Development-of-an-assessment-portfolio-as-a-quality-enhancement-activity

Theme: Globalization and Diversification of Quality Assurance of Higher Education Sub-theme- Teacher assessment and student learning outcomes assessment: Development of an assessment portfolio as a quality enhancement activity in higher education Sriyani E. Peiris1 and Samanthi Wickramasinghe2 1. Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka 2 Horizon College of Business & Technology (Horizon Campus), Sri Lanka ABSTRACT The procedure of evaluating purposeful collection of students' work for a designated course, put together in a folder, which reflects knowledge, creativity, thinking power and dedication is defined as the assessment portfolio. They are best developed for courses, such as landscape designs, community activities, environmental effect awareness projects, interdisciplinary project activities, subject area portfolios, undergraduate final projects, admission portfolios and career portfolios which are not evaluated by a written test. A popular portfolio assessment has eight steps where the clear descriptors of evaluation, based on learning outcomes and objectives of the course being evaluated, are necessary. Students are also made aware of them. Portfolio assessments elicit advantages such as students' creativity and the opportunity of displaying quality of materials rather than quantity, critical thinking and decision making. Students also develop interpersonal skills such as goal oriented, ability to work with different types of people, go getter, work under situations with minimal facilities and team work while fulfilling the task. As the above advantages can be enjoyed through portfolio assessment there are several challenges which may need attention. Time taken to develop an assessment scheme is lengthier than the development of evaluation criteria of a written test which is a standard method. Portfolios are often bulky and difficult to manage. Use of subjective evaluation procedures such as rating scales and professional judgment, can challenge reliability. A written test can include questions from an entire unit with a sample of items from all areas taught. Portfolio assessments are more suitable to evaluate courses which cannot be evaluated effectively through written tests. INTRODUCTION A portfolio is a collection of information as evidence of ongoing or completed activities in a systematic way to attract the evaluator to key points when use in making judgments in many evaluation processes. According to Paulson et al.(1991), definition of the portfolio is portare (carry) and foglio (sheet of paper). "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." Educational portfolios are of several categories such as the Learning Portfolio, which are developed by students, the Course Portfolio and the Teaching Portfolio develop by instructors, the Academic Portfolio which is the responsibility of the assigned faculty and the Professional Portfolio which is produced for seeking employment. Also a portfolio is a collection of documents which is presented to show professional and personal achievements. The portfolio is comprised with 1

several parts where each part is a representation of one's creativity. The cover, contents page, the main body with all sorts of achievements are the most common sections. Portfolios can be paper-based or electronically based. It is effective to design electronic portfolios in one's own website. Developing a portfolio, fulfills both an academic endeavor and professional responsibility, is very much valued in the academic professions. Portfolios serve multiple purposes for students, professionals, and college teacher education programs, and are valued components of comprehensive academic and professional training programs. Educators at present use portfolios, and increasingly recognize that the process has the power to transform instructions. As portfolio development has become very popular the decision of choosing the appropriate one is challenging as their different uses, and the practical issues surrounding storage, ownership, and the like. However, a portfolio can reduce questioning time in an interview or an examination as it practically talks many words behalf of its owner. It provides insight into one's personality and work ethic and it is a representation of the creators’ professionalism. Statement of originality, teaching or work philosophy, career goals, resume, skill areas, works in progress, certifications, educational achievements or awards, volunteer or community services, professional memberships and certifications, previous employments and references are the common secessions found in many portfolios (Williams & Hall, 2001). In career advancements portfolios are developed with the objectives of marketing one's capabilities in job interviews, to negotiate promotions and salary raises, apply for bonuses, scholarships, or grants, document the quality and quantity of your professional development, demonstrate prior work or learning experiences, for educational credit. Designing and developing a portfolio has to be planned and reviewed meticulously. The increasing awareness of the advantages and use in courses designed with many activities, which cannot be evaluated in a written test, assessment portfolio is the solution for an effective evaluation of students' many hidden capabilities. Hence this paper presents information with the objective of popularizing such an effective method of evaluation for appropriate courses. Assessment Portfolios Interest in developing assessment portfolios started in late 80’s (Belanoff and Dickson 1991). These types of portfolios are well suited to courses which do not carry traditional assessments such as tests and quizzes. Portfolio assessment provides an excellent vehicle for evaluation of projects such as development of a landscape design, activities of a community service, work carried out on human elephant conflicts, effects of human activities on environment and even final year research projects of undergraduates. Developing a portfolio which reflects on students' experiences is a better judgment of their thinking power, decision making, creativity and dedication on work assigned. Students while developing the portfolio can be interactive with others of the same class as well as different classes which pave way to develop their abilities and interpersonal skills such as team work and work with different types of people. Moreover, they enjoy these types of assessments rather than tests which are limited to 2-3 hours as there is little or no stress involved. The assessment portfolio includes information on research, narrative summaries of activities performed, pictures, videos, projects, and the like.

