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

To build a consensus on portfolio framework for master's in health professional education students and document programme learning outcomes, tasks for students related to each outcome, and the pieces of evidence regarding the completion of each task.

The modified Delphi study was conducted from February to July 2020 at Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised a three-round electronic-based survey of faculty members associated with the master's in health professional education programme, alumni, and current students as well as portfolio experts. The panellists had to choose from 10 programme learning outcomes, 75 tasks for students to achieve those outcomes, and 510 pieces of evidence to confirm that the tasks had been done to achieve the outcomes. A consensus cut-off of ≥80% was decided to select the item.

Of the 45 stakeholders approached, 41(91.5%) responded in round 1. Of them, 31(75.6%) responded in round 2, while round 3 comprised responses from 31(96.7%) subjects. The draft template was originally derived from the master's in health professional education programme guide, expert opinions, and systematic literature review available for portfolios of other higher education degrees. The list of items was refined through a pilot study. The final template was approved by the expert panel after 3 iterations. The final list of items included 59 (78.6%) tasks and 105(21%) pieces of evidence related to all the 10 programme learning outcomes.

The important programme learning outcomes, their related tasks, and the required pieces of evidence to be added in the e-portfolio of master's in health professional education programme students were identified, and recommendations for the format of implementation and assessment were given.