International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 1, Number 2, 2007

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Research Article

Abstract

Portfolio Assignments in Teacher Education: A Tool For Self-regulating the Learning Process? 

This study examines the effects of a portfolio programme on self-regulation – and thus among third year students of teacher education training to be secondary school teachers. Data collection was by means of self-reporting before, during and after the portfolio programme and via perception questionnaires. The study indicates a significant increase in self-regulation. The portfolio programme therefore improves students’ capacity to go through their learning process independently, although the analysis also shows that the rising score with respect to the construct ‘self-regulation’ stems from the increase of only one sub-scale (regulation). The comparison of the students’ own opinions with those of the portfolio supervisors also reveals the weak links in the self-regulation cycle. Students have difficulty evaluating and re-orientating their learning process. It also appears that students do not set and/or implement new objectives themselves, which means that they cannot regulate their own learning process on a completely independent basis because they have not thoroughly mastered all the components of the self-regulation cycle.

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Bios

Jetske Strijbos
XIOS Hogeschool Limburg
Hasselt, Belgium
jetske.strijbos@xios.be

I hold a master’s degree in education and work at the Department of Teacher Education at the XIOS Hogeschool Limburg in Hasselt, Belgium. I teach the modules ‘Didactics’ and ‘Didactics of assessment and differentiation’ in the bachelor’s degree course.

Wil Meeus
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Brussels, Belgium
wil.meeus@vub.ac.be

I hold a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences and work as an assistant and researcher in the Department of Teacher Education at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. I teach the modules ‘Educational planning’, ‘Reflective and Research-oriented Practice’ and ‘Portfolio’. My doctoral thesis deals with the use of portfolios in teacher education.

Arno Libotton
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Brussels, Belgium
arno.libotton@vub.ac.be

I am a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. I teach pedagogical sciences and educational methodology and research on both the bachelor’s and master’s degree courses and I supervise doctoral research on the implementation of electronic learning environments

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