Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of materials that depicts the competencies of one's work. It provides an insight into one's personality and work ethic. According to Wiggins, 1993 "A portfolio is assessed and graded based on how the student understands the principles of the academic discipline. This process of assessment is authentic because students learn and practice how to apply important knowledge and skills for authentic purposes."

A student's portfolio is an authentic assessment that is focused on a collection of various authentic learning opportunities and a showcase of student's growth over the period of the course.

Ideally, the portfolio would be considered authentic if the following criteria are applied:

• Students carefully selected their own work and made their own decision of what work they were most proud of to be placed in their portfolio. It is a showcase for the student, teacher, parents, and school district.

• Students are asked to reflect upon their own work - why they chose it, why it is important to them, how hard they worked and how it can be improved upon, etc. In this situation, because the student chose their own pieces, and reflected upon their own work and personal growth throughout the course, it makes it more meaningful to them.

Portfolios allows students to focus on a collection of their work to show progress over time. The advantages includes:

• • Integration of information from a numerous sources.

  • Showing the overall picture of students performance and learning.

  • Showing student involvement, creativity and commitment.

  • Enable students to self-assess.