 [Portfolio Assessment]
[Types of Portfolio Assessment and Guidance For Assessment]
A portfolio is a purposeful
collection of a student’s work that tells a story of effort, progress, or
achievement.
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[2019]
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[Tasneem Ahmed]
[SunShine ]
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Contents
Portfolio
Definition:
·
A
the portfolio is a purposeful collection of a student’s work that tells a story of
effort, progress, or achievement
Or
·
A
collection of student work that demonstrates achievement or improvement”
(Stiggins 1994)
·
Portfolios
are a great classroom assessment for students. Portfolios measure student
growth over longer periods of time than normal assessments.
·
Student
The portfolio is the cumulative assessment or collection of students work, samples,
progress and achievement in one or more area.
Guidelines for Using Portfolios
·
Identify
purpose
·
Select
objectives
·
Think
about the kinds of entries that will best match instructional outcomes
·
Decide
how much to include, how to organize the portfolio, where to keep it and when
to access it
·
Decide
who selects the entries (the student, the teacher, both)
·
Set
the criteria for judging the work (rating scales, rubrics, checklists) and make
sure students understand the criteria.
·
Review
the student’s progress
·
Hold
portfolio conferences with students to discuss their progress.
Guidelines for Developing Portfolios
According to De Fina (1997) when decided the contents of a portfolio,
two compelling factors should be kept in mind:
1.
The students’ desires and the purpose of collecting each item. Ideally, the
portfolio should be as a student- centred as possible and the teachers
facilitate, guide, and offer choices rather than inform, direct, and
predetermine priorities.
2. It should be remembered in the process
of preparing a portfolio that each student has different cognitive, effective,
psychomotor skills, different experiences, social environments and
socio-economic levels.
Determining the Purpose of the Portfolio
The aim of teacher using
a portfolio is to assess the progress of the student over a period of time, to
determine the efficiency of the teaching, to have a connection with the parents
of the students, to evaluate the education program, to enable schools to have
contact with the service, to help students for self- assessment and to
determine the students’ weak points in the learning process (Mumme, 1991; De Fina,
1992). During determining the purpose of the portfolio, it is very important
for teachers to consult his colleagues, students, parents and school
administrations.
Innovative Portfolio Ideas trying a variety of strategies
Depending on the portfolio, a variety of documentation strategies can be
used. Students can organize paper documents including papers, artwork, written
assessments, teacher-written feedback, peer reviews, and other learning evidence
in a notebook or scrapbook. These paper documents can be scanned; students can
record interviews and create videos for digital portfolios. Finding resources:
Teachers can assist students in discovering resources to use in developing the
portfolio. Examples of resources include digital cameras, video equipment,
technology resources, and workers to assist individual students.
Guidelines for Portfolio Assessment
Portfolio assessment should be multidimensional and in order to make a
reliable assessment, data should be collected from different sources such as
student himself, teachers, student’s friends and parents. The portfolio which
was used for mathematics course in 1990 in Vermont State, in the USA, consisted of
only problem-solving activities. In this portfolio application students have
been asked to present the solutions of open-ended problems in detail.
Determining Assessment Criteria
First, the purpose of a portfolio is mentioned explicitly and then,
assessment criteria of each item in a portfolio need to be
explained. Assessment criterion allows students to recognize, and select work
that is considered high quality. Assessment criteria should be clear and easy
to understand. This is quite important in terms of a student to assess his own
works and to be able to fulfil his weaknesses. Rubrics should be used in order
to determine the quality of the evidence in a portfolio and to make a reliable and
valid assessment.
Purpose of portfolio
Evaluating coursework quality, learning
progress, and academic achievement.Determining whether students have met
learning standards or other academic requirements for courses Tests and quizzes
give teachers information about what students know at a particular point in
time, but portfolios can document how students have grown, matured, and
improved as learners over the course of a project, school year, or multiple
year.
