Developing consensus on content and format of e-portfolio for MHPE students: A Delphi study

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Educational Technology
• Curriculum Development

Background:

• Master's programs in health professions education require structured portfolio frameworks.
• Existing frameworks may lack consensus on learning outcomes, tasks, and evidence.
• A standardized approach is needed for effective student assessment and development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a consensus-based portfolio framework for Master's in Health Professional Education (MHPE) students.
• To define program learning outcomes, associated student tasks, and evidence of task completion.

Main Methods:

• A modified Delphi study involving MHPE faculty, alumni, students, and portfolio experts.
• Three rounds of electronic surveys were used to achieve consensus (≥80%) on learning outcomes, tasks, and evidence.
• The study was conducted at Riphah International University, Pakistan, from February to July 2020.

Main Results:

• High stakeholder response rates (91.5% in round 1, 75.6% in round 2, 96.7% in round 3).
• A refined list of 10 program learning outcomes, 59 tasks (78.6%), and 105 pieces of evidence (21%) was finalized.
• The final template was approved by the expert panel after three iterations and pilot testing.

Conclusions:

• Key program learning outcomes, related tasks, and evidence for MHPE student e-portfolios have been identified.
• Recommendations for the implementation and assessment format of the e-portfolio framework were provided.
• This consensus framework supports standardized evaluation in health professions education.