Portfolio use in postgraduate medical education: a systematic scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Portfolios are increasingly commonplace in postgraduate medical education. However, poor understanding of and variations in their content, quality, and structure have hindered their use across different settings, thus dampening their efficacy. METHODS: This systematic scoping review on portfolios in postgraduate medical education utilized Krishna's Systematic Evidence Based Approach (SEBA). Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis and Hsieh and Shannon's directed content analysis were independently used to evaluate the data. RESULTS: In total, 12 313 abstracts were obtained, and 76 full-text articles included. Six key themes/categories were identified: (i) portfolio definitions and functions, (ii) platforms, (iii) design, (iv) implementation, (v) use in assessments, and (vi) evaluations of their usage. CONCLUSIONS: Portfolios allow for better appreciation and assessments of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in time-, learner-, and context-specific competencies through the establishment of smaller micro-competencies and micro-credentialling. Organized into three broad stages-development, implementation, and improvement-a six-step framework for optimizing and instituting portfolios in postgraduate medical education is offered.

Mobile technologies to support workplace-based assessment for entrustment decisions: Guidelines for programs and educators: AMEE Guide No. 154.

With the rise of competency-based medical education and workplace-based assessment (WBA) since the turn of the century, much has been written about methods of assessment. Direct observation and other sources of information have become standard in many clinical programs. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) have also become a central focus of assessment in the clinical workplace. Paper and pencil (one of the earliest mobile technologies!) to document observations have become almost obsolete with the advent of digital technology. Typically, clinical supervisors are asked to document assessment ratings using forms on computers. However, accessing these forms can be cumbersome and is not easily integrated into existing clinical workflows. With a call for more frequent documentation, this practice is hardly sustainable, and mobile technology is quickly becoming indispensable. Documentation of learner performance at the point of care merges WBA with patient care and WBA increasingly uses smartphone applications for this purpose.This AMEE Guide was developed to support institutions and programs who wish to use mobile technology to implement EPA-based assessment and, more generally, any type of workplace-based assessment. It covers backgrounds of WBA, EPAs and entrustment decision-making, provides guidance for choosing or developing mobile technology, discusses challenges and describes best practices.

The dynamical relation between price changes and trading volume: A multidimensional clustering analysis.

This paper introduces a new method to describe and analyse multidimensional time series based on wavelets. The methodology considers the time series as observations of a functional random variable. The paper generalizes previous research on stock market networks by including asset returns and volume trading as the main variables to study the financial market. The methodology is applied to examine the dynamics and structure of the Nasdaq-100 stock market during the pandemic period 2019/12-2021/12 considering both asset returns and volume trading to model the behaviour of different assets that are part of the index, applying an algorithm that offers better performance than others applied in the clustering literature. The study detects four clusters of firms corresponding with companies sharing common economic activities. The structure of the network reveals a nonlinear relationship between the variables, and the study shows that the main macroeconomic events during the period affect each cluster with different intensity. The change in the patterns of returns and risks and the redistribution of wealth in a highly changing environment are emerging phenomena, which must necessarily be carefully analyzed by public policies, in order to avoid the appearance of bubbles and systemic shocks.

E-Portfolios for self-regulated and co-regulated learning: A review.

The reflective component of e-Portfolios is said to help students improve second or foreign language writing in terms of motivation and academic results. Despite this positive advocacy, scholars remain unclear about how e-Portfolios can develop students' self-regulatory abilities in writing classrooms, especially when students engage in complex e-Portfolio construction processes with peers, parents, teachers, their community, digital tools, and online resources. Recently, researchers have argued that not only do e-Portfolios promote self-regulated learning, but they also support co-regulation of learning wherein the latter is socially mediated by curriculum design, instructional materials, and in-class interaction patterns. Indeed, students' inner development of self-regulatory capacity is closely influenced by external forces, which deserve more scholarly investigation. The review fills this gap by emphasizing that besides self-regulated learning, e-Portfolios can support students' co-regulation of learning by way of their connectivity, visibility, and circulation. This review has four sections. The first section defines key concepts, namely e-Portfolios, self-regulated, co-regulated, and socially shared-regulated learning, and introduces how e-Portfolios foster self-regulation of learning in second language writing. The second section unpacks two conceptual models that underpin self-regulated and co-regulated learning relating to e-Portfolios. The third section presents a brief review, showcasing how e-Portfolios featuring self-regulation of learning can also support co-regulation of learning. The final section recommends strategies that facilitate self-regulation and co-regulation of learning in e-Portfolios reciprocally, and discusses implications for pedagogy and research.