Purpose of Portfolio Assessment
- · Portfolio the assessment gives a profile of learners’ abilities in terms of depth, breadth, and growth
- · Portfolio assessment is a tool for assessing a variety of skills
- · Develops independent and active learners
- · Develops social skills
- · Portfolio assessment can improve motivation for learning and this achievement
- · Portfolio the assessment provides an opportunity for student-teacher dialogue.
·
Portfolio provides
multiple ways of assessing students’ learning over time. It provides a more
realistic evaluation of academic content than a pencil- and paper tests. It
allows students, parent, teacher and staff to evaluate the students’ strength
and weakness. It provides multiple opportunities for observation and
assessment. It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate his/her
strengths as well as weakness. It encourages students to develop some abilities
needed to become an independent, self-directed learner. It encourages students to
think of creative ways to share what they are learning. It increases support to
students from their parents and enhances communication among teachers, students
and parents. It encourages teachers to change their instructional practice and
it is a powerful way to link curriculum and instruction with the assessment.
·
It
can provide opportunities for learners to demonstrate his/her weakness and
strengths and for teachers to direct their teaching. It also can encourage
students to take responsibility for their own learning, and enhance
student-teacher communication. Portfolio gives detailed information about students’
development in the learning process to teacher, parents and student’s
themselves. Portfolio assessment is a tool for assessing a variety of skills.
Develops social skills. Portfolio assessment develops independent and active
learners.
Types of Portfolio 1
The types of
portfolios are varied according to their purpose and collected items in it.
Therefore, many researchers define different types of portfolio. According to
Haladyn (1997), there are five types of portfolios that 1. Ideal, 2 Showcases,
3 Documentation, 4 Evaluations, 5 Class portfolio.
1. The ideal portfolio contains students’
all works. It is not given to students a grade.
2. The showcase portfolio is included only
of the students’ best works. It is important for students to select own works
and to reflect their works.
3. The documentation portfolio involves a
collection of work over time showing growth and improvement reflecting
students' learning of identified outcomes. This portfolio contains quality and
quantity data.
4. The evaluation portfolio includes a
standardized collection of students’ work and could be determined by the
teacher or, in some cases, by the student. This portfolio is suitable for
grading students.
5. The class portfolio contains student’s
grade, teacher’s view and knowledge about students in the classroom. This
portfolio can be defined as a classroom portfolio.
Types of Portfolio 2
·
Slater
(1996) describes there types of a portfolio as 1. Showcase, 2. Open-format and 3.
Checklist portfolio a showcase portfolio is a limited portfolio where a student
is only allowed to present a few pieces of evidence to demonstrate mastery of
learning objectives.
·
In
an open-format portfolio, students are allowed to submit anything they wish to
be considered as evidence for mastery of a given list of learning objectives.
·
A
checklist portfolio is composed of a predetermined number of items. Often, a
a course syllabus will have a predetermined number of assignments for students to
complete.
Types of Portfolio 3
Mlograno
(2000, p.101), who made more detailed descriptions, defines nine types of
portfolios.
- ·
Personal portfolio:
The portfolio could contain pictures, awards, videos, or other memorabilia.
- ·
Working portfolio:
The ongoing, systematic collection of student work samples and exhibits can be
maintained in a working portfolio. This collection of daily, weekly, monthly,
or unit work products forms.
- Record-keeping portfolio: This type of portfolio
is usually kept by teachers. It contains necessary assessment samples and
records that may be required (e.g., written exams, proficiency tests). It could
also include observational information (e.g., subjective notes, frequency index
scales, narrative descriptors, behaviour checklists) and progress reports cards.
- ·
Group portfolio:
Each member of a cooperative learning group contributes individual items along
with group items (e.g., samples, pictures, community project) to demonstrate
the effectiveness of the entire group.
- ·
Thematic portfolio:
This portfolio would relate to a unit of study with a particular focus,
normally lasting from 2 to 6 weeks. For example, if a portfolio is constructed
related to "Rational Numbers", “Force” unit, this portfolio could
reflect cognitive and affective skills and their views about these units.
