Portfolio assessment: should we start with the academics having a go?

contributors | abstract | biographies | paper

Contributors

Di Kelly (De Montfort University)

Intended format

Paper presentation followed by discussion

Abstract

“It is suggested that by introducing a portfolio to first year undergraduate law students’ the opportunity for engagement in a life-long learning process could be enhanced. Intended learning outcomes would be that students are taught the skills of ‘how’ to think as legal practitioners from the beginning of the first academic year in preparation for employability. The portfolio would form the basis for summative assessment because learning tasks set throughout the academic year would match the intended learning outcomes for students. Formative assessment of whether students are meeting the intended learning outcomes would be embedded within the inherent interactivity of the portfolio. Whether students have met their learning outcomes would be evidenced in the portfolio when submitted for summative assessment at the end of the academic year”.

By introducing assessment for learning and learning from assessment processes (Biggs J andTang C 2007), students will be given increased opportunities to learn how to develop the skills they need to become successful within an increasingly competitive society (Weiman C 2007). It is contended that present methods of assessment encourages only declaratory knowledge (Biggs J and Tang C 2007). Students need to be engaged in assessments which teach them ‘how’ to find out for themselves in order to ‘construct’ their own meaning through relevant learning activities (Biggs J) so they develop a functioning knowledge (Biggs J and Tang C 2007) of the subject. For education to be meaningful we need to be transforming the way in which students think (Weiman C 2007).

Simulated tasks (Almond P 2009, Maharg P 2010) embedded in the interactivity of the portfolio assessment, aligned to meeting students intended learning outcomes are likely to increase student opportunities for achieving this.

If degree courses are going to be cut from three to two years (Browne Report 2010) there is all the more reason to prepare students for competitive workspace by teaching them the skills of ‘doing’ as quickly as possible. Similarly if universities are to remain (or become) competitive themselves, they need to be producing the kind of graduates professions will choose to employ (Boud K 2009)

Short biographies of panel members

Di Kelly is a part time tutor in Law and Criminology at De Montfort University. She is presently undertaking a PGCertHE at De Montfort University

Last Modified: 24 January 2011