According to Donald Schön, (1987), "professional education should be redesigned to combine the teaching of applied science with coaching in the artistry of reflection in action". Recent literature indicates that those practitioners that are considered to be experts have a greater ability to reflect on their practice. The e-portfolio provides the academic program with an interactive opportunity to teach students the art of reflection and the importance of lifelong learning in an environment that speaks their language and allows for the creation of a live documentation of their professional development. Portfolios have traditionally been used as a way of identifying skills that are necessary to professional development, a representation of an individual's abilities, and a means for reflection and self-assessment. In recent years, the use of portfolios as a learning and assessment tool has become more widespread among professional educational programs in the health professions. An e-portfolio is defined as an electronic collection of artifacts representing an individual. They purpose of this project was to integrate e-portfolios into a Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program; to provide students with an opportunity and a forum for reflection on their experiences and documentation of their achievements; and to provide the Physical Therapy Program at Long Island University with an additional tool for assessment of the program and learning objectives. E-portfolios have been integrated throughout the 3-year physical therapy professional curriculum at Long Island University. Students are introduced and oriented to the process in the fall of their first year of study. Assignments have been created in each semester of study to allow students to focus and reflect on a particular area of their development allowing for the on-going and continuous building of a final e-portfolio upon graduation. The goal is for the final product to provide students with an opportunity to review their progression throughout the program; a plan for lifelong learning and professional development; and an electronic resume, inclusive of artifacts, that can be presented to potential employers. The categories addressed in each e-portfolio are as follows: Introduction, Clinical Development, Professional Development, Community and Professional Service, Leadership, Lifelong Learning, and Resume. In the first assignment students were asked to create an "About Me" page. They were encouraged to include reflections related to their personal, educational and professional goals and aspirations. The assignment was graded using a rubric designed to assess content, as well as creativity, use of artifacts, writing mechanics, and layout. After reviewing the assignment, the course instructors were pleased to see that the students were quite reflective in discussing areas of practice and aspirations that would not have been revealed elsewhere. This information was useful in identifying areas in the curriculum that may be augmented to meet the needs of the students, while still satisfying their academic requirements. The information was shared with the faculty as a whole, and modified activities and exercises were included in future assignments to help students achieve their goals. In addition, as the e-portfolio project progresses and all courses in the curriculum are uploaded into the system, The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) criteria will entered into a standards data base allowing for a correlation of criteria to each course in the program. The data gathered will contribute to the body of outcome measures required by internal and external agencies and assist in the program's preparation for re-accreditation.
