Using portfolios in educationali technology courses. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education.doc

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Russell, J. D. & Butcher, C. (1999). Using portfolios in educational technology

courses. Journal of echnology and eacher !ducation, "(#), $"9%$9.

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his article descries the e*olution of student e*aluations. raditionally a +aor, if

not the sole, +ethod of student e*aluation -as a paper%and%pencil test. n the past

so+e instructors assigned a nu+er of s+all%scale, disconnected practice e/ercises.

0ater they offered a +enu of proects of a larger scale. oday the trend is to

encourage students to co+pile portfolios of professional uality -or2, organi3ed

around +aor the+es. he nature of portfolios andtheir ad*antages andli+itations

-ill e e/plored. he use of portfolios in t-o different educational technology

courses -ill e descried. 4n +any schools, students are eing e*aluated on the

asis of portfolios that docu+ent -hat they can do in language arts, science, social

studies, andother s2ill areas. 5ortfolios often include such ite+s as student%

produced oo2s, *ideos, andaudio%*isual presentations,4 (6einich, 7olenda,

Russell, & +aldino, 1999, p. $8)

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!ducators frustrated -ith standardi3ed testing andcon*entional paper%and%pencil

assign+ents are ha*ing students de+onstrate their achie*e+ents y co+piling

portfolios of their -or2. 7any educators elie*e that preparation of portfolios gi*es

a truer, +ore rounded *ie- of an indi*idual=s strengths and-ea2nesses. 4ith increased attention on +ultidisciplinary inuiry, open%ended e/plorations,

and+ore co+ple/ learning tas2s, the focus of e*aluation has shifted fro+

traditional student achie*e+ent +easures (e.g., paper%and%pencil tests) to casestudies of student -or2 (e.g., portfolio outco+es) (eely, 199#).

:ne e/a+ple of this shift is the e*olution of proects in +edia utili3ation courses.

-enty%fi*e years ago +any instructors reuired e*ery student to do the sa+e

s+all%scale proects%%a ulletin oard, an audio tape, one dry +ount, one

per+anent ruer ce+ent +ount, one te+porary ruer ce+ent +ount, andso

forth. 0ater instructors pro*ided a list of proects fro+ -hich students could choose.

;o- +any instructors are using portfolios%%a collection of proects often related to a


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single topic anda single audience. 5ortfolios should include student co++ents and

reflections aout their proects.

>6' ' 5:R


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>e ha*e used portfolios in an instructional +edia course for preser*ice and

inser*ice teachers andin a technology for teachers course.


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elect. tudents use the 'ppraisal Chec2lists in either paper or electronic for+

included in nstructional +edia andtechnologies for learning (Ith ed.) to pre*ie-

different +edia+aterials for possile inclusion in their portfolios. !ach pre*ie- is

acco+panied y a rief e/planation (one or t-o paragraphs) on the effecti*eness of

that +ediu+ in teaching the portfolio topic that the student has chosen. f the

+aterial -as udged appropriate to e included, the student specifies ho- it -ould

e used.

7odify. tudents also +odify e/isting +edia+aterials. hese +aterials are

selected ased upon congruence -ith the portfolio topic andaudience.


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elect 7ethods, 7edia, and7aterials%%pro*iding a rationale as to -hy the

+ethods, +edia, and+aterials ha*e een selected, +odified, or produced.

Utili3e 7aterials%%descriing ho- the +aterials and+edia -ill e used. he

student descries ho- shehe -ill pre*ie- the +aterials, prepare the +aterials,

prepare the en*iron+ent, prepare the learners, andpro*ide the learning e/perience

(the @ 5s of utili3ation).

Reuire 0earner 5articipation%%descriing the acti*ities -hich -ill get the

learners in*ol*ed, particularly through practice -ith feedac2.

!*aluate andRe*ise%%indicating ho- the oecti*es -ill e +easured and

including e*aluation of learner achie*e+ent, +edia, +ethods, the instructor=s role,

andthe o*erall process. o 'UR! uality instruction, it is i+portant to e*aluate

andre*ise the e/perience, if necessary, efore future utili3ation.

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undergraduate education +aors andgraduate students -ho are e+ployees of the


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5eer re*ie-. -ice during the course, t-o class+ates re*ie- each portfolio using

the rurics de*eloped y the student -ho produced the portfolio. hese e*aluations

occur at appro/i+ately the one%third andt-o%thirds point in the se+ester. he

purpose of peer re*ie-s is to help students loo2 at their o-n learning fro+ a

different perspecti*e. he re*ie-ers are gi*en the goal state+ent, the artifacts, the

captions, andscoring rurics. his is not a grading session, ut an opportunity for

students to share -hat they ha*e done andto recei*e feedac2 fro+ peers for the

purpose of i+pro*ing the learning e/perience. Copies of the -ritten re*ie- are

gi*en to the students -ho authored the portfolio, the student re*ie-er, andthe

instructors. Re*ie-ers loo2 for a +atch a+ong the goal state+ents, the artifacts,

andcaptions produced. f the scoring rurics are not understandale, the student is

gi*en an opportunity to re*ise the+ efore the end of the course. Both the portfolio

de*eloper andthe re*ie-er learn fro+ the e/perience. 5eer feedac2 includes an

oral report (deriefing) et-een the t-o students follo-ed up y a -ritten report

that eco+es part of each student=s portfolio. 's -ith self%e*aluation, the peer%

e*aluation +ay not e an accurate assess+ent of the *alue of the portfolio. o+e

peers o*eresti+ate the uality of portfolios -hile others underesti+ate the uality.

nstructor Re*ie-. he instructor re*ie- procedure is identical to the peer re*ie-

e/cept it is graded. he instructor e*aluations occur +id-ay through the course

andat the end of the course. he instructor re*ie- pro*ides an opportunity for in%

depth e*aluation of student products andprocesses. t pro*ides the ad*antage of

assessing student learning oth for for+ati*e e*aluation andre*ision of the

instructional acti*ities in the course as -ell as su++ati*e e*aluation to deter+ine

student grades.