Design of 3D Virtual Reality in the Metaverse for Environmental Conservation Education Based on Cognitive Theory.

BACKGROUND: Climate change causes devastating impacts with extreme weather conditions, such as flooding, polar ice caps melting, sea level rise, and droughts. Environmental conservation education is an important and ongoing project nowadays for all governments in the world. In this paper, a novel 3D virtual reality architecture in the metaverse (VRAM) is proposed to foster water resources education using modern information technology. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was performed to observe a comparison between learning involving VRAM and learning without VRAM. The 3D VRAM multimedia content comes from a picture book for learning environmental conservation concepts, based on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning to enhance human cognition. Learners wear VRAM helmets to run VRAM Android apps by entering the immersive environment for playing and/or interacting with 3D VRAM multimedia content in the metaverse. They shake their head to move the interaction sign to initiate interactive actions, such as replaying, going to consecutive video clips, displaying text annotations, and replying to questions when learning soil-and-water conservation course materials. Interactive portfolios of triggering actions are transferred to the cloud computing database immediately by the app. RESULTS: Experimental results showed that participants who received instruction involving VRAM had significant improvement in their flow experience, learning motivation, learning interaction, self-efficacy, and presence in learning environmental conservation concepts. CONCLUSIONS: The novel VRAM is highly suitable for multimedia educational systems. Moreover, learners' interactive VRAM portfolios can be analyzed by big-data analytics to understand behaviors for using VRAM in the future to improve the quality of environmental conservation education.

Making learning relevant by using e-portfolios as an assessment method in Radiography: Educator perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Assessment in education is an expectation, however, traditional assessment methods of written tests and assignments are not the only approach to assess students and meet subject or module outcomes. There are numerous alternative assessment techniques that can be incorporated into a radiography program. The use of e-portfolios allow students to take learning beyond the classroom and gives them the chance to learn a new skill that they can use even after obtaining their qualifications. To my knowledge, currently there are no published resources available on using e-portfolios in radiography education within a South African context to assess a specific module outcome. This paper aims to address this gap in literature by providing insight into the application of e-portfolios in Radiography education. METHOD: Kotter's 8 step change model was used to implement change to the assessment method for a final year Radiographic Management subject. RESULTS: This is based on my personal perspective, and thus there is no primary data presented. This article outlines my rationale for and my personal experiences from using e-portfolios. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: From my perspective this method has proven very useful for the teaching and learning of radiographic management with 4th year students.

Twelve tips for introducing E-Portfolios in health professions education.

Portfolios have been used in health professions for many decades as a means of documenting reflective practice that inform change, supports the understanding of professionals' development needs and changing care options for clients. Electronic versions of one's portfolio of evidence or E-Portfolios became more prevalent in the early 2000s as a repository to store evidence and reflections. However, in recent years E-Portfolios have evolved from a repository to an articulation of authentic learning and development. Introduction of a range of E-Portfolio technology options, hosting systems and increasing professional/ethical standards, has resulted in challenges and opportunities for academics and professionals to meet increasing requirements for teaching and support of students training for health professions. This paper explores twelve tips explained and justified in a Health Science context, designed to support students developing and using E-Portfolios to fulfil professional standards, show evidence of reflective practice and culminate in securing a job in their field.

Option Portfolio Selection with Generalized Entropic Portfolio Optimization.

In this third and final paper of our series on the topic of portfolio optimization, we introduce a further generalized portfolio selection method called generalized entropic portfolio optimization (GEPO). GEPO extends discrete entropic portfolio optimization (DEPO) to include intervals of continuous returns, with direct application to a wide range of option strategies. This lays the groundwork for an adaptable optimization framework that can accommodate a wealth of option portfolios, including popular strategies such as covered calls, married puts, credit spreads, straddles, strangles, butterfly spreads, and even iron condors. These option strategies exhibit mixed returns: a combination of discrete and continuous returns with performance best measured by portfolio growth rate, making entropic portfolio optimization an ideal method for option portfolio selection. GEPO provides the mathematical tools to select efficient option portfolios based on their growth rate and relative entropy. We provide an example of GEPO applied to real market option portfolio selection and demonstrate how GEPO outperforms traditional Kelly criterion strategies.

