Just a thought, Phil, and I may come back with more later, but should a portfolio be about making a claim for competence/excellence or providing evidence against a set of criteria? Both could be very personal but the former might give more ownership to the compiler unless, of course, the claim is being made against tight descriptors and not decided on by the writer.
My observation of the use of portfolios is that they become very formulaic and not that different from setting every student the same essay question. Should it rather be seen as more liberating and give the writer an opportunity to be more creative, using a variety of media and having a greater sense of what is sufficient rather than throwing everything at the reader. I was once involved with external examining a PGCert where in the end one of the criteria became that only one A4 file could be handed in - instead of the 3-4 lever arch files they were getting!
Perhaps the key is to go back to the purpose of the portfolio rather than the format itself. What is it that we want the course participant to demonstrate, to what extent and what degree of freedom do they have?
Ranald
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From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association on behalf of Professor Phil Race
Sent: Wed 25/04/2007 16:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Portfolios: marking avoidance tactics
I'm getting more and more worried about Portfolios as an assessment
instrument for PG Certs. They do indeed give candidates the opportunity to
demonstrate a good cross-section of their skills and knowledge, but I fear
that:
(1) some good participants just never get round to putting a portfolio
together;
(2) some good participants' time would be better spent teaching (or
researching) than putting together the wonderful portfolios they sometimes
produce.
However, I pride myself in never being late getting my portfolios marked,
and have just finished writing feedback comments for my last two for the
present. But that said, I find myself doing all sorts of tasks BEFORE I
actually open a portfolio - a very good way of clearing my desk. You
wouldn't believe some of the things which take precedence over marking a
portfolio - or are other people the same as me?
Please will you reply to the list if you have some advanced portfolio
marking avoidance tactics you are willing to share? [Indeed, replying to
the list could count as one of these in its own right]. I will be happy to
work these together into a compendium, so that we can all get even more
done while we're putting off marking portfolios.
Phil Race
www.phil-race.com
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