An assessment strategy that I have used for many years is to have students collect and file their course work in a loose leaf notebook, or folder. This collection of student work is called a portfolio. In recent years, educators have been advocating that school science assessments include portfolios of students work. What are the characteristics of a portfolio?
To find out, read the descriptions of portfolios used in a college science methods course, and a high school science class.
"This year in
science, you will put your work in a three-ring binder. This
notebook, which we will call a portfolio, will belong to
you. It is to be kept in Room 25 at all times. In the first
section of the portfolio you will keep your personal record
sheet and a calendar of what we do each day in class. Here
are blank record sheets and blank calendar for September, to
begin your portfolio development process. You will also put
all the handouts from this class in this first section of
your portfolio. The second section will be a journal. Each
day at the end of class, you will have a few minutes to
write about what you did and learned and felt in your
science class. I will look at your journal and make sure you
have written something every day, but I will not grade what
you write in your journal. In the third section of your
portfolio, you will keep copies of all the activities we do
in science class---worksheets, laboratory notes, and group
work, for example. The section will be for homework. The
fifth and last section will be for review sheets and
quizzes. You will have to buy dividers for your
portfolio."
Portfolios have at least three characteristics:
1. They contain real documents. Portfolios contain authentic representations of students' work, such as homework, laboratory data sheets, journal entries.
2. They contain a range of material. The science portfolio contains a full range of student work in order to demonstrate a range of performance and ability.
3. They demonstrate growth over time. The portfolio should include samples of work over time. For example, the daily journal entries will provide insight into the students' experience over time.
Using portfolios as part of an assessment strategy enables students to be evaluated on a broad set of competencies, skills, performances, and products, and may, in some educators' opinions be closer to an authentic assessment of student performance. Portfolios will contain student work that can be evaluated and graded with checklists, and test-scores, as well as work that lends itself to oral and conference evaluation. Portfolios encourage a dynamic approach to assessment in which teacher notes, samples of student's work---lab reports, logs, worksheets, video tapes, as well as quiz and test papers are included.