Understanding Learners’ Experiences of Using ePortfolio in a High School Physics Course

There has been a move toward personalized learning and alternative types of authentic assessment in K-12 education. This shift has been partly driven by increases in the available technology that can support those types of changes. This qualitative study aimed at understanding the experience of learners in a first-year physics class working with an ePortfolio as the primary method of assessment for that class. This research took place in a school that fully implemented a 1:1 program and has been piloting personalized learning strategies for the past five years, and the use of ePortfolios in some physics classes was one of those initiatives. Data consisted of student written responses to reflective prompts in ePortfolios and individual semi-structured interviews of seventeen students. Results suggest that student experiences with ePortfolios include aspects of the development of academic self-efficacy and self-regulation along with a self-reported reduction in academic stress.