Documentation Portfolio, Process Portfolio and the Show Case Portfolio - Essay Example

Introduction A portfolio is a purposeful collection work, which demonstrates the efforts, developments, and accomplishments of the in one of many areas of study. A portfolio tells a story about the academic life of the student (Sharp). A portfolio must show the participation of the student in the area under analysis. Portfolios must also be able to explain the methods used to select and fill it and the methods also used to judge whether a student is growing academically and becoming an achiever. Moreover, the portfolio must be able to show self-reflection of the student whose details are in the portfolio (Shermis & Di Vesta, 2011) There are many types of portfolios and some include the documentation portfolio, process portfolio and the show case portfolio. The documentation portfolio also known as working portfolio is an approach that entails the compilation of data that shows the growth and progression of scholars. A process portfolio is another type of portfolio that shows the general learning process of students. This means that the portfolio collects the small details of the student works and shows how a student used his/her skills to improve their grades. This type of portfolio also shows the self-reflection of the students. Showcase portfolios illustrate the cumulative assessment of the syllabus mastery by the student. It contains the best work of the student from the topics that the teachers have seen suitable for evaluation (Sharp) An electronic portfolio is a portfolio that uses technological methods to document and store the information of a student. It is better that the other types of portfolios because it uses many methods of documenting and storing data. These methods include auditory, visual and graphics. The electronic portfolios have the potential of sorting out materials so that they connect facts to suitable standards. The information can be in form of a tape or computer readable structure. Portfolios as a good teaching practice Portfolios are a good way of teaching students as the students will be able to assess themselves in their learning process. When a student looks at how he is gradually becoming a poor student, he may be able to pay more attention to his weak points and work harder to perform better. Moreover, through the student portfolio, a teacher is able to make the students perform better in their studies and improve their weak points (Aurbach, 2006). Unlike a report card, which will only show a grade like C or B, a portfolio shows much more detail. It will show the weakness and struggles of a student. This is very crucial for the learning process, as the teacher can know how to approach a topic that is difficult for a student. Through the portfolio, a teacher is able to identify hidden skills of a student and the best methods to use when teaching such a student. Therefore, the introduction of portfolios is schools would improve the general performance of students. Guidelines for making a portfolio Five steps need to be followed when making a portfolio they include selection, collection, reflection, direction and connection. In the portfolio making process, the selection of the type of information collected depends on the curriculum that the student has to cover, the goals and objectives of the scholar. When collecting the information, the students have to know the purpose the portfolio is going to serve. They also have to know the future use of the portfolio to make it effective for a long time. The portfolio must offer reflection through statements that show the importance of all the information documented. Students can achieve direction in the portfolio making process through an examination of the reflections to be able to set future goals for the student. The portfolio must show relation through hypertext links and publication that will enable a student to give response to the assessment conducted. When selecting portfolio content, one should ensure that it shows profundity, range and development. The students can achieve profundity by including all the revisions that have been done to a particular piece of writing. The students or the teachers making the portfolio can ensure that the portfolio covers all the different methods and genres of writing as this will make the portfolio to have profundity. The portfolio should also have an essay that shows the overall development of a student academically. Formative evaluation is an assessment that develops the skills of a student. In this type of evaluation, the teacher participates in creating the portfolios, reviewing drafts and they make recommendations for the types of revisions that students need to make. Summative evaluation is a type of assessment that calculates and value of the students work. The teachers that evaluate the portfolio can decide to assess it as a whole while some assess a piece at a time and then find the average of all the scores. Methods of Evaluating Student Portfolio There are different methods used to assess the student portfolio. There are specific tools that aid in the assessment process and they include a competency matrix, a scoring guide and student reflective essays (Aurbach, 2006). A competency matrix is a detailed template that shows learning outcomes like problem solving skills and skills used when working in a team. The matrix also categorizes objectives into affective and cognitive objectives. A scoring guide is another tool used by the instructors when evaluating. It states the items presented and the date the date was presented. It also shows the highest possible grade that one can be awarded and the grade that the student was able to score. This tool is very essential as it also shows the works of the student that are satisfactory and those, which are not satisfactory. Reflective assignments are useful tools in the evaluation process. The reflective essays reveal the weaknesses and strengths of the students during the learning processes. These essays also put into consideration the different learning styles of the student. The students who write the reflective essays must include the different skills learned and how they are able to use them in the future. The students also have to show the skills that they mastered in the essay and the particular works that show they have mastered the skill. Advantages of Portfolios Portfolios offer students the chance of assessing their own performances in school. Unlike the report cards that only give a grade for the general score of the term, the portfolio clearly shows where one went wrong and was unable to perform well. Through this, the students can then learn their weak points and work harder at them improving their general performance in school. Through the portfolios, students sharpen their critical thinking skills. They are able to do this because they learn to analyze a portfolio on their academic performance and learn important things from them, for example the places they need to improve and the places that show they have talent or good skills (Spandel, 2001). Students and teachers also improve their skills of finding solutions for their problems. They look at the weaknesses of the students and the places that make students struggle. They then come up with different teaching and study methods to root out the problem. Unlike tests and exams, portfolios test the natural events that happen in the environment of the student. Tests and exams happen at the end of a term and they do not offer true examination and analysis of the performance of a student. Portfolios are a continuous process. The data is taken over a long period and the analysis from the portfolio are more realistic and approximate that those of the exams. The portfolios are advantageous because they offer parents and students a chance of being reflective on the work they do in school (Gomez, 2000). This happens easily because the records in the portfolio show the exact time that a student started performing poorly and the exact subjects that are problematic to the student. Disadvantages of Portfolios Portfolios can be very tiring especially for teachers who teach many students in one class. This is because the making and evaluation process of a portfolio involves many activities. This means that the teacher has to locate a substantial amount of time for the portfolio process (Shermis & Di Vesta, 2011). This in the end takes the time that the teacher could use to develop other skills of the students and complete the syllabus. The students may resist the portfolio process and this will make them not to participate fully. They may take a lot of time handing their portfolios to the teacher and this may pose a big problem especially if the portfolio does not constitute the overall grade. The portfolios do not have enough evidence to support the grades and information written in it. This at times makes the information and conclusions drawn to be inaccurate. Conclusion I advocate for the use of student portfolios in every school. This is because they have multiple benefits in making a student improve their performances, develop problem-solving skills and discover hidden talents. The teachers can also be able to improve the skills of slow learners in class and keep records of the performance of their students. Teachers should check the accuracy and authenticity of portfolios regularly to ensure that students and teachers do not make wrong evaluations. References Aurbach, E. (2006). About Portfolios. Retrieved November 17 , 2011, from Aurbach: http://www.aurbach.com/files/About_Portfolios.pdf Gomez, E. (2000, July 21). Portfolio Assessment And English Language Learners: An Anotated Bibliography. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from Brown Education: http://www.lab.brown.edu/pubs/ass_port_ell/portellbib.pdf Ross, C. R. (2011, 11 november). STUDENT SELF-EVALUATION: WHAT RESEARCH SAYS AND WHAT PRACTICE SHOWS. Retrieved 11 20, 2011, from Center for Development and Leraning: http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/self_eval.php Sharp, Julie. ().Using Portfolios in The Classroom. Retrieved from fie-conference.org: http://fie-conference.org/fie97/papers/1427.pdf Shermis, Mark & Di Vesta, Francis. (2011). Classroom Assessment in Action. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More