I often request feedback for interviews; these are some examples.

E-Portfolio Reflection
To access Portfolio- Click Here

Reflection is often underappreciated in the nursing profession (Nicol 2016) even though it is shown to be an indicator of improved professional practice (Grobbel 2013, Howatson-Jones 2016, Fragkos 2016). By using an established framework of reflection; the Gibbs Reflective Cycle (Gibbs 1988), I will critically reflect on my experience in the creation of a professional portfolio. The reflection will follow the structure of the traditional version of Gibbs reflection cycle; the description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and finally action plans. I write this reflection as a perioperative clinician primarily as my experience in education is limited.

Description-
As part of my self-education and attempting to promote my educational career, I undertook tertiary education that required the formulation of a professional portfolio. The objective of creating the portfolio was supported by a marking rubric, assignment outlines and an exemplar portfolio. In attempting to adapt my technical skills in line with 21st century learners, I opted for a non-traditional approach of an e-portfolio. A free web hosting service was acquired, templates were chosen and I began to fulfil the objective.

Feelings-
In addressing my feelings during the construction of this portfolio, there were negatives and positives. A major positive feeling was that I had been granted the opportunity to create something of value that I may adapt in my career to showcase skills and increase my linking of theory to practise (Lai 2016). I felt this was an opportunity to contribute to my professional identify through reflection (Nicol 2019) and as such, I aimed to create something I would be proud of. Negative feelings and themes were identified; my fear of the marking rubric and my inexperience as a clinical nurse educator. I felt disheartened as the rubric made the portfolio sound difficult. Furthermore, being a novice educator I felt I did not have the experience and evidence required by the objective to showcase. This required some creative thinking to overcome.

Evaluation-
In evaluating my performance in the creation of the portfolio, one positive and two negative aspects were noticed. In my haste of creating the portfolio, I modelled the structure similar to the exemplar portfolio provided by the tutors. As creating a portfolio was new to me, I felt reassured when using a similar structure in my own work. I found quarter way through completion that the marking rubric and criteria were different to that of the exemplar, effectively losing me time and effort. In the evidence collection phase, a realisation was made that I had minimal evidence to showcase. As my role is primarily a clinician, I have minimal opportunities to teach and as such have minimal evidence of assessment practise. Simulation however is a form of assessment (Oermann 2016, Ryall 2016), that I felt would be satisfactory in fulfilling my objective. One positive from the experience was that I developed a profound appreciation for the collection and documentation of your own teaching practises. Cook (2016) and Schmidt (2017) support my feelings in documenting the ways in which we assess as well as the assessment materials, this aids in analysis of practise and provides valuable evidence of our experience. This eventually leads to a widely known concept of evidence based practice.

Analyse-
In analysing the process of creating my portfolio, Mason (2004) agrees with my thoughts that using portfolios as assessment material for tertiary education is appropriate, more so for E-Portfolios. Yang (2015) furthers this by saying E-portfolios are an authentic form of formative assessment and enables frequent feedback for improvements while Mcmullen (2003) states reflection is an important part in the creation of portfolios . This is reflected in the comments section of my portfolio where it has been predominantly positive. It is also evident that I have found an appreciation for the usage of adult learning principles and frameworks in my educational practice. As the portfolio is limited in words, I was unable to showcase different artefacts that provide alternate perspectives of my process of teaching and learning; Socratic questioning and further details of Blooms taxonomy. In regards to the format of the portfolio, I am impressed by the web service that hosts my portfolio; it provided numerous templates and aided in the aesthetics of the portfolio. I believe leveraging my skills and knowledge in computer literacy assisted in creating such a professional and 'cleans' portfolio structure. The portfolio presented professionally due to the web services ability to embed video, audio, and photo gallery options.

