Student Teachers' Motivation and Perceptions of E-Portfolio in the Context of Problem-Based Learning

E-portfolios are increasingly seen as a promising tool for facilitating learning as students engage in the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) process. Research that evaluates e-portfolios in the context of PBL is, however, limited. In addition, advantages of the use of e-portfolios both generally as well as in the context of PBL have tended to be advanced from the researcher's perspective. Studies that have evaluated student perceptions remain unclear with regard to the factors beyond specific features of the e-portfolio which are likely to affect the perceptions. The purpose of this study is to address these gaps from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT). It seeks to examine how student teachers' motivational profile and their experiences of value, enjoyment, and effort are related to their perceptions of the e-portfolio in a PBL environment. Participants in this study were 413 students teachers enrolled in the Diploma in Education programme at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. Results were consistent with SDT and suggest that students with more self-determined forms of motivation and who reported enjoying, valuing, and putting effort into the process were more likely to view e-portfolios in PBL in a positive light.