emily springfield 2004 espring/eport/ educational portfolios: an overview

Emily Springfield 2004 http://www-personal.umich.edu/~espring/ePort/

Educational Portfolios: an

Overview


Session Outline

• Portfolio creators• Student portfolio uses• Portfolio scopes• Portfolio parts• Portfolio formats• Pitfalls to avoid• Break• Workshop


Portfolio Creators

• Creators:– Students

• Details on subsequent slides

– Faculty• For tenure review• Benchmark course portfolios (current state of learning)• Inquiry course portfolios (track change across sections)

– Institutions• Accreditation• Recruiting


Student Portfolio Scopes

• Within one class• Within one major / across core courses• Across an entire program or school


Student Portfolio Uses

• Functions:– Career portfolios demonstrate skills and

supplement resume and cover letter– Assessment portfolios help determine if

students have mastered information– Developmental portfolios help students

make connections and articulate the intangible

• Forms:– Paper, Web, CD-ROM, video, combination


Career Portfolios

• Often viewed as “Electronic Resumes”• Demonstrates skills, samples of work,

pictures, etc.• Allows employers to view the level of

detail they want to see• Motivating power: High: similar to a

resume


Career Portfolio: Dangers

• Resume and cover letter must stand on their own– Employers may not take time to look at

them– Technology may be a barrier

• Too much “flash” and not enough “substance”

• Mid-level computer skills might not be good enough


Career Portfolio: Example

Lisa Abate (Student of Indiana University's Instructional Systems Technology program, which requires a final professional portfolio)


Assessment Portfolios

• Determine if students have mastered information, skills, concepts

• Used to assess writing, studio or applied art, teaching materials, etc.

• Require collections of “artifacts”--papers, photos, drawings, lesson plans, etc.

• Mid-term and final assessment of learning• Motivating power: Mid: similar to an exam


Assessment Portfolios: Dangers

• Poorly expressed or nonexistent goals for the Portfolio

• Collecting too much information• End of course may be too late• May be redundant or inefficient, esp. for

objectively-evaluated materials. – Do you really need a Portfolio to do the job?


Assessment Portfolios: Example

Mark Kenefick (Student of Indiana University's Instructional Systems Technology program, which requires a final professional portfolio)


Developmental Portfolios

• Help students make connections and articulate the intangible

• Enhance experiential learning through reflection

• Help students make informed, intentional decisions

• MAKE STUDENTS THINK!• Motivating power: Low: similar to a

journal


Developmental Portfolios: Dangers

• Collection without reflections• Runs risk of becoming “just another

requirement”• Must be completed thoughtfully to be

beneficial • Web format does not guarantee

connections• Students and faculty both need to

understand why they are participating


Developmental Portfolios: Example

Kate Jenks (Student of Kalamazoo College, which requires an ongoing developmental portfolio)


Portfolio “Types”

• Misnomer – most portfolios serve more than one purpose

• Need to address each purpose individually and consciously


Portfolio Parts

Comparing pfolios from several disciplines, most have the following features:

• Requirements (set by the college)• Benchmarks (set by state or a board)• Artifacts (collected student work)• Reflections or annotations (by student)• Comments (from professor or advisor)• “Resume” view (for employers)


Portfolio Formats

Is the Technology Worth the Benefit?


“Paper” Portfolios

• Media Used– Word files – either printed or submitted electronically– Three-ring binder– Printed photos, clip art, brochures, etc.

• Advantages– Easiest to make – little or no software training

needed– Highest resolution – good for visual artists– Students focus more on content

• Disadvantages– Usually only one copy exists; hard to share– Mistakes can be hard to fix


Web Portfolios

• Media Used– Dreamweaver, SiteMaker, Contribute

• Advantages– Easy accessibility and storage– Cross-linking capabilities; audio/video– Improvement of computer skills

• Disadvantages– Software learning curve– Too much focus on format instead of content– Software, training, and storage costs– Bandwidth problems

“Web pages” can be delivered online, or

on disc or CD. Best for career portfolios .


CD/DVD Portfolios

• Media Used– Web design: Dreamweaver, Contribute, SiteMaker– Presentation: PowerPoint, Authorware, Flash– Audio/video: RealProducer, QuickTime

• Advantages– Similar to web portfolios– No bandwidth problems

• Disadvantages– Similar to web portfolios– Can’t be updated – you have to burn a new disk– Highest hardware costs (CD or DVD burners)

PowerPoint is usuallythe easiest “rich” format

for students to use.


Video Portfolios

• Media Used– VHS or digital video camera– Audio/video editing and production software: Visual

Communicator, Audition, RealProducer, QuickTime

• Advantages– Captures performances that do not translate to

words

• Disadvantages– Not well indexed; little reflection; steep learning

curve.– Better to do clips embedded in other portfolio type.


Proprietary Formats

• Media Used– Dozens of programs exist that claim “out of the box”

portfolio creation

• Advantages– Could eliminate formatting issues

• Disadvantages– Haven’t yet found one that really speaks to different

portfolio uses– Expense


How to Choose?

If the primary purpose of your portfolio is…

Your best format choices are…

Career presentation CD or Web, with images and video as appropriate

Assessment “Paper,” PowerPoint, or Web

Reflection “Paper”

Unless students have a high degree of technical skills (or are supposed to develop them), use the following guidelines:


Pitfalls to Avoid

• Portfolio goals not clear to faculty and/or students.

• Portfolios that try to do too much.• Portfolios that try to work in

isolation. • Portfolios that over-use technology.


Short Break


Workshop

• Fill out Portfolio Program Creation Worksheet

• Swap with someone and critique/clarify

emily springfield 2004 espring/eport/ educational portfolios: an overview

Documents

emily springfield

espringeport career

resume slide

combination slide

school slide

overview slide

exam slide

break workshop slide