Exploitation of Information as a Trading Characteristic: A Causality-Based Analysis of Simulated and Financial Data.

In financial markets, information constitutes a crucial factor contributing to the evolution of the system, while the presence of heterogeneous investors ensures its flow among financial products. When nonlinear trading strategies prevail, the diffusion mechanism reacts accordingly. Under these conditions, information englobes behavioral traces of traders' decisions and represents their actions. The resulting effect of information endogenization leads to the revision of traders' positions and affects connectivity among assets. In an effort to investigate the computational dimensions of this effect, we first simulate multivariate systems including several scenarios of noise terms, and then we apply direct causality tests to analyze the information flow among their variables. Finally, empirical evidence is provided in real financial data.

Midwifery student's perceptions of completing a portfolio of evidence for initial registration: A qualitative exploratory study.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) has set regulatory standards, that require midwifery students to verify how they have met ANMAC standard 8.11 requirements prior to registration as a midwife. The most common formats for recording achievement of the ANMAC requirements are paper-based or electronic portfolios. Research was conducted to compare student's experiences of completing their university portfolio format. Focus group interviews were held at two south east Queensland universities. This study has found that there is disparity between universities in the level of detail documenting evidence of midwifery experiences. The paper-based portfolio was criticised for not having sufficient space for the students to explain the extent of their experiences, in contrast students completing the ePortfolio felt their reflective entries were excessive. Some students felt the portfolio was not being used to its full potential with suggestions that all experiences that fall within the midwife scope of practice should be recorded as evidence of practice experiences. Students felt the current ANMAC Standard 8.11 requirements limit the range of experiences and are repetitive in requiring up to 100 recordings for some experiences. No nationally agreed format exists of how students are required to document their required ANMAC experiences.

Australian midwifery student's perceptions of the benefits and challenges associated with completing a portfolio of evidence for initial registration: Paper based and ePortfolios.

Portfolios are used in midwifery education to provide students with a central place to store their accumulative evidence of clinical experience for initial registration in Australia. Portfolio formats can be paper-based or electronic. Anecdotal discussion between midwifery students in Queensland debated the best format to document the requirements for the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) standard 8.11. Midwifery students using paper-based portfolios envisioned that an ePortfolio would be streamline, simple, safe to use, and able to be used anywhere with WIFI, while some students using an ePortfolio expressed a desire to have a paper-based portfolio as a hard copy. This situation called for evidence of a comparison to resolve the debate. The aim of this study was to investigate midwifery students' experiences of the benefits and challenges between paper-based and ePortfolios when compiling evidence to meet the requirements for initial registration as a midwife in Australia (ANMAC, 2014).

Cover's universal portfolio, stochastic portfolio theory, and the numéraire portfolio.

Cover's celebrated theorem states that the long-run yield of a properly chosen "universal" portfolio is almost as good as that of the best retrospectively chosen constant rebalanced portfolio. The "universality" refers to the fact that this result is model-free, that is, not dependent on an underlying stochastic process. We extend Cover's theorem to the setting of stochastic portfolio theory: the market portfolio is taken as the numéraire, and the rebalancing rule need not be constant anymore but may depend on the current state of the stock market. By fixing a stochastic model of the stock market this model-free result is complemented by a comparison with the numéraire portfolio. Roughly speaking, under appropriate assumptions the asymptotic growth rate coincides for the three approaches mentioned in the title of this paper. We present results in both discrete and continuous time.

Evidencing Continual Professional Development: Maximising Impact and Informing Career Planning.

Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for radiographers to maintain and update their specialised knowledge base in light of constant professional changes. CPD is the continuous and systematic maintenance, improvement, and broadening of knowledge and skills and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties. Professional and regulatory bodies are increasingly relying on proof of CPD through a variety of learning opportunities to provide evidence of clinical competence. Importantly, CPD has been linked not only to competence but also to motivation and job satisfaction. However, for CPD to be embraced fully, the individual needs to see how activity can be planned and recorded in a way that is meaningful to them in the context of their career aspirations. This article will review basic principles of why evidence is needed for CPD, what constitutes evidence (direct and indirect), and how that evidence can be presented. This will be discussed in the context of having a longer-term career vision, and embedded within Donner and Wheeler's five-phase career planning and development model.

