E-PORTFOLIOS IN DEVELOPING A PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: PROFESSIONAL BACHELOR PROGRAM IN LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY

The 21st century demands altering competences of higher education students based on digitalization, globalization, translational networking, flexibility,.... to achieve a professional identity. To challenge students for these competences, a cross curricular e-portfolio was developed at University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (Belgium). This digital platform will be implemented in the novel curriculum, starting in the academic year 2018-2019 in the STEM related professional bachelor programs (PBA) of Biomedical Laboratory Technology and Chemistry. Obviously, the competences included in the e-portfolio are founded on the learning outcomes of level 6 of the European qualifications framework (EQF) and the Flanders qualifications framework (FQF). Matrix analysis was further performed to design specific tasks, instructions and challenges for the e-portfolio covering the required learning outcomes of the PBAs and based on the strategic 'Bachelor proof' concept of University Colleges Leuven-Limburg including personal growth, lifelong learning, study career and social responsibility. Recently, all STEM education institutions in Flanders worked together to describe 'Domain specific learning outcomes' (DLRs). These are program specific learning outcomes described at three levels. Every PBA student needs to achieve level three of those DLRs. The e-portfolio will be convenient to make some learning outcomes clearly visible across the entire curriculum. Generic competences like organizational skills, communication skills, critical reflecting and teamwork are part of these DLRs. The use of an e-portfolio contributes to make intercourse and interdisciplinary generic competences more transparent and visible in the study program. Finally, the e-portfolio is a suitable interactive communication and reporting tool for internship mentoring but students argue that face-to-face feedback is indispensable for the success of the e-portfolio.