Conclusion-
In conclusion, there are a number of things I have learnt from this experience. The importance of documenting your teaching practise as well as collecting evidence of student assessment has now been engrained in my teaching process. I understand that I am sometimes hasty in my approach to assignments in an effort to not be late. This lead to alterations in the skeleton of my portfolio and ultimately diminished the overall efficiency of its creation. In regards to how I felt when creating the portfolio, I was encouraged by the thought that this piece of work would be a lasting cornerstone of my teaching career; providing evidence and showcasing my best work. It is my hope that the portfolio would aid me in securing employment further down my career. I further feel I have developed an appreciation of teaching, reflection and debriefing frameworks all of which have been showcased in the portfolio. Throughout this experience, using a web based service to create an E-portfolio has not been an easy learning curve, however I do believe it provides an opportunity to create a piece of work that lends weight to my professional identity.

Action -
In finalising this reflection using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, there are 2 action points I will endeavour to complete when attempting to improve or create a new portfolio. These action points will be rationalised and provided with a rough timeline for completion.

• Develop an improved understanding of frameworks and utilise them appropriately.

Modern, adult learning requires a modern approach to teaching (Allen 2016). I seek to improve my knowledge on established tools such as the PEARLS, Gibbs Reflective Cycle, Socratic Questioning and ISBAR. The implementation of such tools has been evidenced to improve overall leaner outcomes. This will also benefit me in my own professional career as a fledgling educator. I expect not to be a master of these frameworks but within the next 2 years, I will be able to apply these tools in my place of work to enhance the learning experience.

• Continue to gather evidence of student assessment and peer review.

Professional portfolios require evidence to show learning and reflection (Cope 2018). Mine was lacking in some respects, especially aspects of student and peer assessment evidence. This goal is to actively encourage the use of assessment tools in the workplace and collate this evidence. Seeking a peer review by fellow colleagues in the workplace will also be actioned. Within the next 6 months, in a new education role I fully expect to have sufficient evidence in displaying my assessment practises.

References

Allen, S., 2016. Applying adult learning principles to online course design. Distance Learning, 13(3), p.25.

Cook, D.A. and Hatala, R., 2016. Validation of educational assessments: a primer for simulation and beyond. Advances in simulation, 1(1), p.31.

Cope, V. and Murray, M., 2018. Use of professional portfolios in nursing. Nursing Standard, 32(30).

Fragkos, K.C., 2016. Reflective practice in healthcare education: an umbrella review. Education Sciences, 6(3), p.27

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Further Education Unit

Grobbel, C.C., 2013. The importance of reflective practice in nursing. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 6(3), p.319.

Howatson-Jones, L., 2016. Reflective practice in nursing. Learning Matters. Viewed online. Viewed 10/09/2020 https://books.google.com.au/books?id=0OaICwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&ots=1lNHrNmUjD&dq=reflective%20nursing%20practice&lr&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=reflective%20nursing%20practice&f=false

Lai, C.Y. and Wu, C.C., 2016. Promoting nursing students' clinical learning through a mobile e-portfolio. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 34(11), pp.535-543.

Mason, R., Pegler, C. and Weller, M., 2004. E‐portfolios: an assessment tool for online courses. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35(6), pp.717-727.

McMullan, M., Endacott, R., Gray, M.A., Jasper, M., Miller, C.M., Scholes, J. and Webb, C., 2003. Portfolios and assessment of competence: a review of the literature. Journal of advanced nursing, 41(3), pp.283-294.

Nicol, J.S. and Dosser, I., 2016. Understanding reflective practice. Nursing Standard (2014+), 30(36), p.34.

Nicol, D.J., Serbati, A. and Tracchi, M., 2019. Competence Development and Portfolios: Promoting Reflection through Peer Review. AISHE-J: The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 11(2).

Oermann, M.H., Kardong-Edgren, S. and Rizzolo, M.A., 2016. Summative simulated-based assessment in nursing programs. Journal of Nursing Education, 55(6), pp.323-328.

Ryall, T., Judd, B.K. and Gordon, C.J., 2016. Simulation-based assessments in health professional education: a systematic review. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare, 9, p.69. Yang, M., Tai, M. and Lim, C.P., 2016. The role of e‐portfolios in supporting productive learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(6), pp.1276-1286.

Schmidt, N.A. and Brown, J.M., 2017. Evidence-based practice for nurses: Appraisal and application of research. Jones & Bartlett Learning.