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Benefits of having an assessment portfolio O'Malley and Pierce 1996 and Paulson et al,1991 have stated primarily six differences between assessment portfolios and traditional assessments which can be considered as the major advantages of the assessment portfolio. According to them the six differences are 1. portfolios measure student's ability over time, while in traditional assessment it is measured at one time. 2. portfolio assessment is done by teacher and the student is aware of criteria, while traditional assessment is done by teacher alone and the student is often unaware of criteria. 3. portfolio assessment is embedded in instruction but traditional assessment is conducted outside instruction. 4. portfolio assessment captures many facets of language learning performance, while traditional assessment does not capture the range of student's ability. 5. portfolio evaluation stresses improvement, effort, and achievement, while traditional assessment only focuses on results. In other words, portfolio evaluation is processoriented, while traditional assessment is product-oriented. 6. portfolios connect learning, assessment, and instruction whereas these aspects are separated in traditional assessment can be considered as the major advantages. In brief, portfolios are considered a better tool. Examples of possible courses which students will be assessed by a portfolio Landscape Designs Portfolios can be developed to evaluate the students' abilities on projects such as landscape developmental designs. There students can include all the steps involved and how the principles and elements being used to develop the design. They can include the photographs of the each step and if necessary can include the videos. The evaluator is able to measure each step with photographs as the evidence. In the portfolio presentation student can elaborate major activities took place. That way the entire effort of the student can be evaluated rather than only the final design. Community / Volunteer service activity Volunteering in many community service projects develop students' interpersonal skills. However, it is very difficult to measure the students' genuine effort in a final examination. Since this type of activity is not well suited to traditional assessments such as tests and quizzes, portfolio assessment provides an excellent medium for assessing the goals of a community service curriculum. Students can include collected examples of service, select the best ones, reflect on their experiences, and determine future goals. The portfolio develops for such an activity can include research, summaries of activities performed, pictures and the videos. The community which received the service can contribute for evaluation by being in the audience for the portfolio presentation. Environmental Effects Awareness Projects Students can be allocated to small project work on environmental effects of many human activities such as disposing of industrial effluent, pesticide use, forestry project etc. Such projects are better evaluated through developing a portfolio than the traditional examinations held at the end of the project period. In a portfolio presentation student is free to talk about the real impact of the results and observations made. By presenting this as a public seminar or in front of a different audience rather the university students and teachers public awareness can be increased and students also get an experience by answering their questions.

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Interdisciplinary Project Activities Activities carried out in combination of several disciplines are best evaluated by developing a portfolio. The growth of work carried out is much more obvious in a developed portfolio rather than a final interview or viva voce examination. Students feel free to express their experiences in presenting the related portfolio and share the ideas with others involve. A portfolio can provide a way to include many types of work that indicate proficiency in various disciplines. Students also get an opportunity to show their abilities in various fields involve in the interdisciplinary activities in their portfolio presentation. Subject Area Portfolios Portfolios can be made compulsory for the subject areas such as language, writing, mathematics, and statistics etc, which do not require including much creative items. In the portfolio development students can use creative art work for these subjects also to make their portfolio attractive and by doing that they can make difficult problem easy to understand. Art work which can be included in the development of these subject portfolios cab become examples for teaching. Those way students can be made to think differently in an effective way of spreading message around. Undergraduate Final Projects Many undergraduate degree programs are comprised with a final year project to evaluate their ability to carry out a given responsibility. Such projects are the good examples of students’ independent work with a little guidance by a supervisor. At the end of the period students submit a typical project report which includes information according to a format laid for that particular activity. Such a format will not bring out student's genuine effort, his/her thinking power or full capacity of creativity. Developing a portfolio for such an activity even for a research project can show every sub unit and extra work students have undertaken as well as the developmental processes from the beginning. Student can start developing the portfolio from the day one of the project commencement. Student can elaborate in some areas they think of more important. That will create more opportunities for students to think beyond conventional thinking pattern. At the end of the project the portfolio can be presented in a viva voce examination held along with project presentation or only portfolio presentation as their final project presentation. It will give an opportunity to the student to present the work in a positive way even if the project outcome is not very impressive. Admission Portfolio After obtaining the degree many graduates seek for postgraduate studies. It becomes a requirement for them to develop an admission portfolio. All the necessary documents along with the evidence and artifacts to show their achievements and creativity can be included in there and when ready to apply necessary documents can be sent without any delay. In that sense students can develop two types of portfolios. One is a master portfolio and the other is a targeted portfolio. Master portfolio can include every evidence of achievements such as written work, videos, project portfolios, volunteering work, thank you letters, references etc. Targeted portfolio can be developed by extracting the items from the master portfolio when necessity arises.