- ·
Integrated portfolio:
To view, the whole student works from all disciplines showing connections
between or among subjects would be included. Selected items, either required or
optional, could be drawn from several or all subjects. For example, this
portfolio can be prepared in math and science courses.
- ·
Showcase portfolio:
A limited number of items are selected to exhibit growth over time and to serve
a particular purpose. Usually, only the student's best works are included.
- ·
Electronic portfolio:
In an electronic portfolio, data is arranged and stored online with the help of
online webs and blog. Electronic portfolios offer many advantages such as to
collect, and store, and manage the information electronically according to
traditional portfolios. In recent years, because of the educational
opportunities supported by technological development, electronic portfolios
are used much more.
- ·
Multiyear portfolio:
Students would collect items from a cluster of grade levels over 2-, 3-, or
4-year intervals. The multiyear portfolio would be stored at the school. For
example, this portfolio can be used to follow students’ progress periodically
during primary and secondary school and university education.
Important
Points in Portfolio Developing
Process
·
Asturias
(1994, p.87) and De Fina (1992, p.14) made some suggestions to solve this
problem and enable portfolio as an important learning and assessment tool. Some
of them are as follows;
·
It
should be consulted to teachers, students, parents and school administrations
in deciding which items would be placed in it
· It should be created a shared, clear purpose for using portfolios.
· Students should clearly understand what purpose of and for whom a portfolio is consisted.
· It should reflect the actual day-to-day learning activities of students.
· It should be ongoing so that they show students’ efforts, progress, and achievements over a period of time.
· Items in a portfolio should be collected as a systematic, purposeful, and meaningful.
· It should give opportunities for students in selecting pieces they consider most reprehensive of themselves as learners to be placed into their portfolios, and to establish criteria for their selections.
· It should be viewed as a part of the learning process rather than merely as recordkeeping tools, as a way to enhance students’ learning
· Share the criteria that will be used to assess the work in the portfolio as well as in which the result is to be used
· Teachers should give feedback to students, parents about the use of the portfolio.
· It should be created a shared, clear purpose for using portfolios.
· Students should clearly understand what purpose of and for whom a portfolio is consisted.
· It should reflect the actual day-to-day learning activities of students.
· It should be ongoing so that they show students’ efforts, progress, and achievements over a period of time.
· Items in a portfolio should be collected as a systematic, purposeful, and meaningful.
· It should give opportunities for students in selecting pieces they consider most reprehensive of themselves as learners to be placed into their portfolios, and to establish criteria for their selections.
· It should be viewed as a part of the learning process rather than merely as recordkeeping tools, as a way to enhance students’ learning
· Share the criteria that will be used to assess the work in the portfolio as well as in which the result is to be used
· Teachers should give feedback to students, parents about the use of the portfolio.
Supply Content
Making a portfolio
requires students to use the higher-order cognitive skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy
of educational objectives (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation).portfolios are
particularly useful for teaching students how to evaluate their own work.
Portfolios may work for formative assessment but are very difficult to use for
summative assessment because scoring is unreliable. Standardizing a portfolio
makes it easier to score with some confidence that the score is reliable. Standardizing
a portfolio means that it is no longer only the individual story of a student’s
efforts, progress, and achievement. The individual nature of a portfolio has
always been considered one of its virtues. We saw these portfolios as learners’
working documents that allowed us to see evidence of thinking, ideas, action,
and reflection in real time skills, contents that can be found in the
portfolios some of the contents include essays, art, graphs, journaling,
standardized test scores, and other classroom assessments material.
Examples of portfolios for Science subjects
- · Charts, graphs created
- · Projects, examples, posters
- · Lab reports
- · Research reports
- · Tests
- · Student reflections (weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly)
Conclusion
In sum, portfolio assessment
provides a more authentic and valid assessment of students’ achievement and
comprehensive views of students’ performances in contexts, and encourages
students to develop independent and self-directed learners, and enhances
communication among teacher, student and parents.
