Exploring the Benefits and Drawbacks of Using the Electronic Portfolio for FutureEngineering Teachers

The use of electronic portfolio as an alternative assessment method is becoming more and more important as online teaching and learning activities are disseminated in training processes. It is necessary that future teachers possess a sufficient level of competence regarding the stages of creating the electronic portfolio, including its preparation, development and evaluation. The present study aims to determine the benefits and drawbacks of using this (self) assessment tool, but also the possibilities of optimization in the psycho-pedagogical disciplines. The subjects were 55 students from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca enrolled in the psycho-pedagogical module in the initial teacher training. A qualitative approach was used to identify emerging themes from the data and to increase the efficiency of the data interpretation processes, using NVivo 12 qualitative analysis software. Participants recognized some important benefits of using the e-portfolio, such as: flexibility, ease, accessibility, immediate, fast and personalized feedback, as well as the ability to deepen, structure, personalize or transfer knowledge. The lack/ insufficient access to technology was included among the drawbacks. It can be concluded that the integration of the e-portfolio at the university level would increase students' satisfaction with the use of this method in learning psycho-pedagogical subjects and release their potentialities towards the learning process.