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Career Portfolio Some employers request samples of work from prospective employees. As with portfolios prepared for college admissions, students can use employment portfolios to document those features of their preparation that they believe would best convince an employer of their expertise in areas such as basic skills, problem solving and adaptability, and collaborative work skills. Career portfolios are also can be developed as a master portfolio and a target portfolio. Developmental Process of Assessment Portfolio An assessment criterion of this category of a portfolio is often desirable to demonstrate the students, acquired skills in specific areas to be evaluated. Because these are assessment portfolios, attention must be paid to establishing relevant criteria, setting acceptable standards of performance, and selecting pieces that meet those standards. Evaluator should also keep in mind that these skills are cut across disciplines, educators must determine whether students may demonstrate the skills in any manner they choose, or whether specific tasks will be established for them. Portfolio Assessment Process In this process, as it an assessment process of a course, the clear understanding of the course objectives and learning outcomes should be made clear by both the teacher and the student. Then it is required to clearly identify the portfolio contents which will meet the learning outcomes, which are samples of student work, reflective pieces of work, and teacher observations. The teacher should develop evaluation procedures for keeping track of the portfolio contents and for grading the portfolio. The teacher should organize the portfolio presentations, which can be formal, informal meetings or audience of general public according to course content. In the portfolio presentation the students reviewing their work not only show the presentation skills but also the creativity, thinking power and discuss their progress. These conferences are an essential part of the portfolio assessment process (Venn, 2000). Assessment portfolios are developed using eight basic step procedure 1. Determine the curricular objectives to be addressed through the portfolio. Portfolio should be assessed according to learning outcomes of the course. General assessment alone is not sufficient to get the overall coverage for a portfolio. The assessment should be based on specific criteria according to the subject. Portfolios are most useful for addressing the student’s ability to apply what has been learned. For example it is better to test whether the specific skills or techniques has been learned or not or for what degree by the student. 2. List the decisions that will be made based on the portfolio assessments. These decisions should be made upon course objectives and how much students have learned. Then the assessment will be done on individual performances not as a comparison with the best performer which usually happens in evaluation of seminar presentations. 3. After listing the decisions assessment tasks can be designed again according to the curricula objectives. Ensure that the task matches instructional intentions and adequately represents the content and skills. When designing task the appropriate level of difficulty such as available resources should also be considered. These considerations will ensure the validity of the assessment tasks. 5

