Pebblepad: for successful student personal professional development

Radiotherapy and OncologyJo Doughty

Radiotherapy and OncologyProfession Specific

Professional values and personal

commitment

Technical Experts Care and Compassion

Training our Students

Academic Focus

Student to become a professional (Therapy Radiographer) Clinically competent/ safe practice

Personal and professional development

Student FocusCan be shifted to passing the module and achievement of

the learning outcomes?

Clinically competent/ safe practice

Personal and professional development

Clinical portfolio modules with learning outcomes

Paper based

Taught aspects (no change): portfolio theory/ action planning/ reflective practice/ use of evidence/ professional requirements

Electronic

• PebblePAD training sessions, face to face, practical computer based seminars

• Etivity 1: Sharing information with link staff about background (template given to students)

• Etivity 2: Reflection on clinical placement (student chooses template with guidance, feedback from peers and ML)

• Etivity 3: Draft learning outcome, template provided initially feedback from ML)

Supporting our studentsStudents are based in clinical placements that are remote to the

University

• Unplanned study, student can work on webfolio if internet access available

• Staff can view webfolio in advance, prepare and use time available in a more constructive manner

• Unplanned study, student unable to work on portfolio

• Staff arranged to meet student, portfolio not always available

• If available staff required to read and support while with the student (pressure and time)

Assessment

• Workspace• Most students have already

submitted prior to the date• Date of submission,

Workspace is locked • Sections of work have already

been seen and assessment now can include how students act on feedback

• Archiving

• Date of submission arrange for local collection of portfolios

• By year 3, not unusual to see three lever arch files per student / transportation issues

• Often the first time that much of the work is seen by staff

• No way of archiving

Quality of work (personal view)

• Increased interaction with the evidence base and evidence

• Narration is more appropriate (setting contexts and reflections)

• Greater recognition of the cross over of learning to different areas

• Increased interaction with feedback

• Increased practical demonstration of personal and professional development

• Vast swathes of photocopied information (literature/ reports/ websites etc.)

• Mainly narrative• Limited recognition of how

evidence could be applied in multiple settings

• Limited opportunity for student to demonstrate acting on feedback

Lessons Learned (Personal View!)

If you want students to value it then all teaching staff have to value it too

Understand the software, what can it do? Specifically in relation to assessment?

Look at your programme and what you would like to use the tool for, integrate and embed it

If you make it optional student’s won't use it!

Do you want to encourage personalisation and wider thinking? Some boundaries are important!

Student CommentsYear 2 PgD

I think having an electronic portfolio is a good idea because its easy to access. If I

need to access any evidence or reflection I can log on to a computer and its all there.

So its very convenient.

The portfolio is a great tool to see your own personal development

and how you have progressed from starting in clinical and not knowing anything to where you end up at the end of the year. It lets you piece together all of the reflections you have created and how you have learned from those

experiences.

Was very new to me and I did struggle in the beginning. I think it is a good

experience as I keep improving personally, academically and professionally.

I did like the way I could submit my work months before

and it was just frozen at submission time.

Greater flexibility to personalise, less time

collating the information and more time writing the

content.