Portfolio and Authentic Assessment    

All graduate students must, in addition to all other requirements for graduation, complete a portfolio as a reflection of what they have learned through their efforts in graduate school.  The purpose is twofold.  First, it provides the student with a method for organizing and reflecting on the graduate academic experience.  Secondly, it provides faculty of the Department of Recreation Management and Therapeutic Recreation with a tool for assessing learning outcomes in the graduate program (the purpose here is not to assess individual students, but to use a collection of portfolios to assess and improve the education that graduate students are receiving in the department).

Responsibility of the Student

1. Each student must develop a student portfolio (explained below).

2. The portfolio must be reviewed at least twice, once in the first year as an evaluation of          portfolio quality (amount of effort, content, depth of coverage, format, etc...), once toward the        end of the program of study as final review and approval.

Portfolio Defined

The simplest definition of a portfolio is a collection of materials that tells a particular story.  Anything that helps tell the story in a clear and complete way merits inclusion.  A slightly more complete definition is; 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 (Paulson, Paulson, and Meyer, 1991).

Portfolios are not a collection of everything about an effort jammed into a 3-ring binder or accordion file.  They are orderly collections of materials that explain a project, the learning that occurred during that project, the student’s feelings and assessments about the project, and the external review conducted by peers and/or teachers.  Each item should be dated, and a cumulative table of contents maintained.  The portfolio should be ongoing (continual vs. focussed assessment), part of the process rather than a review following completion of the effort.

Portfolio Contents

Proponents of portfolios claim that their advantages over traditional assessment include 1) review of the full range of the student’s work, 2) allowance for students to be involved in goal setting and assessment, 3) consideration for individual student differences, 4) encouragement of collaborative assessment, 5) focus on improvement and effort, and 6) an intentional effort to link assessment directly to teaching and learning (i.e. part of the process) (Melograno, 1994).

Portfolios commonly include;

·     table of contents

·     statement of purpose and anticipated outcomes

·     art work

·     photographs and videotapes of events

·     tests and homework assignments

·     selected readings or excerpts from readings

·     samples of student work

·     peer assessments

·     instructor assessments

·     self-administered assessments

·     reflections

·     task sheets

·     pre-project inventory (expected outcomes, purpose for study, statement of prior knowledge)

·     self-assessment checklists

·     journal entries

·     independent study contracts

In approaching your portfolio, Zessoules and Gardner (1991) recommend that you;

1. tackle the project work regularly and frequently (slow and regular vs. cram)

2. regularly judge your work

3. collaborate and converse with others (advice, encouragement, other perspectives)

4. identify your real audience (are you doing this for your instructor or yourself)

5. picture the learning not only as requirement, but journal of academic career and tool for life       of learning.

References

Hill, B.C., Kamber, P., and Norwick, L.  1994.  Six Ways to Make Student Portfolios More Useful and Manageable.  Instructor, 10(1): 118-121.

Melograno, V.J. 1994.  Portfolio Assessment: Documenting Authentic Student Learning. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.  65(8):50-61.

Paris, S.G., and Ayres, L.R. 1994. Becoming Reflective Students and Teachers: With Portfolios and Authentic Assessment.  Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Paulson, F.L., Paulson, P.R., and Meyer, C.A. 1991.  What Makes a Portfolio a Portfolio. Educational Leadership, 48(5): 60-63.

Zessoules, R., and Gardner, H. 1991. Authentic assessment: Beyond the Buzzword and Into the Classroom.  In V. Perrone, ed., Expanding Student Assessment (pp. 47-71) Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and curriculum Development.