Michael-Anthony C. Dobson-Lewis
“Embracing Alternative Modes of Assessment: Projects
and Portfolios”
Presentation Outline.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Assessment Terminologies:
Assessment
(Classroom/Educational/Achievement)
Alternative Assessment
Traditional Assessment
Performance Assessment
Authentic Assessment
Presentation Outline Cont’d.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Projects and Portfolios:
Projects and Portfolios Assessment
Strengths and Limitations of Projects and
Portfolios
Examples of Projects and Portfolios
Grading Projects and Portfolios
Presentation Outline Cont’d.
The Teacher Portfolio:
1. What is a Teacher Portfolio?
2. Entries in a Typical Teacher Portfolio
3. Use of the Teacher Portfolio
Presentation Outline Cont’d.
Conclusion:
1. Concluding Remarks
2. Suggestions for Alternative Modes of
Assessment
Assessment .
1. Assessment is the process for obtaining
information that is used for making decisions
about students, curricula and programs, and
educational policy (Nitko & Brookhart, 2007).
2. Assessment is the broad category that
includes all the various methods for
determining the extent to which students are
achieving the intended learning outcomes of
instruction (Gronlund & Waugh, 2009).
Alternative Assessment.
Alternative Assessment is performance
assessment that emphasizes that these
assessment methods provide an alternative to
traditional paper-and-pencil testing (Gronlund
& Waugh, 2009).
Examples: projects, portfolios, journals,
research.
Traditional Assessment.
Traditional Assessment refers to paper-and –
pencil testing which include:
(a)Selection Type Items (True-False, MultipleChoice, Matching, Interpretive Exercise, and
(b)Construction Type Items (Completion/Short
Answer, Restricted Essays and Extended
Essays).
Performance Assessment.
Performance Assessment is any assessment
requiring students to demonstrate their
achievement of understandings and skills by
actually performing a task or set of tasks
(Gronlund & Waugh, 2009).
Examples: oral presentation, play a musical
piece, writing a story or poem, report on an
experiment, operate a machine, create a
painting.
Authentic Assessment.
Authentic Assessment is performance
assessments that stresses the importance of
focusing on the application of understandings
and skills to real problems in “real-world”
contextual settings (Gronlund & Waugh,
2009).
Examples: Simulations, Microteaching,
Teaching Practice (educational tasks resemble
real-life tasks).
Projects.
A Project is long term activity that results in a
student product: a model, a functional object,
a substantial report, or a collection (Nitko &
Brookhart, 2007).
Projects are long-term tasks in which students
have the opportunity to carry out in-depth
study of a particular topic (Plessis, 2010).
e.g., research project, art and craft portfolio.
Projects Cont’d.
Projects may be composed of a variety of
activities and tasks focused on finding out
answers to one broad question or set of
questions.
Projects foster knowledge creation and
learning the organizing concepts and skills of a
particular field.
Projects are time consuming/intensive.
Projects Cont’d.
Teachers must be willing and skilled in giving
students guidance.
Students will need help formulating and
narrowing a question or topic, accessing
information, synthesizing information,
integrating book knowledge with personal
experience, opinion or relating the book to a
particular context (e.g., Jamaican).
Projects Cont’d.
Parts of the project may be assessed
separately and an overall grade given to the
whole.
Displays and exhibits of projects provide
opportunities for students to vocalize their
understandings (e.g., mathematics kit with
teaching aids, chemistry project showing
models of elements, compounds and
mixtures).
Portfolios.
A Portfolio is an extended performance
assessment that includes multiple samples of
student product or performances (Airasian &
Russell, 2008).
It is a collection of student work, gathered
over time, for a purpose (Gallagher, 1998;
Plessis, 2010).
Portfolios.
According to Nitko & Brookhart (2009) and
Gronlund & Waugh (2009), a portfolio is a
collection of student work that has been
selected and organized to show student
learning progress (developmental portfolio)
or to show samples of student’s best work
(showcase portfolio).
Portfolio Assessment.
Portfolio Assessment is the process of
selecting collections of student work that both
students (self-assessment) and teachers
evaluate using preset criteria (Kauchak &
Eggen, 2011).
Purposes of the Portfolio.
1. The main purpose of the classroom portfolio
(learning portfolio), as with any other method
of assessment, is to improve student learning.
