Using the e-Portfolio to Document and Evaluate Growth in Reflective Practice: The Development and Application of a Conceptual Framework

This case study focused on the electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) as a portrait of teacher growth in an in-service chemistry education graduate program. The e-portfolio provided a multimedia space for systematic documentation of teacher professional growth within the domain of reflective practice. In this study, the outcome and illustration of authentic growth was theorized and evaluated using a system of quality criteria (ontological, educative, catalytic, and tactical). Findings showed that successful e-portfolio entries illustrating reflective practice were created when teacher participants explicitly showed how they experienced growth (increased professional competency) over time through well-coordinated sets of baselineand post-baseline evidence. The conceptual framework introduced in this article responds to calls for robust models to analyze growth through reflective practice in the development of e-portfolio pedagogy.