A Didactic Look on the Introduction of E Portfolios in a Product Design Course

Abstract

While e-portfolios are well established in several countries (57 % of U.S. colleges use e-portfolios), they are rarely found at German universities in courses on product design. Consequently, the use and applications of e-portfolios are new and unknown for students and lecturers alike. Fear about contacts with new technology, scepticism, inhibition thresholds, and technical as well as organisational barriers are therefore inevitable. In this paper, we dedicate ourselves to the fundamental analysis of the existing initial e-portfolio situation. This is done using a course on project-based product design for engineers at our university. In addition to the opinions of students and lecturers, the analysis also considers the perspective of administrative departments. Based on this, didactic strategies for the introduction of eportfolios in the product design course will be developed. These strategies refer to the following three phases: preparation, implementation, and evaluation. The following factors have emerged as crucial for the successful implementation of e-portfolios: a comprehensive personal introduction, extensive information material that can be accessed at any time, continuous guidance, a clear structure and work instructions, room for flexibility and creativity to foster learners' individual strengths, and exchange and feedback between learners and teachers.

Linking a Lab on Prototyping for Engineering Students With Its ‘Digital Learning Environment Twin’

“…The completion of each step must be synchronized with the project schedule of the students, which cultivates their time management skills. Their work is documented throughout the course in an e-portfolio, and their completed (digitized) project [5] is submitted using the portfolio software system Mahara [6]. Only the manufacturing and the physical prototype of the product idea take place/exist in the analogue world.…”

Lessons Learned: Futrher Strategies for the Implementation of E-Portfolios in Engineering Sciences

“…Before implementation, we identified the following four important aspects that should be considered in the development of didactic strategies (based on the literature and our own field research findings). First, a comprehensive introduction to e-portfolios because they are an unknown tool for most of the students; second, a clear, well-defined framework and guidelines; third, weekly tutorials as part of a compulsory course; and fourth, mutual exchange, feedback, and teamwork, as important parts of autonomous learning [5]. We want to show how the general acceptance of e-portfolios was achieved and how our students assessed the different aspects which we identified as being important.…”

“…It is the only course focusing on product design in the curriculum of the bachelor programme. The students faced a challenge to design and build a wooden product for children [5]. At the beginning, one lecturer taught the theoretical aspects that provided the content for the relevant project management and product design (90 minutes per week over the first four weeks and three other lectures that the students had to carry out on their own via digital material).…”