Portfolio As Learning Strategy And Alternative Assessment Tool

This multi-perspective study on an implementation process of portfolios in an Austrian Gymnasium context stretches over more than three years. The dichotomy caused by implementing and using portfolios as learning strategy and alternative assessment tool in a fairly traditional educational context is the central research focus. Process details as well as outcomes are critically looked upon from the perspectives of the learners, the teacher and the contextual setting.

The Portfolio as a Learning Strategy is Carol Porter and Janell Cleland's chronicle of three years of experimentation with portfolios. Their honest portrayal includes not just their successes but also their mistakes - all of which allowed them to learn with their students as they discovered the value of portfolios as a tool for reflection. Portfolios, to them, help students learn about themselves as learners. The text looks in depth at the curricular and instructional framework of a student-centered classroom. Learning strategies are described in detail and illustrated with student samples that demonstrate firsthand how portfolios can assist students in reflective self-evaluation.

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English - Pedagogy, Didactics, Literature Studies, grade: 1,0, University of Education Heidelberg, language: English, abstract: "Important decisions should not rest on simple test scores" Bailey 1998, 204 If important decisions should not rely on simple test scores, what else can we as language teachers do to underpin our impression about a student's language ability? HEATON (1979, 7-8) suggests in his text 'Writing English Language Tests' to take into account a number of other factors, preferably from alternative assessment. One very popular alternative assessment method is the portfolio. In this paper I will discuss the portfolio as a possible assessment method and its implementation in the foreign language classroom. Beginning with a brief introduction to the concept of alternative assessment and its positive features in contrast to traditional assessment methods, the portfolio shall then be introduced in detail. A summary of the advantages and disadvantages of using portfolios as an assessment tool are content of the next chapters, followed by an examination of the technical quality of portfolios. Finally I will have a closer look at marking strategies and tie up the paper with the conclusion.

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Didactics - English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,0, University of Education Heidelberg, language: English, abstract: “Important decisions should not rest on simple test scores” Bailey 1998, 204 If important decisions should not rely on simple test scores, what else can we as language teachers do to underpin our impression about a student’s language ability? HEATON (1979, 7-8) suggests in his text ‘Writing English Language Tests’ to take into account a number of other factors, preferably from alternative assessment. One very popular alternative assessment method is the portfolio. In this paper I will discuss the portfolio as a possible assessment method and its implementation in the foreign language classroom. Beginning with a brief introduction to the concept of alternative assessment and its positive features in contrast to traditional assessment methods, the portfolio shall then be introduced in detail. A summary of the advantages and disadvantages of using portfolios as an assessment tool are content of the next chapters, followed by an examination of the technical quality of portfolios. Finally I will have a closer look at marking strategies and tie up the paper with the conclusion.

The wonderful effect of the portfolio process is the self-awareness that develops when kids generate their own selection criteria, make decisions, and reflect on their work. When students discuss what they want to include in their portfolio and why, and analyze which project or piece of writing meets those criteria, they are creating connections to learning far beyond the scope of traditional forms of assessment. Portfolios also increase learning because students: take responsibility for their learning; actively engage in the learning process; think about their own thinking; grow in confidence and self-esteem; set goals for future learning. Using portfolios enables teachers to be clearer in their presentation of instructional strategies. Using examples from real portfolios and successful classroom experiences, Beth and Joanne take you step-by-step through helping children create portfolios that reveal accurate assessments of their own work. Portfolios in the Classroom features: instructional ideas that extend your use of portfolios; questions throughout the text that guide you to key ideas; real student examples from classrooms where teachers have successfully used portfolios; samples to illustrate discussion of each element in the process; end-of-chapter summaries and a complete bibliography; reproducible forms for you and your students to use; recommendations for using portfolios as a tool for parental involvement. This is a book full of ideas and suggestions that you can put to use immediately in your classroom.

The portfolio is a collection of work recording an individual's achievements over an extended period of time. They can be used at all stages of education and professional development and in a variety of ways, to show mastery of subject knowledge, for example, or to help the students develop reflective practice, assess their own progress, and ultimately find employment. Val Klenowski provides educators, headteachers, teachers, pre-service teachers and students with an informative and practical guide on how to use portfolios for assessment and learning. She discusses and analyses the impact of portfolios on assessment, curriculum and pedagogy and integrates learning and assessment theories with practice, drawing on her extensive experiences in Hong Kong, Australia and in particular the US, where portfolios are growing in popularity.

In this third, fully revised edition, the 10 volume Encyclopedia of Language and Education offers the newest developments, including an entirely new volume of research and scholarly content, essential to the field of language teaching and learning in the age of globalization. In the selection of topics and contributors, the Encyclopedia reflects the depth of disciplinary knowledge, breadth of interdisciplinary perspective, and diversity of socio-geographic experience in the language and education field. Throughout, there is an inclusion of contributions from non-English speaking and non-western parts of the world, providing truly global coverage. Furthermore, the authors have sought to integrate these voices fully into the whole, rather than as special cases or international perspectives in separate sections. The Encyclopedia is a necessary reference set for every university and college library in the world that serves a faculty or school of education, as well as being highly relevant to the fields of applied and socio-linguistics. The publication of this work charts the further deepening and broadening of the field of language and education since the publication of the first edition of the Encyclopedia in 1997 and the second edition in 2008.

In assessment, the portfolio has gained significant interest as a tool to monitor and appraise competence development in multiple domains of professional learning. In this book, a developmental use of assessment instruments is advocated, stressing a personalised or self-regulative and learning-oriented deployment of the assessment tool. Portfolio assessment viewed this way can support knowledge productivity of professionals, thus enhancing professional development. By this we mean the construction of knowledge through feedback and dialogue about performances as a recursive loop to inform the professional about accomplishment. Portfolio assessment therefore informs and scaffolds the learner to 'develop' further; it, so to speak, is pioneering development. Since the first introduction in several settings, teaching education, professional preparation, instructional program evaluation, student learning in several domains: nursing, teaching, training, and human resource development, portfolios have been studied extensively. It is challenging to gauge the routes along which the reasons for the interest in portfolios have shifted from one problem to the other. following lines during the past 15 years, shifting its perspective as insights grew and demands changed.