Nursing Students' Experiences in the Use of Digital Portfolio in Academic Thesis

Abstract

Introduction: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital tools have been implemented in the education of nursing students, including the digital or electronic portfolio in different subjects, but there are few studies on its use in the thesis process.

Objective: To describe the use of the digital portfolio in the academic thesis according to the experiences of nursing students in a private university.

Methods: Descriptive qualitative research conducted in a private university in Chiclayo, Peru, between July and August 2021. The population consisted of 32 nursing students taking the Thesis II course, the sample, composed of 16 students, was by convenience and achieved by the criteria of saturation and redundancy of the data. For data collection, a semi-structured interview with virtual modality was applied through the Zoom platform and WhatsApp, with the precedent of informed consent. The data were processed by content analysis.

Results: four categories were obtained: a) Implementation of a tool for the thesis, b) Ordered information, evidence in progress and access to evaluation, c) Complication due to lack of Internet, time and distribution of information in folders, d) Possibility of the effective use of the digital portfolio for the future.

Conclusions: The use of the digital portfolio with the use of google drive constitutes a useful tool for data collection and thesis report, because it is easy to access, secure and has a high storage capacity. But in times of pandemic, where lessons are virtual, students experienced difficulties with Internet connectivity.