Portfolios
“The best predictor of future success is past performance.
Learning outcomes for this assignment
- Know what portfolio is
- Different uses of portfolio
- How Qualitative Assessment of Portfolio becomes a quantitative mark
I believe in the value of portfolios as a means of providing evidence of authentic learning, in the right contexts. I use a space in this wiki for my teaching portfolio (a “collection” of events e.g. workshops, seminars, teaching responsibilities, etc.), as well as a separate blog which I use for writing reflective posts and to gather evidence of my professional development e.g. Twitter posts, Diigo highlights, notes from workshops, etc.
I'm opposed to the idea that portfolios be structured in anything other than a very loose sense, as the structure imposes a pattern on the learner. Obviously this helps with assessment, but also limits the learner in terms of how they are able to express themselves. Of course, sometimes learners require structure, especially when the topic is new. As they grow and develop though, they need to have the flexibility to move beyond the boundaries imposed by structured portfolios, in order to follow their own path to meaningful learning. Every portfolio should be different, as every person sees the world in their own unique way.
I'd suggest that portfolios must be digital. The ability to link ideas within the portfolio to those that exist outside is essential, as is the integration of multimedia to support learning.
Why portfolios?
Portfolios are useful for the representation of different “types of knowing”. All too often we associate “knowledge” with the ability to recite facts, but portfolios allow a more nuanced appreciation of the many different conceptions of “what knowledge is”. They allow us to present evidence of personal and professional development in a variety of domains. Portfolios can also be used to develop:
- Reflective learning
- Experiential learning
- Clinical reasoning (or deep thinking of any kind)
- Communication skills
- Evidence of the above
Assessment of portfolios
- How do you assign a quantitative mark to what is essentially a qualitative piece of work?
- Giving the student an opportunity to present their portfolio before formal grading makes a significant difference in terms of providing context and background
- It also allows for peer feedback/assessment
- Selection of items from the portfolio for deeper examination during an interview process following an initial review of the portfolio
- Examiner thinks of themselves as a learner during the process of assessment i.e. changing one's viewpoint
- Begin with figuring out how you're going to do the assessment, then plan the development of the portfolio. This makes sense, since constructive alignment of curricula means that outcomes, content and assessment are all aligned and related, so we should begin from one and move through the others. We should begin every learning experience with an understanding of the outcomes.
- Are portfolios appropriate for formative or summative assessment?
- Full portfolios are seldom able to be assessed in detail. I suppose this depends on the extent of the portfolio?
- The more structured the tasks, the more reliable is the assessment, but then they are also less student-centred.
Example of portfolio assignment
The following is an example of a portfolio assignment I gave to our 3rd year students in 2009 as part of the Professional Ethics in Physiotherapy module that I teach. I was initially anxious over it's development, as I had no experience of having tried anything like it before. Luckily, I subscribe to the idea that life is more interesting when it's in chaos.
Learning objectives
By completing this portfolio assignment, you should have achieved the following learning objectives:
- Demonstrated an understanding of the role of human rights in South African healthcare
- Clearly documented a reflective process that shows evidence of professional development and learning in the area of health and human rights
- Demonstrated clearly how this assignment will impact on your professional and personal development as a healthcare practitioner
- Showed a creative approach in designing and presenting your portfolio on human rights in South Africa
What is a portfolio?
Strictly speaking, a portfolio consists of a selection of work / artefacts collected over a period of time, and which is built around a particular topic or idea. It allows you to showcase a talent or skill in a way that is outside the boundaries of traditional assessment, and demonstrates you ability to make thoughtful choices about content and presentation.
The purpose of the portfolio is to make a personal statement about what you are learning during this modules and how it has impacted on your development as a thoughtful practitioner. You should use it to present evidence of your progress towards achieving the learning objectives identified earlier. You would do this by clearly making connections between the artefacts you have collected and the learning objectives of the assignment.
A portfolio also serves as a means for you to reflect on what it means to make ethical choices, both in your professional and personal capacity. You use it to tell your own personal story about what these themes mean to you. One way to think about your portfolio is in terms of collecting, reflecting, selecting and connecting.
Designing your portfolio
For the purposes of this assignment, a portfolio can be thought of as any collection of evidence, using any medium of transmission you choose. This means that it can be:
- Digital - Powerpoint presentation, blog postings
- Paper based - newspaper / magazine cuttings
- Neither – write a play that illustrates the themes of the assignment
The portfolio content can be made up of:
- Words - Poetry, song lyrics, fairy tales
- Images – Photos, art, paintings, sketches
- Video – collections of videos (e.g. from YouTube) with a consistent theme
Think about how you will use colour, sound (or lack of sound…silence can be an effective tool) or movement to get your message across. Above all, make sure that you choose a topic / idea, medium and message that you feel strongly about. Try to identify and make connections between what you want to present in your portfolio and the module content that is covered in class. There is no length requirement, although your presentation should be no more than 2 minutes.
Presenting your portfolio
Before submitting your portfolio, you will be required to present it to the class, who will mark your work (this peer review will count for 20% of your total for the assignment). Consider the following points when you make your presentation:
- Give a brief introduction to the portfolio, explaining why you chose that topic, what makes it important to you and what is it's relevance to the ethics module
- Go on to discuss a section / component that you think is the best example in the portfolio
- Discuss why you chose that example
- Reflect on what you've learned during the process
Marking rubric
I designed this rubric based on a collection of examples I obtained through shared examples that I found online.
Your portfolio will be assessed using the following rubric (guidelines):
- Content: Is the portfolio aligned with the subject matter of the module? Is it relevant and appropriate? Relationships between main themes of the assignment? Demonstration of insight and reflection? (40%)
- Organisation: Is it well structured? Is there a logical sequence? Is there a beginning, middle and end? (30%)
- Language: Is the assignment easy to understand, is it concise, does it make sense? Are grammar and spelling correct? (10%)
- Creativity: What materials were used? Is it interesting? visually appealing? (10%)
- Objectives: Does the portfolio address the assignment objectives? (10%)
References
- Designing a portfolio assignment. University of Washington, Learning and Scholarly Technologies. Retrieved 14/06/09 from http://catalyst.washington.edu/help/planning/portfolio_design.html
- Dalziel, C. (2008). Using ePortfolios to combat plagiarism. Paper presented at the Ascilite conference in Melbourne.
- Davis, M. H., & Ponnamperuma, G. G. (2010). Examiner perceptions of a portfolio assessment process. Medical teacher, 32(5), e211-5. doi: 10.3109/01421591003690312
- Mubuuke, A. G., Kiguli-Malwadde, E., Kiguli, S., & Businge, F. (2010). A Student Portfolio: The Golden Key to Reflective, Experiential, and Evidence-based Learning. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, 41(2), 72-78. doi: 10.1016/j.jmir.2010.03.001
- Vantartwijk, J., Vanrijswijk, M., Tuithof, H., & Driessen, E. (2008). Using an analogy in the introduction of a portfolio. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 927-938. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2007.11.001