2. Another purpose is to help students become
responsible for their own learning.
Entries in a Student Portfolio.
1. Media: videos, audiotapes, pictures, artwork,
computer programs
2. Reflections: plans, statements of goals, selfreflections, journal entries
3. Individual work: tests, journals, logs, lab
reports, homework, essays
4. Group work: cooperative learning sessions,
group performances, peer reviews
Entries in a Student Portfolio
Cont’d.
5. Work in progress: rough and final drafts,
show-your-work process, science fair projects
Strengths/Advantages of Student
Portfolios.
1. Learning progress over time can be clearly
shown (e.g., changes in writing, thinking, or
research).
2. Focus on students’ best work provides a
positive influence on learning (e.g., best
writing samples, best examples of reasoning
and problem solving).
Strengths/Advantages of Student
Portfolio.
3. Comparing work to past work provides
greater motivation than comparison to the
work of others (e.g., growth in knowledge and
skills).
4. Self-assessment skills are increased due to the
student selection of best samples of work
(e.g., focus is on criteria of good
performance).
Strengths/Advantages of Student
Portfolios.
5. Reflective learning is encouraged as students
are asked to comment on each portfolio entry
(e.g., why do you consider this your best
work?).
6. Providing for adjustment to individual
differences (e.g., students work at their own
levels but work toward common goals).
Strengths/Advantages of Student
Portfolios.
7. Providing for clear communication of learning
progress to students, parents, and others
(e.g., work samples obtained at different
times can be shown and compared).
8. Increasing teacher-student collaboration in
the teaching-learning-assessment process.
Projects, Portfolios and Instruction
and Learning Relationship.
1. Showing students’ typical work.
2. Monitoring student progress and
improvement over time.
3. Helping students self-evaluate their work.
4. Providing ongoing assessment of student
learning.
5. Providing diagnostic information about
student performance.
Projects, Portfolios and Instruction
and Learning Relationship.
6. Helping teachers judge the appropriateness of
the curriculum.
7. Facilitating teacher meetings and conferences
with students, parents, and both students and
parents.
8. Grading students.
9. Reinforcing the importance of processes and
products in learning.
Projects, Portfolios and Instruction
and Learning Relationship.
10. Showing students the connections among
their processes and products.
11. Providing concrete examples of student
work.
12. Encouraging students to think about what is
good performance in varied subject areas.
13. Focusing on both the process and final
product of learning.
Projects, Portfolios and Instruction
and Learning Relationship.
14. Informing subsequent teachers about
students prior work.
Limitations/Disadvantages of
Projects and Portfolios.
1. Projects and Portfolios take time to create
and score.
2. Time consuming to maintain and use (time
consuming for both teachers and students).
3. Require considerable student-teacher
conference time (feedback).
4. They tend to have relatively low reliability.
Effective Use of Portfolios in the
Classroom.
1. Specify the purpose (developmental or
showcase).
2. Provide guidelines for selecting portfolio
entries.
3. Define students role in selection and selfevaluation.
4. Specify evaluation criteria.
Guidelines for Grading Projects
and Portfolios.
1. Set criteria for grading.
2. Criteria can be general (holistic) or specific
(analytic).
3. Let students know the criteria (assessment is
NOT a surprise).
4. Develop the scoring tool (checklist, rating
scales or rubric).
5. Keep it simple! (NOT endurance).
General Criteria for Evaluating the
Portfolio’s Structure.
Does the:
1. Purpose of the portfolio been clearly stated?
2. Portfolio provides evidence of various types
of student learning?
3. Portfolio include evidence of complex
learning in realistic setting?
4. Portfolio includes enough entries in each
area to make valid judgments?
General Criteria for Evaluating the
Portfolio’s Structure.
Does the:
5. Portfolio includes students’ self-evaluations
and their reflections on what was learned?
6. Portfolio enable one to determine learning
progress and current level of learning?
7. Portfolio provide clear evidence of learning to
users of the portfolio?
General Criteria for Evaluating the
Portfolio’s Structure.
Does the:
8. Portfolio provide for student participation and
responsibility?
9. Portfolio provide guidelines for the student
participation?
10. Portfolio present the entries in a wellorganized and useful manner?
General Criteria for Evaluating the
Portfolio’s Structure.
