Student, direct thyself! Facilitating self-directed learning skills and motivation with an electronic development portfolio

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study investigates the effects of using an electronic development portfolio (PERFLECT) with teacher-guided student selfcoaching on the development of students' self-directed learning skills and motivation. In a 12-week program in senior vocational education, students in the PERFLECT group used the portfolio to help self-direct their learning, while the REGULAR group followed the regular educational program. Students in the PERFLECT group reported higher levels of self-direction, intrinsic goal orientation, and self-efficacy than students in the REGULAR group. Using an electronic development portfolio with a student selfcoaching protocol constitutes a promising approach to support students' self-directed learning skills and motivation.

The Effect of Webfolios on Saudi EFL Students’ Self-Directed Learning Readiness

“…Therefore, it can be concluded that using webfolios improved Saudi EFL students' SDL readiness. This result is supported by the results reached by Abrami et al (2013), Beckers et al (2016), Kicken et al (2009), Meyer et al (2010), and Ziegler and Moeller (2012) who found a positive effect for webfolios on students' SDL. This result is also confirmed by Fung et al's (2000) belief that learners can assume ownership and control of their webfolios as well as Kicken et al's (2008) confirmation that webfolios have built-in features that can improve learners' self-directed learning.…”

“…The final step is presenting where the webfolios are presented including students' learning products. Some educators found a positive effect for traditional portfolios (Kicken, Brand-Gruwel, & Van Merrienboer, 2008;Murad & Varkey, 2008;Thrush, O'Sullivan, Putten, & Kamin, 2005;Van Schaik, Plant, & O'sullivan, 2013) as well as webfolios (Abrami, Venkatesh, Meyer, & Wade, 2013;Beckers, Dolmans, & Merriënboer, 2016;Fung et al, 2000;Kicken, Brand-Gruwel, van Merriënboer, & Slot, 2009;Meyer, Abrami, Wade, Aslan, & Deault, 2010;Ziegler & Moeller, 2012) on students' SDL.…”