Creativity and Discovery: Reflections on the Introduction of e-Portfolio Reflective Journal Collections as a Means of Enhancing Student Learning

In his generalised theory of education Dewey sees experience as a relationship between a person acting on their environment and being acted upon by the environment. Ideas cannot be transmitted directly from one person to... [ view full abstract ]

In his generalised theory of education Dewey sees experience as a relationship between a person acting on their environment and being acted upon by the environment. Ideas cannot be transmitted directly from one person to another but must be worked through in personal experience for them to be meaningful.  Furthermore, as learners, we must become masters of the tools of learning.  According to Bowen and Hobson (1974, p.170) Dewey concluded that learning should be “an experiment and search into the unknown rather than a passive absorption of external ‘facts’, and that we can only truly think when we are faced by a challenge”.  Malcolm Skilbeck (1970, p.26) cites the aim of teaching as training students to think, so they can engage with the world as fully as possible.

This course introduces creative and problem-solving tools, techniques and challenges to students.  Some of these they practiced in class.  In addition, as part of their assessment they had to complete six reflective journal exercises on topics involving different aspects of creativity, problem-solving, research and discovery. 

They then had to reflect and evaluate on the learning they had gained through each of these exercises, and then link their core learning to the 5 course learning outcomes.  Finally, they had to outline how their approach to creativity and problem-solving had changed, and what they would do differently now.

This year I decided to introduce e-Portfolio reflective journals as the method for students to complete the required exercises and subsequently reflect on them.  This afforded them the opportunity to add some creativity to their work, including videos, examples of work they had done, creative visuals, etc, in addition to the text-based work they normally submit.

This paper evaluates the e-portfolios as a method of enhancing and assessing student learning, and reflects on what went well and what can be improved.

Keywords: E-portfolio reflective journals, pragmatism, reflective practice.

Bibliography  (work in progress)

Bowen, J. and Hobson, P. (1974). Theories of Education: Studies of significant innovation in Western educational thought. Sydney: John Wiley and Sons Australasia Pty Ltd

Dewey, J. (1939). Freedom and culture. New York: Putnam.

Skilbeck, M. (Ed.) (1970). Dewey: Educational Thinkers Series. Collier-Macmillan Limited.