portfolio assessment
Digital Portfolios
And Portfolio
Assessment
portfolio assessment
Defined
A portfolio, electronic or
paper, is simply an
organized collection of
completed work.
A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that
exhibits the student's efforts, progress and achievements
in one or more areas. The collection must include student
participation in selecting contents, the criteria for
selection, the criteria for judging merit, and evidence of
student self-reflection.
portfolio assessment
WHY Portfolio Assessment?
Portfolios can enhance the assessment process
by:
• encouraging student, teacher, and institutional
reflection
• emphasizing performance outcomes
and project based classes
• providing for continuity in education from
one year to the next.
• encouraging self-directed learning.
• creating an intersection for instruction and
assessment.
• offering opportunities for peer-supported growth
(collaboration).
portfolio assessment
WHY Digital?
Of all the information that
we generate this year
(2004), only 0.01% of
that information will
ever be printed.*
*Lyman, Peter & Varian, Hal R. "Executive Summary." 27 Oct 2003. How Much
Information? 2003. Regents of the University of California. 23 May 2004
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info-2003/execsum.htm.
portfolio assessment
WHY Digital?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
minimal storage space
easy to share
easy to create back-up files
portability
long shelf life
learner-centered
increases technology skills
through hypertext links it is easier to make
argument that certain standards are met
• accessibility (especially web portfolios)
portfolio assessment
What ePortfolios Do
Provide faculty with evidence
of teaching excellence in the
form of actual student work
specifically related to
learning goals in an
outcomes-based syllabus
•Encourage reflective practices
•Support rubrics-based outcomes assessment for
accountability
•Provide a rich student-development and advising
environment
•Include co- and non-curricular student work in students‘
records
portfolio assessment
Three Major Types of
Assessment Structures
1. Class Based
2. Department Based
3. Institution Based
What is measured depends on what type of Portfolio is used.
portfolio assessment
Characteristics
performance assessments
require students to
generate rather than
choose a response
CHARACTERISTICS of Portfolio Assessment
• student is involved in meaningful performance tasks
•clear standards and criteria for excellence
•emphasis on reflection, metacognition and self-evaluation
•the student produces quality products and performances
•a positive interaction between assessor and assessee
portfolio assessment
Cons include:
• High maintenance costs--somebody, even if it's each
student, has to collect and organize the portfolio contents
• Seen by some as less reliable or fair than more
quantitative or standardized evaluations such as test
scores.
• Can be time consuming for teachers and staff, especially
if portfolios are done in addition to traditional testing and
grading.
• Teachers must develop their own individualized criteria,
which can be initially difficult or unfamiliar.
• Data from portfolio assessments can be difficult to analyze
or aggregate, particularly over long periods of time.
• Often difficult to integrate meaningfully into school cultures
where high stakes are placed on comparative student
ranking and standardized tests.
portfolio assessment
Pros include:
• Academic richness--portfolios reveal academic breadth
and depth, student reflection and development
• Personal contact--students tend to consult frequently with
faculty members when constructing portfolio contents.
• Students reflect upon their growth and performance as
learners.
• Help teachers standardize and evaluate the skills and
knowledge
• Help students be more accountable for the work they do in
class
• Aid in the diversification of approaches to teaching and
learning, thus increasing the connections with a wider range
of learners and learning styles.
• Involve students in the assessment process, thus giving
them a more meaningful role in improving achievement.
portfolio assessment
CAUTIONS
• Technology evolution/development is
unpredictable
• Although dozens of ePortfolios systems
are available; most do not interoperate,
and thus ePortfolios, ironically, are not
portable to another system.
• ePorfolio large-scale implementation is
curricular as well as technological; thus
implementation may be a two-four year
process.
• Whatever ePortfolio system we acquire
probably won't be the system we will be
using in three years.
portfolio assessment
So…..
1. Start anyway…..Begin with PowerPoint
•
Set up Templates for Individual Classes
•
•
Set up Templates for Departments
•
•
Structured around Syllabus Objectives
Structured around Discipline Specific Performance
Standards
Have Students burn on CDs
2. Investigate Portfolio Assessment Programs
at other Colleges
3. Investigate Web-Based database Portfolio
Systems
portfolio assessment
READINGS / REFERENCES
• The LDP ePortfolio Report
–
http://bearlink.berkeley.edu/ePortfolio/page2.html
• The Electronic Portfolio Boom: What’s it All About
–
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=6984
• Student Portfolios and Authentic Learning Outcomes
Assessment (.doc)
http://web.bryant.edu/~assess/Student_Portfolios_and_Authentic_Learning_Outcomes_Assessment.doc
• Using Electronic Portfolios for Curriculum
Assessment
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/FAMILY/ELECTRONIC_PORTFOLIOS_Proposal_Recommendation.htm
portfolio assessment
READINGS / REFERENCES
• The Kalamazoo portfolio: reflections,
connections, life
– http://www.kzoo.edu/pfolio/
– A comprehensive college-wide application of
portfolios.
• Alverno College's Diagnostic Digital Portfolio
– http://ddp.alverno.edu/
– An early pioneer in the use of portfolios in Teacher
Education, here us their website on their Diagnostic
Digital Portfolio which maintains key performances
portfolio assessment