Enhancing Graduate Students’ Reflection in E-portfolios Using the TPACK Framework

When electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) are employed as summative assessments for degree granting programs, it is imperative that students demonstrate their knowledge in the field to showcase learning growth and achievement of the program learning outcomes. This study examined the extent graduate students in the field of educational technology demonstrated their technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) related elements in their e-portfolio reflection, when they were guided by the TPACK framework grounded instruction. Using content analysis technique and open-ended survey responses, the findings showed that students were able to demonstrate their interconnected technological pedagogical knowledge in their reflection to justify their competencies. In addition, students had positive reactions to the opportunity to reflect through writing the reflection paper. This study contributes to the e-portfolio literature by signifying the importance of providing a discipline-specific framework to guide students’ reflection of learning. The TPACK grounded instruction helped students stay focused on their reflection. This study also contributes to the teacher education and the TPACK literature by exploring the extent to which students present their integrated knowledge of TPACK at the end of a program driven to developing students’ technology integration expertise.