4. Define the descriptors for each assessment task and establish performance standards for each criterion. These criteria should be in detail to bring out the students performances. Consider what samples of student work might best illustrate the learning outcomes. Written work samples, videotapes, pictures of products or activities, and testimonials are only a few of the many different ways to document achievement. This is done by developing a scoring system such as the use of a rubric (annex 1), a point scale with descriptors that explain how the work will be evaluated. Points are allotted to give the most points to the highest quality work. If the descriptors are clear and specific, they become goals for which the student can aim. There should be a separate scale for each standard being evaluated. It is important that the standards for evaluation be carefully explained to students. Points available should be small enough to be practical and meaningful. Share the scoring system with the students is another good practice which helps students to know what is being evaluated. Well laid out descriptors of how the student will be evaluated, known in advance, can guide learning and performance of the student indeed. Through the process of discussion the teacher and the learner can explore the material in depth, exchange feelings and attitudes with regard to the product and the learning process, and reap the greatest advantage of effective portfolio implementation. 5. The decision of identifying the evaluators of the portfolio itself and portfolio presentation also should be made as part of the assessment process. Decision has to be made on whether they are from the same department, faculty or from outside the faculty. 6. It is necessary to make the evaluators aware of the type of the portfolio, learning outcomes and objectives of the course before the assessment process is commenced This will ensure the reliability of the assessments. 7. Assessment process begins with teaching the curriculum, administering the assessments, collecting the completed portfolios and conclude giving a score. 8. The most important item in this process which affects the final grade of the portfolio is the designing tasks of portfolio assessment according course objective and learning outcomes and execute the assessment process accordingly. (www.ascd.org/publications/books/.../chapters/The-Types-of-Portfolios). Advantages of the Assessment Portfolio The possibility of measuring students creativity and capability of putting evidence together in an organized and presentable manner will express more about him/her rather than a written test. Portfolio assessment offers the opportunity for quality of materials and evidence rather than quantity with regard to academic material covered. Portfolios promote student selfevaluation, critical thinking and decision making. Students will develop interpersonal skills such as goal oriented ability to work with different types of people, go getter, work under situations with minimal facilities and team work. Portfolios are developed with more genuine work and measuring performance will be based on that. As the assessment descriptors are laid out based on leaning outcomes evaluators can measure on individual basis. It provides students engage actively in the project and teachers and students can share the responsibility for setting learning goals and for evaluating progress toward meeting those goals. Students can be assessed using peer evaluation especially on the presentation skills. Provides a process for structuring learning in stages. his assessment process enabling the measurement of multiple dimensions of student progress by including different types of data and materials. (Venn, 2000)

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Disadvantages of the Assessment Portfolio Portfolio assessment may take extra time to plan an assessment system and conduct the assessment. Depending on the project portfolios can become bulky and difficult to manage. Developing a systematic and deliberate management system is difficult, but this step is necessary in order to make portfolios more than a random collection of student work. Use of subjective evaluation procedures such as rating scales and professional judgment, can challenge reliability (Venn, 2000). A written test can include questions from an entire unit with a sample of items from all areas taught. Because of the time it takes to produce products, it is not possible to have a portfolio that represents every aspect of a unit. However, products in the portfolio, if chosen properly, illustrate depth of mastery in the area assessed. The portfolio system is not as standardized as written test to have comparison. Especially when it is produced to the outside the academic environment. CONCLUSIONS Assessment portfolios are effectively used with a popular eight step procedure which contains evaluating descriptors developed based on learning outcomes and objectives of the course being evaluated. Courses which require developing evaluating standards on non-measurable activities are best evaluated by the assessment portfolio. REFERENCES Belanoff, P., & Dickson, M. (Eds.). (1991). Portfolios : process and product. Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook Publishers O'Malley, J.M., & Valdez Pierce, L. (1996). "Authentic assessment for English language learners: Practical approaches for teachers." New York: Addison-Wesley. Paulson, F. Leon, Peal R. Paulson, and A. Meyer (1991). What makes a portfolio a portfolio? Educational Leadership 48 (5): 60-63. Venn, J. J. (2000). Assessing students with special needs (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill. Williams, A.G., & Hall, K. J. (2001). Creating your career portfolio: At a glance guide for students (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. On Line References http://www.nasponline.org/communications/spawareness/portfolioassess.pdf cet.usc.edu/resources/academic_resources/docs/portfoliossep04.ppt Introduction to Academic Portfolios. DANIELLE MIHRAM) https://files.itslearning.com/help/en-us/content/courses/portfolio_assessment.htm? https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teachingtips/assessing-student-work/grading-and-feedback/rubrics-useful-assessment-tools

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Appendix 1: Sample Analytic Rubric Criteria

50-59%

60-69%

70-79%

80-100% Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates Knowledge of Demonstrates thorough and limited considerable forms, some knowledge insightful knowledge of knowledge of conventions, of forms, knowledge of forms, forms, terminology, and conventions, forms, conventions, conventions, strategies of terminology, and conventions, terminology, and terminology, and literary texts strategies terminology, and strategies strategies strategies Uses critical and Uses critical and Uses critical and Uses critical and Critical and creative thinking creative thinking creative thinking creative thinking creative thinking skills with skills with skills with skills with a high skills limited moderate considerable degree of effectiveness effectiveness effectiveness effectiveness Communicates Communicates Communicates Communicates information and Communication information and information and information and ideas with a high of information ideas with ideas with ideas with some degree of clarity and ideas considerable limited clarity clarity and with clarity confidence Spelling and Several errors A few errors Some errors No errors grammar source:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teachingtips/assessing-student-work/grading-and-feedback/rubrics-useful-assessment-tools

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