The “friend of zone of proximal development” role: ePortfolios as boundary objects

This research investigates how a role called "friend of zone of proximal development" (ZPD), assigned to one student in a peer partnership, supports the transition from university to professional life. Two near-identical blended courses are compared. In Course 1 (6 F, 3 M), the friend of ZPD role was introduced into the ePortfolio structure. In Course 2 (6 F, 3 M), this role was not introduced. Students taking up the "friend of ZPD" role offered comments and advice. A total of 790 notes, posted by 9 students (average age: 24) for each course, were analysed. Through a quantitative analysis of the notes, we identify 3 emerging identity positions: I-as-university learner; I-as-informal learner; and I-as-future professional. Course 1 registered a higher number of identity positions, and the I-as-future-professional position was the most frequent. Further, sudents who predominantly took up the I-as-university-learner position had the lowest grades. Findings suggest that a poor projection towards the profession may compromise student learning outcomes.