R!!'RC6 ade andKarrough (199I) found i+portant i+plications for instructors -hen

using portfolios in reflecti*e teacher education. :ur e/periences -ith using

portfolios in these educational technology courses support their findings. o

enhance student learning -ith portfolios, >ade andKarrough (199I) reco++end

the follo-ingA

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potential uses for the portfolio.

F. 5ro*ide structure in the for+s of so+e reuired portfolio assign+ents, due

dates, specific ti+es for in%class sharing, andconstructi*e feedac2 fro+ oth other

students andthe instructor(s).

#. !*aluate the portfolio process anduse of the portfolios y students.

nstructors need syste+atic feedac2 fro+ students aout potential uses and

+eaningfulness of the portfolios (pp. ""%").

U77'RK

5ortfolios ha*e een used for peer re*ie-, to sho- progress ande/periences,

andduring e+ploy+ent inter*ie-s. :ther uses include sho-ing co+petencies,

focusing on learning, reflecting on e/periences, andassessing acco+plish+ents.

o+e colleges anduni*ersities use portfolios as a graduation reuire+ent.

5ortfolios can +a2e learning +ore interesting. hey tend to e indi*idualistic and

can allo- each student to deter+ine -hat they -ant to learn during a course. 's a

perspecti*e o*er ti+e during a course or curriculu+, portfolios pull together a lot of

infor+ation andartifacts. hese +aterials lend the+sel*es to for+ati*e e*aluation

andre*ision. 5ortfolios ha*e the added ad*antages of allo-ing students to organi3e

their 2no-ledge, s2ills, and+aterials, to de*elop an in%depth understanding of the

content, andto sho- peers andprofessionals -hat they ha*e learned andcan do.

nstructors -ho ha*e used portfolios point out that they +ay reuire +ore ti+e

fro+ the student andthe instructor. 'nother concern -as lac2 of precision in

e*aluating portfolios. ince portfolios are indi*iduali3ed, not all students +ay learn

the s2ills taught in a course. he relati*e e+phasis on process *ersus content -as

+entioned. 'n o*er e+phasis on the electronic aspects of portfolios -as seen as a

potential li+itation. ' final dra-ac2 -as the uantity of +aterials in a portfolio

andho- to display andstore these +aterials.

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J'7! D. RU!00 ANDC6!RK0 BUC6!R

5urdue Uni*ersity 1##$ 0ieral 'rts and!ducation Building >est 0afayette, ;

#"98"%1##$, U' russellLpurdue.edu

ale 1 5ortfolio 'd*antages

nterest +a2es learning +ore interesting

ndi*idualistic allo-s each student to deter+ine -hat they -ant to learn

andho- they -ill de+onstrate their 2no-ledge ands2ills


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Rele*ance should e designed to e highly rele*ant to current study

or future -or2

De*elop+ental pro*ides a perspecti*e o*er ti+e during a course or

curriculu+

ariety includes a lot of infor+ation andartifacts

:rgani3ation allo-s students to organi3e their 2no-ledge, s2ills, and

+aterials

Understanding leads to an in%depth understanding of the content

De+onstration sho-s peers andprofessionals -hat they ha*e learned

andcan do

!*aluation pro*ides a +ethod for studentsand

instructors to assess learning, for students to reflect on their -or2 andailities,

andfor for+ati*e e*aluation andre*ision of instructional

acti*ities

ale $ 5ortfolio 0i+itations

i+e reuires +ore ti+e fro+ the students andthe instructors

than other e*aluation approaches

Resistance y students are not appreciated andunderstood y so+e students

they percei*e the+ as +ore -or2 and+ay not see the

enefits

Research lac2 of research e*idence in *alue of portfolios

!*aluation +ay not reflect +ost i+portant aspects of tas2, product,

or course and4grade4 influenced y person doing the

e*aluation

Content *s. process so+e students andteachers +ay focus on the content

to the e/clusion of the process

:*er e+phasis on there +ay e an o*er e+phasis on the

technology electronic aspects of portfolios to the e/clusion to si+pler

-ays to de+onstrate progress

'+ount of 7aterial the uantity of +aterials in a portfolio +ay e

o*er-hel+

ing ho- to display andstore these +aterials eco+es

prole+atic


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Representati*e +ay not represent -or2 or aility of students

eacher%Centered +ay e designed to 4please4 the teacher rather than to

+eet the needs of the student

R!

Cole, D.J., Ryan, C.>., & Eir2, est+inister, C'A eacher Created

7aterials.

ippens, D. Using portfolios in integrating acade+ic and*ocational curricula, he

Delta Eappa a++a Bulletin, I#(F), #%@F, 199.

>ade, R.C. & Karrough, D.B. (199I). 5ortfoliosA ' tool for reflecti*e thin2ing in

teacher education? eaching & eacher !ducation, 1$(1), IF%"9.

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Using portfolios in educationali technology courses. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education.doc