Assessment of Student Learning 2

Chapter 7

Nature of Portfolio Assessment

Objectives: At the end of this chapter, students are able to plan portfolio assessment tools of a specific
subject/course.

Introduction

One of the alternative methods in education used in the assessment of

the students' individual or group performance is a portfolio. A portfolio gives
more reliable and dynamic data about students for teachers, parents, and also a
student himself. A portfolio is a living and changing collection of records that
reflect your accomplishments, skills, experiences, and attributes. It highlights
and showcases samples of some of your best work, along with life experiences,
values, and achievements.

Purposes

Portfolios are collections of student work representing a selection of performance. Portfolios in

classrooms today are derived from the tradition of the visual and performing arts in which they serve to
showcase artists' accomplishments and personally favored works. A portfolio may be a folder containing
a student's best pieces and the student's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the pieces. It
may also include one or more works-in-progress that illustrates the creation of a product, such as an
essay, evolving through various stages of conception, drafting, and revision.

Differences in Assessment Outcomes between Portfolios and standardized Testing Practices

Portfolio Testing
Represents the range of reading and writing Assesses students across a limited range of
students are engage in reading and writing assignments which may
not match what students do
Engages students in assessing their progress Mechanically scored or scored by teachers
and/or accomplishments and establishing who have little input
ongoing learning goals
Measures each student's achievement while Assesses all students on the same dimension
allowing for individual differences between
students
Represents a collaborative approach to Assessment process is not collaborative
assessment
Has a goal of student self-assessment Student assessment is not a goal
Addresses improvement, effort, and Addresses achievement only
achievement
Links assessment and teaching to learning Separates learning, testing, and teaching
(Popham, 2011)
 Assessment of Student Learning 2

Portfolios contain relevant items from many different sources such as the composition
of students in the form of essay, reports, stories; presentation such as observations research
investigation, and projects; narrative and anecdotal records; rating scales, rubrics, self-
reflection and checklists; visual arts such as photofolio, drawings, paintings; performances as
the product, group work; and processes such as show-your work problems, stages of writing a
poem or a song.

As utilized in the classroom setting, portfolios have the same basic purpose and
principle to collect pieces of students' performances or products that show accomplishment or
improvement over time. These may be used depending on the purposes and foci of the
assessment to be measured. Thus, teachers should be guided with specific objects in the
process of collection.

1.1 Why Use Portfolio?

Portfolios can be used for many purposes. The utilization of a portfolio should be identified before the
collection of the work. Johnson and Johnson (2002) gave a comprehensive discussion on the uses of a
portfolio, viz:

1. Portfolios give students the opportunity to direct their own learning. Students can:
a. Document their efforts, achievements, development, and growth in knowledge skills,
expressions, and attitudes.
b. Use a variety of learning styles, modalities, and bits of intelligence.
c. Assess their own learning and decide which items best represent their achievement and
growth.
d. Set their future learning goals.

With these, portfolios make the students as part of the assessment process by requiring them to
reflect and analyze their work.

2. Portfolios can be used to determine students' level of achievement. Portfolios allow students
to present a holistic view of their academic achievements, skills, and outcomes. Portfolios allow
students to present their work over a period of time and show their progress in achieving
learning outcomes.
3. Portfolios can be used to understand how students think, reason, organize, investigate, and
communicate. Portfolios can provide insight into students' reasoning and intellectual
competencies by documenting students' progression of thought and work in achieving their
learning goals.
4. Portfolios can be used to communicate student efforts, progress toward accomplishing
learning goals, and accomplishments. Portfolios allow students to present their work as a whole
in relation to standards and criteria to peers, teachers, parents, college admission officers, and
so forth.
 Assessment of Student Learning 2

5. Portfolios can be used to evaluate and improve curriculum and instruction. Portfolios provide
a broad view on the effectiveness of the curriculum and instruction, thereby allowing teachers
to improve and enhance their instructional methods and curriculum materials.

Portfolios can encourage students to take more ownership and responsibility for the learning
process. In some schools, portfolios are a way for students to critique and evaluate their own work and
academic progress, often during the process of deciding what will be included in their portfolios.

