment meeting. The Wirral Hospital, a District General Hospital with 72 senior house officers in 10 different specialties was used as a pilot site to develop the process. Then the process was exported and implemented at the other 12 trusts of the deanery. Records were kept of the induction, midterm and exit assessment meetings. A record was kept of the number of senior house officers succeeding and failing at their exit assessments. Also, the number promoted to the specialist registrar grade was recorded. The process was performed every 6 months on 11 occasions between 2000 and 2005. It involved 72 senior house officers in 10 different specialties. On each occasion, participation usually exceeded 70%: 623 were appraised and assessed and 609 of them (97.8%) had satisfactory exit assessments. For 14 doctors (2.2%), the process identified a cause for concern, which was usually accepted by the doctor and sometimes allowed remedial action to be taken. Twenty-six (4.2%) were promoted to the specialist registrar grade in this period. The process also identified the strengths and weaknesses of the senior house officer posts in the 10 different specialties that had such posts, and was used to encourage good medical teaching practice in them. Over 4 years, we exported the process to all the other 12 Trusts in the Mersey Deanery. Once established, the process was easy to use for both trainees and trainers, although it was time consuming. It was possible to develop and implement a portfolio based appraisal and assessment process, which was accepted by senior house officers and their trainers in all specialties at all hospitals within the deanery. Now that the senior house officer grade has been superseded by the Foundation and the training grade years, the principles of the personal development portfolio are being used to appraise and assess doctors in these grades too.

Appraisal, assessment and career development for doctors in training: the Mersey Deanery personal development portfolio

To develop a robust valid and exportable appraisal and assessment process for doctors in training which is portfolio based and works at all hospitals within the deanery. It is called the personal development portfolio. For every senior house officer, there was a recorded meeting with his or her supervisor, at the beginning, midterm and at the end of the post. An outside assessor witnessed the exit assessment meeting. The Wirral Hospital, a District General Hospital with 72 senior house officers in 10 different specialties was used as a pilot site to develop the process. Then the process was exported and implemented at the other 12 trusts of the deanery. Records were kept of the induction, midterm and exit assessment meetings. A record was kept of the number of senior house officers succeeding and failing at their exit assessments. Also, the number promoted to the specialist registrar grade was recorded. The process was performed every 6 months on 11 occasions between 2000 and 2005. It involved 72 senior house officers in 10 different specialties. On each occasion, participation usually exceeded 70%: 623 were appraised and assessed and 609 of them (97.8%) had satisfactory exit assessments. For 14 doctors (2.2%), the process identified a cause for concern, which was usually accepted by the doctor and sometimes allowed remedial action to be taken. Twenty-six (4.2%) were promoted to the specialist registrar grade in this period. The process also identified the strengths and weaknesses of the senior house officer posts in the 10 different specialties that had such posts, and was used to encourage good medical teaching practice in them. Over 4 years, we exported the process to all the other 12 Trusts in the Mersey Deanery. Once established, the process was easy to use for both trainees and trainers, although it was time consuming. It was possible to develop and implement a portfolio based appraisal and assessment process, which was accepted by senior house officers and their trainers in all specialties at all hospitals within the deanery. Now that the senior house officer grade has been superseded by the Foundation and the training grade years, the principles of the personal development portfolio are being used to appraise and assess doctors in these grades too.

Personal development portfolios in general dental practice.

Personal Development Portfolios are established tools used throughout education in order to document and record learning and development, and their value has been generally recognized in the wider field of medical practice. It is proposed that they are introduced into general dental practice along with the support of suitably trained facilitators who could mentor practitioners and offer advice on their continual professional development.

The Personal Development Portfolio for Geographers and Earth Scientists— a tool to raise employability awareness

Higher education teachers use a variety of strategies to encourage students to reflect upon and evaluate their own learning experiences and plan for their own development. Personal development portfolios (PDPs) offer one such strategy. PDPs are structured and supported processes undertaken by individuals to reflect upon their own learning, performance and / or achievement, and to plan for their personal, educational and career development. This article reports on an experimental PDP document customised for final year Geography and Earth Science students at University College Northampton which is due to be introduced next academic year. The article should be of interest to course leaders in other institutions who are considering designing similar career-planning activities for their students.

Personal Development Portfolios: A Mechanism for Integrating Quality in Business Education

Control of quality is being shifted from academics to other agencies, particularly employers and Government. Suggests that the role of students is changing as expectations of, for example, course content and provision and the quality of that provision become more defined. This necessitates greater understanding of both the needs and the demands of students. Describes a Personal Development Portfolio proposed for use in a new Modular Business Scheme at Teesside Business School which is intended to meet this need.