Portfolio Assessment: Meaning, Scope And Uses For Students' Performance

Portfolio Assessment: Meaning, Scope and Uses for Students’ Performance

Portfolio assessment refers to the type of assessment in which portfolios are used for assessing the performance of the learners.

Meaning of Portfolio

According to Grace (1992),

“portfolio is a record of the child’s process of learning: what the child has learned and how she has gone about learning; how she thinks, questions, analyzes, synthesizes, produces, creates; and how she interacts–intellectually, emotionally and socially-with others”.

Arter and Spandel (1991) state,

“portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits to the student, or others, her efforts or achievement in one or more areas.”

Scope of Portfolio Assessment In Student’s Performance

1. It helps the teacher to assess the progress of a student over a period of time.

2. It enables the teacher to determine the efficiency of the teaching method.

3. It enables the teacher to develop a connection with the parents of the learners.

4. It also helps teachers to identify the weak points in the teaching learning process.

5. It also helps the teacher to evaluate the education program.

Paulson, Paulson and Mayer opine,

”portfolio is a purposeful collection of student’s work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievement in one or more areas. The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of student self-reflection.”

Uses of Portfolio Assessment In Student’s Performance

1. It can present the learners with a wide perspective and enables them to receive continuous feedback.

2. Students can also gain self-assessment for their academic learning and review their progress.

3. Students can gain visual proofs about their interests, skills, and strengths.

4. It also helps learners to develop strong qualities such as critical thinking and self-assessment.

5. Teachers can also become reflective practitioners and more self directed.

Collins stresses that the portfolio is,

“a container of collected evidence with a purpose. Evidence is documentation that can be used by one person or group of persons to infer another person’s knowledge, skill, and/or disposition.