Does the:
11. Portfolio include assessment based on
clearly stated criteria of successful
performance?
12. Portfolio provide for greater interaction
between instruction and assessment?
(Gronlund &Waugh, 2009; Gallagher, 1998; Linn
& Miller, 2005).
Examples of Projects and
Portfolios.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Water Cycle
Solar System
Mathematics Kit
Models of elements, compounds and
mixtures
5. Art and Craft portfolio
6. Research project
7. Science fair projects
The Teacher Portfolio/Professional
Portfolio.
A professional portfolio is a collection of
materials representative of one’s work, that
provides an effective way to document your
competence and qualifications (DevlinScherer, Burroughs, Daly & McCarten, 2007).
The Teacher Portfolio.
1. The Teacher Portfolio is a compilation of
things the teacher has done, both in the
classroom and elsewhere.
2. It is designed to display the teacher’s talents
and proficiencies .
3. It demonstrates a teacher’s knowledge and
skills. (What am I trying to tell the reader
about myself?).
Entries in a Teacher Portfolio.
1. A brief yet interesting biographical sketch(a
short essay).
2. A description of the kinds of classes you have
taught recently (grade level, content,
teaching style).
3. Copies of documents, licenses, tests
(demonstrate your continuing education).
4. A short essay about your teaching
philosophy.
Entries in a Teacher Portfolio.
5. Copies of recent lesson or unit plans. Photos
of the class engaged in these activities.
6. Creative handouts you have designed, student
papers you have graded.
7. Photographs of your classroom or a videotape
of you in action.
8. Peer observations and evaluations, letters of
commendations, recognitions, honours.
Use of the Teacher Portfolio.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Supervisor assessment
License assessment
Employment interviews
Promotion assessment
Grant application information
Pre-service teacher education program
(Zubizarreta, 2009).
Conclusion/Concluding Remarks.
1. The field of Classroom
Assessment/Educational Assessment is large
and complex.
2. My presentation has only skims that surface
by presenting ways for teachers/educators to
expand on their classroom assessment
practices by using more projects and
portfolios.
Conclusion Cont’d.
3. The area of Classroom Assessment
(Assessment for Learning and not just
Assessment of Learning) is often neglected
because of the constraints of time, workloads
and large classes.
4. Creativity plays an important role in
developing and implementing good classroom
assessment.
Conclusion Cont’d.
5. You are encouraged to experiment with new
assessment techniques/modes and develop
some on your own (start developing your
portfolio).
Conclusion/Suggestions.
For trying new and alternative modes of
assessment:
1. Use professional judgment and intuition
2. Don’t let it be a burden
3. Try the technique/mode out on yourself
4. Allow ample time for assessment and
feedback
Conclusion/Suggestions.
5. Provide feedback to students about it
6. Discuss it with your colleagues.
(Dobson-Lewis, 2012).
References.
Airasian, P. W. & Russell, M. K (2008). Classroom
assessment: concepts and applications.
McGraw Hill.
Devlin-Scherer, R. ,Burroughs, G. , Daly, J. , &
McCarten, W. (2007). The value of the teacher
work sample for improving instruction and
program. Action in Teacher Education, 29(1),
51-60.
References.
Dobson-Lewis, M-A. C. (2012). Alternative
assessment: expanding classroom assessment
in technical and vocational education.
UWI/UNESCO Conference.
Gallagher, J. D. (1998). Classroom assessment for
teachers. Merrill, Prentice Hall.
Gronlund, N. E. & Waugh, C. K. (2009).
Assessment of student achievement. Pearson.
References.
Kauchak, D. & Eggen, P. (2011). Introduction to
teaching: becoming a professional. Pearson.
Linn, R. L. & Miller, M. D. (2005). Measurement
and Assessment in teaching. Pearson.
Nitko, A. J. & Brookhart, S. M. (2007).
Educational assessment of students. Pearson.
References.
Plessis, J. (2010). Improving educational quality
project. American Institutes for Research,
Alexandria, Virginia.
Zubizarreta, J. (2009). The learning and
academic portfolio: reflective practice for
improving student learning. San Francisco:
Josey-Bass.
Reflections.
1. Power of Reflections: To help you reflect on
what you have learned!
2. Questions/Answers.
3. Comments.
Thank You!