Experiences of the use of portfolio in dental education – A qualitative meta-ethnographic literature review

Introduction

Portfolio with a collection of evidence has become popular in higher education, including dental education. It is valuable to study the experiences of the use and implementation processes. Meta-ethnography can be a suitable method to analyse, synthesize and construct interpretations of qualitative research. Our aim was to explore experiences from the use of a portfolio/e-portfolio in dental education, from the students' and teachers' perspectives.

Materials and Methods

A systematic search in the databases PubMed, Scopus and ERC was performed, and the established seven steps of a meta-ethnographic review were used. 278 papers were initially identified, and seven were included in the final analysis.

Results

Two themes (Issues to Address and Consequences) and five subthemes (Purpose, Roles, Support and Structure, Challenges and Enablers, and Gains) were constructed.

Discussion

Our synthesis reflects various challenges, yet the learning gains are recognized and expressed to be important once the students and teachers have overcome early thresholds. Beyond the conclusions drawn in each paper, our synthesis provides new perspectives on the complexity of an implementation process and the balance of not seeing the woods for the trees being overwhelmed by technical and other practical aspects, reducing the opportunity for learning.

Conclusion

The portfolio implementation in undergraduate dental education should address clarification to all stakeholders of the purpose and role, presenting a purposeful portfolio structure and timely support.