1.2 Characteristics

Portfolio assessment is a multi-faceted process characterized by the following recurrent qualities:

1. It is continuous and ongoing, providing both formative (i.e., ongoing) and summative (i.e.,
culminating) opportunities for monitoring students' progress toward achieving essential
outcomes.
2. It is multidimensional, i.e., reflecting a wide variety of artifacts and processes reflecting various
aspects of students' learning process(es).
3. It provides for collaborative reflection, including ways for students to reflect on their own
thinking processes and meta-cognitive introspection as they monitor their own comprehension,
reflects upon their approaches to problem-solving and decision-making, and observe their
emerging understanding of subjects and skills.

Although approaches to portfolio development may vary, all of the major research and literature on
portfolios reinforce the following characteristics:

1. They clearly reflect stated learner outcomes identified in the core or essential curriculum that
students are expected to study.
2. They focus on students' performance-based learning experiences as well as their acquisition of
key knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
3. They contain samples of work that stretch over an entire marking period, rather than single
points in time.
4. They contain works that represent a variety of different assessment tools.
5. They contain a variety of work samples and evaluations of that work by the student, peers, and
teachers, possibly even parents' reactions.

2. Types of Portfolio

There are three types of the portfolio in education:

1. Showcase Portfolio. It contains products that demonstrate how capable the owner is at any
given moment.
2. Assessment Portfolio. It contains products that can be used to assess the owner's competences.
3. Growth/ Development Portfolio. Shows how the owner (has) developed and therefore
demonstrates growth. This type of portfolio will often also contain products from various stages
 Assessment of Student Learning 2

of the process, stages in which feedback has been received, and possibly also products from
work still in progress.

The growth portfolio emphasizes the process of learning, whereas the showcase portfolio
emphasizes the products of learning. Of course, a portfolio may tell more than one story, including
more than one category above. For example, a showcase portfolio might also be used for evaluation
purposes, and a growth/ development portfolio might also showcase "final" performances or
products. What is critical is that the purpose(s) is clear throughout the process to student, teacher,
and any other pertinent audience.

3. The Characteristics of an Effective Portfolio

Portfolio assessment is a multi-faceted process characterized by the following recurrent qualities:

1. It is continuous and ongoing, providing both formative (i.e., ongoing) and summative (i.e.,
culminating) opportunities for monitoring students' progress toward achieving essential
outcomes.
2. It is multidimensional, i.e., reflecting a wide variety of artifacts and processes reflecting various
aspects of students' learning process(es).
3. It provides for collaborative reflection, including ways for students to reflect on their thinking
processes and meta-cognitive introspection as they monitor their own comprehension, reflects
upon their approaches to problem-solving and decision-making, and observe their emerging
understanding of subjects and skills.

4. Element of Portfolio

The contents of a portfolio may be determined by the students who decide what to include in their
portfolio; the cooperative learning group, their classmates who can recommend what to include in the
portfolio; and the teacher, school or the division who can specify work samples and components to be
included in the portfolio, it could be an essay or photographs and other documents which strengthen
the students' learning outcomes. The Illustration below is an example of the best works portfolio in
different field of studies.

The Best Works Portfolio

Subject Area Individual Student Cooperative Group

Science The best solution to a scientific The best scientific experiment
problem posed by the instructor, conducted, project completed
Review of a scientific article, laboratory.
work conducted, original
hypothesis formulated, position
paper on a scientific issue, log or
journal entry from a long-term
experiment.
 Assessment of Student Learning 2

Mathematics The best solution to a problem The best project completed,

posed by the instructor, a small business planned and
description of how to solve a initiated.
mathematical problem, a review
of a mathematics article,
biography of mathematician,
original mathematics theory
developed,
photo/diagram/concept map of
mathematical idea investigated.
Language Arts The best compositions in a The best dramatic production,
variety of styles-expository video project, TV broadcast,
humor/satire, creative (poetry, newspaper, advertising display.
drama, short story), journalistic
(reporting, editorial columnist,
reviewer) and advertising copy.
Social Studies The best historical research The best community survey,
paper, opinion essay on paper resulting from academic
historical issue, commentary on compilation, multidimensional
current event, original analysis of historical event,
controversy, oral history press corps interview with
historical theory, review of a historical figure
historical biography, account of
academic controversy
participated in
Fine Arts The best creative products The best creative
such as drawings, paintings products such as
sculptures, pottery, poems murals, plays written
dramatic performance and performed,
inventions thought of and built
(Johnson, 2002)

