Self-Regulated Learning and the Role of ePortfolios in Business Studies

Through a case study supported by observation techniques, and questionnaires to gather data, we explored the use of ePortfolios as an efficient assessment tool to assist business degree students. Our main focus was a postgraduate course in which finance modules were a major component. We analysed the role of ePortfolios in Higher Education Institutions over a period of four academic years. Our findings suggest that ePortfolios could be used to facilitate and enhance students’ selfregulated learning. The role of the instructor was found to be fundamental in the early stages of the learning process. This role diminished as students became familiar with the course requirements. Overall, students judged the ePortfolio as a tool to complement their education positively, as they noted a significant improvement in their learning experience and they benefitted from the breaks it offered from their traditional learning approach. The evidence suggests that ePortfolios could be used to support technical and complex modules in a controlled environment where support is available for students to prevent them losing focus on their core studies; at the same time ePortfolios are flexible enough to allow students to be creative and integrate their own ideas and views while they learn