Assessing problem-based learning with practice portfolios: one innovation too much?

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses the evaluation of a module on the care for older people in the community, designed through an analysis of educational needs in the local nurse population. The module was problem-based and students were assessed through practice portfolios. Although the evaluation indicated that it was addressing currently relevant issues, there were some important aspects of the course that needed to be refined. In particular, the combined use of problem-based learning (PBL) and practice portfolios (PPs) proved to be too demanding of students, most of whom had no prior experience of either. We suggest that this combination can be very valuable, but will be more viable once PPs and PBL have become more integrated into undergraduate nursing curricula.