But generally, the portfolio has its distinct elements which are expected and included
from outputs of the students, viz:
1. Cover Sheet. This creatively includes the nature of the student's (or group's) work and could be
in the form of a letter. It also reflects the progress of the learners as it summarizes the evidence
of student's learning and progress. The table below shows a sample portfolio cover sheet.
2. Table of contents. This includes the title of each work sample and its page number.
3. Work samples. These are entries that are to be included in the portfolio, which can be
categorized as core (samples which are needed to include) and optional (students preference on
what to include). The core is the basic elements required for each student and serves as the
basis for the decision in assessing the student's work. On the other hand, the optional entries
allow the folder to represent the creativity and uniqueness of each student. In the introduction
 Assessment of Student Learning 2

of the work samples, it is a must to include the rationale, explaining what work samples are
included, why each one is significant, and how they all fit together in a holistic view of the
student's (or group's work).
4. Dates of all sample work to facilitate evidence of growth over time.
5. Drafts of the written products, or even the seminal attempts in writing the write ups for the
portfolio and the revised version based on the corrected versions.
6. Self-assessment. This is written by the student or the group members which could be in terms
of self- reflection and analysis or a form of insights. The teacher may include questions that can
facilitate the assessment of the students.
7. Future goals. This is based on the student's (or group's) current achievements, interests, and
progress.
8. Other's comments and assessments. This may came from the teacher, cooperative learning
groups, and other interested parties such as the parents.

Final Portfolio

Name/Group:____________________________ Date: _________________

Grade/Year Level:________________________ Section: _______________
Subject/Course:__________________________
Purpose:______________________________________________________________________
Types of Portfolio:____________________________

Entries Scores Comment/Suggestions

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Total Grade
Recommendations:

Suggested Future Goals:

Final Portfolio Grade: ______________________________ Evaluator: ________________

Taken from Johnson and Johnson (2002)

 Assessment of Student Learning 2

EXPLORE
Discuss the concepts of the nature of portfolio assessment the following situations.

1. After graduation, you plan to apply for a teaching position in a reputable school and one of the
requirements is for you to construct a teaching portfolio that will show your qualifications for the
position being applied for. What evidence (performance or product) will you include in your
portfolio? Explain you answer.

2. During the PTA meeting, Mrs. Geronimo, mother of your student John, happens to see and examine
the portfolio of her son and daughter, Wena, from another class. After spending almost 40 minutes
going through the portfolio of her son and skimming the portfolio of her daughter, Mrs. Geronimo
approached you and said, "My daughter's portfolio is very impressive and outstanding. To be
honest, John's portfolio is less polished but I think he included everything in your class, the products
and performances. Why is there a difference in final rating?" How would you respond to Mrs.
Geronimo's inquiry?

3. You are asked to evaluate the last portfolio you have submitted, how will you process it? Do you
think your portfolio satisfies its purpose, use, and characteristics? Discuss your answer.
 Assessment of Student Learning 2

APPLY

Name: ___________________________________________ Date:_______________

Concept Mapping
Construct a concept map showing the relationship between the types, issues, and characteristics
of rubrics.

Rubrics
 Assessment of Student Learning 2

References:

Book/Journal:

Birgin, O., & Adnan, B. (2007). The use of portfolio to assess student's performance. Journal of Turkish
science education, 4(2), 75-90.

Cajigal, R.M. and Mantuano, M.D. (2014). Assessment of Learning 2. Adriana Publishing Company, QC.

Website:

https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/classuse.html

http://careercenter.cofc.edu/documents/portfolio.pdf

https://www.edglossary.org/portfolio/

http://strategyeducation.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-characteristics-of-effective.html

https://www.ru.nl/lecturers/education/educational-design/portfolio-education/various-types-portfolio/

http://strategyeducation.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-characteristics-of-effective.html