Online Faculty Development for Implementation and Use of Student Portfolios.

INTRODUCTION: Over the past decade, portfolios have gained popularity in medical education as tools to evaluate and provide feedback about learning and completion of professionally authentic tasks. Though faculty development has been noted to be key for successful portfolios, there are few available resources. As part of an interinstitutional collaborative project, we have developed online faculty development modules that provide pedagogical information about portfolios, practical advice, and resources from the available literature. METHODS: The materials associated with this publication include downloadable modules, which take approximately 45 minutes to complete and can be paused at any time, and sample questions to facilitate small-group discussion with faculty either in the planning stage of portfolios or as part of program evaluation of an institution's portfolios. RESULTS: A survey taken by faculty from four medical schools after completion of the modules showed that they were well received, with 41% of participants stating that they were very knowledgeable after undertaking the modules compared to 11% before undertaking the modules. Faculty reported increased interest in the topic and increased confidence in their ability to undertake planning for development of portfolios at their institution and considered using the modules as a mandatory curriculum for portfolio coaches at their institutions. DISCUSSION: We suggest that these modules be used for individual self-development, as part of faculty development sessions for portfolio coaches and mentors, or to provide faculty with background information about portfolios during the planning phase of portfolios at an institution.

Public Health Insurance and Household Portfolio Choices: Unravelling Financial "Side Effects" of Medicare.

Large, unpredictable and not fully insurable health-care costs represent a source of background risk that might deter households' financial risk taking. Using panel data from the Health and Retirement Study, we test whether universal health insurance, like Medicare for over-65 Americans, shields against this risk promoting stockholding. We adopt a fixed-effects estimation strategy, thereby taking into account household-level heterogeneity in health status and private insurance coverage. We find that, before Medicare eligibility, households in poor health, who face a higher risk of medical expenses, are less likely to hold stocks than their healthier counterparts. Yet, this gap is mostly eliminated by Medicare. Notably, the offsetting is primarily experienced by households in poor health and without private health insurance over the observation period.

East meets West: Shadow coaching to support online reflective practice.

OBJECTIVES: A structured, reflection-based electronic portfolio program (ePortfolio), with novel faculty development initiative, involving 'shadow coaches', was shared with the newly formed Ottawa-Shanghai Joint School of Medicine (OSJSM). OSJSM is a partnership between Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Ottawa. As the world's first Sino-Canadian Joint Medical School, OSJSM introduced North American undergraduate medical curriculum to China. 'Shadow coaching' involved trans-Pacific pairing of coaches, supplemented by local faculty development. FRAMEWORK: (a) Pre-implementation: The well-established online ePortfolio platform at the University of Ottawa was mirrored at OSJSM. University of Ottawa ePortfolio coaches were recruited to serve as shadow coaches to their OSJSM counterparts. Shadow coaches provided mentoring and resources while maintaining awareness of cross-cultural issues. Faculty development consisted of face-to-face faculty development in Shanghai, several online synchronous sessions, and familiarization of University of Ottawa coaches with the Chinese medical education system. (b) Description/Components: This intervention, introduced in 2016-2017, involved five University of Ottawa shadow coaches paired with five OSJSM ePortfolio coaches. Student reflection encourages open frank discussion which is a new paradigm for Chinese students and faculty. Shadow coaches were encouraged to challenge new OSJSM coaches to widely explore physician roles and competencies. RESULTS: Initial results indicate that the experience served to effectively develop OSJSM coaches' skills as evidenced by shadow coaches' review of anonymized OSJSM student reflective writing. CONCLUSIONS: Our project describes a novel tool using shadow coaching for faculty development for a cross-cultural partnership. Similar approaches can be utilized for culturally-sensitive long-distance faculty development.

Clinical Case-Based Image Portfolios in Medical Histopathology.

This descriptive article describes the use of clinical case-based portfolios in histopathology teaching laboratories in conjunction with virtual microscopy not only to integrate histology and pathology disciplines for first and second year medical students but also to stimulate student engagement, promote self-directed and group-based learning and enhance student-to-student interaction in a structured manner. Portfolios consisted of PowerPoint files encompassing four to five clinical case studies relevant to the topics covered that week. Portfolios integrated study materials provided in the module-specific lectures, clinical skill lectures, and online interactive content. Two sets of portfolios, Individual and Group, were used. Individual Portfolios were completed by each student and uploaded prior to the laboratory session. Group Portfolios were completed by students working together in small groups during the laboratory session with minimal faculty assistance. The functional utility and acceptance of Individual and Group Portfolios among first- and second-year medical students was evaluated using electronic surveys and examination performances. Both first- and second-year students agreed that the use of portfolios in conjunction with virtual microscopy promoted understanding and encouraged discussion of the topics covered during the week and that group members worked well together and contributed to the completion of the portfolios. Performances on the Histology and Cell Biology and Pathology sections on the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE® ) remained consistent and in line with national averages. Overall, use of portfolios promoted peer teaching and contributed towards successful transition to the new system-based integrated curriculum with continued strong performance on the USMLE.

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites.

Insect societies face many social parasites that exploit their altruistic behaviours or their resources. Due to the fitness costs these social parasites incur, hosts have evolved various behavioural, chemical, architectural and morphological defence traits. Similar to bacteria infecting multicellular hosts, social parasites have to successfully go through several steps to exploit their hosts. Here, we review how social insects try to interrupt this sequence of events. They can avoid parasite contact by choosing to nest in parasite-free locales or evade attacks by adapting their colony structure. Once social parasites attack, hosts attempt to detect them, which can be facilitated by adjustments in colony odour. If social parasites enter the nest, hosts can either aggressively defend their colony or take their young and flee. Nest structures are often shaped to prevent social parasite invasion or to safeguard host resources. Finally, if social parasites successfully establish themselves in host nests, hosts can rebel by killing the parasite brood or by reproducing in the parasites' presence. Hosts of social parasites can therefore develop multiple traits, leading to the evolution of complex defence portfolios of co-dependent traits. Social parasites can respond to these multi-level defences with counter-adaptations, potentially leading to geographical mosaics of coevolution.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.

Implementation of Portfolios as a Programmatic Global Assessment Measure in Dental Education.

Studies of assessment have shown that three elements-multiple assessments, over time, with multiple evaluators-provide the best strategy for global assessment of student competence in a valid and reliable manner, while experts on competency-based education (CBE) have defined the use of portfolios for assessment as a best practice for CBE. The aim of this article is to describe the five-year experience of one U.S. dental school's implementation of portfolio assessment of student competence as a programmatic global assessment strategy and to share the lessons learned. From approval by the Curriculum Committee to the first graduating class's portfolios, the steps and lessons learned along the way are described, in hopes of providing guidance to other schools interested in adopting portfolios for global assessment. This assessment strategy required the collaboration of a broad range of administrators, faculty, and students, as well as a high degree of faculty and student development. Calibration of the summative evaluators resulted in an interrater reliability estimate of 0.81. An important lesson learned was that development of reflective writing was underestimated, resulting in initial failure of 12 (11%) of the portfolios for the Class of 2017. Dental schools interested in adoption of portfolios should expect to invest time in the preparation of faculty and students. However, the result of this investment will be an assessment measure considered a best practice in both the assessment and competency literature.

The Use of Portfolios in US Pharmacy Schools.

Objective. To conduct a review of the pharmacy literature on the use of portfolios in US pharmacy schools. Findings. This study provides examples of how pharmacy schools are using portfolios in various parts and across their curricula, however, assessment/outcome data is lacking. These examples can be used as a starting point for schools as they begin to design their own use of portfolios. Overall, students indicated that the use of portfolios is important in their professional development, but significant time is needed to complete. Summary. Things to consider when implementing a portfolio system include how it will be used, who will review it, and what resources will be needed to sustain the project. It is important for schools to consider these items at the start of the process to ensure the portfolio process that is created is useful for assessing the overall programmatic or course outcomes being proposed by their use. More scholarly work needs to be published on the use of portfolios.