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 Differentiated Thinking Tools and Strategies 

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 Differentiated Thinking Tools and Strategies 

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Solo Taxonomy: Developing Student Thinking

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Grade 4 Setting Description Peer Assessment

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Grade 4 Setting Description Peer Assessment

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Directions for Assessment in New Zealand

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Directions for Assessment in New Zealand

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Dear Participants, Welcome to the Category 2 Workshop - Evidencing Learning. My name is Shikha Ahuja, and I'm thrilled to be your workshop leader for this workshop. I'm passionate about making learning meaningful, and I've had the privilege of working in IBPYP for 13 years.

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Assessing student learning: Why reform is overdue

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Assessing student learning: Why reform is overdue

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Formative Assessment: Assessment	Is for Self-regulated Learning

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Formative Assessment: Assessment	Is for Self-regulated Learning

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Characteristics and Strategies of Self-adjusters’ 

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Characteristics and Strategies of Self-adjusters’ 

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Directions for Assessment in New Zealand- Chapter 7

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Directions for Assessment in New Zealand- Chapter 7

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Table of Contents

The idea of Backward Design (BD) comes from McTighe & Wiggins' (2005) Understanding by Design. The authors suggest that educators should plan learning experiences with the final assessment in mind. In this model, you start with the end - the desired results, goals, or standards - and then grow your curriculum from student learning called for by your assessments and the teaching needed to equip students to perform.

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results: Identify the desired outcomes for your course. In other words, identify the knowledge and skills that students must achieve by the end of the course. Use Bloom's Taxonomy to help you construct learning objectives.

Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence of Learning: Determine how you will evaluate students' performance and the criteria on which students will be evaluated based off the desired results.

Stage 3: Design Learning Experiences & Instruction: Design and develop learning materials and activities that help students to achieve stated learning objectives.

Many instructors begin designing their courses thinking of which materials or favorite activities to use, but that leads to thinking about the teaching first. The goal of BD is to help instructors think about learning outcomes first. Wiggins & McTighe (2005) offer the following example:

"The teacher might base a lesson on a particular topic (e.g., racial prejudice), select a resource (e.g., To Kill a Mocking-bird), choose specific instructional methods based on the resource and topic (e.g., Socratic seminar to discuss the book and cooperative groups to analyze stereotypical images in films and on television), and hope thereby to cause learning (and meet a few English/language arts standards). Finally, the teacher might think up a few essay questions and quizzes for assessing student understanding of the book."

It's a traditional approach, but does it lead to critical thinking/learning? In contrast, the backward design approach has instructors consider the learning goals of the course first. These learning goals embody the knowledge and skills instructors want their students to have learned when they leave the course. Once the learning goals have been established, the second stage involves consideration of assessment. The backward design framework suggests that instructors should consider these overarching learning goals and how students will be assessed prior to consideration of how to teach the content.

For example, if you wanted to adapt the topic of racial prejudice to a backward design framework, you would first decide what you wanted the students to learn about racial prejudice. Then, you would formulate an essential question to guide the assessments, such as, "What is the relationship between morality, behavior, and justice?"

In Stage 2, you would create the assessment based on how a student could show that they have learned the relationship between morality, behavior, and justice and are able to answer the essential question. Using To Kill a Mockingbird, you could have the students write an essay to show comprehension of the concepts within the resource or have them conduct their own mock trial with a similar court case.

In Stage 3, you would finally design and develop materials and activities that help the students achieve the mastery of the essential question so they can participate effectively in the final assessment (either an essay or mock trial for this example).

For this reason, backward design is considered a much more intentional approach to course design than traditional methods of design.

As noted previously, there are three stages to BD. The stages are not prescriptive and do not have to be followed in exact order, but being thorough in completing the template will help you organize your design.

Stage 1 - Identify Desired Results
In Stage 1, consider goals and content standards for your area. Make deliberate choices about what will be necessary for students to learn in your course. You will not be able to address everything, so what stands out? Ask yourself the following questions to help you organize your thoughts:

What essential questions will be considered?
An example could be that you are teaching a course on nutrition: What is healthful eating? Are you a healthful eater? How would you know? How could a healthy diet for one person be unhealthy for another? Why are there so many health problems in the US caused by poor nutrition despite all the available information?

What understandings are desired?
To extend the nutrition example, you may want students to understand a balanced diet contributes to physical and mental health. The USDA food pyramid presents relative guidelines for nutrition. Dietary requirements vary by individual based on age, activity, weight, and overall health, etc.

What knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this course?
Students will know key terms (protein, fat, calorie), types of foods in each food group and their nutritional value, the USDA food pyramid guidelines, variables influencing nutritional needs, and general health problems caused by poor nutrition.

Students will be able to read and interpret nutrition information on food labels, analyze diets for nutritional value, plan balanced diets for themselves and others.

Generally, these identified priorities contribute to your learning outcomes.

Stage 2 - Determine Acceptable Evidence
Stage 2 is about refining assessments. Ask yourself the following questions to help you organize your thoughts:

What authentic tasks will students perform to demonstrate the desired understandings? What criteria will I use to judge those performances?
With the nutrition example, students could be asked to create an illustrated menu that features the key elements of a balanced diet.

What other evidence will demonstrate students' understanding?
What quizzes, tests, homework, journals, etc. will work in context of this module/unit.

Stage 3 - Plan Learning Experiences
In this stage, consider the activities and strategies you will use to conduct the course. Bowen (2017) suggests using the following questions to organize your thoughts:

What activities will equip students with the needed knowledge and skills?

What will need to be taught and coached, and how should it best be taught, in light of performance goals?

What materials and resources are best suited to accomplish these goals?

Backward Design Template
More templates and resources are available at Jay McTighe's website.

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The idea of Backward Design (BD) comes from McTighe & Wiggins' (2005) Understanding by Design. The authors suggest that educators should plan learning experiences with the final assessment in mind. In this model, you start with the end - the desired results, goals, or standards - and then grow your curriculum from student learning called for by your assessments and the teaching needed to equip students to perform.

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A transdisciplinary programme of Inquiry

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A transdisciplinary programme of Inquiry

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What language do you and your school use around assessment?

What is the role of the student in assessment in your school?

What does assessment look like in your context?

For whom, when, how

and why?

How do you describe and define it?

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Formative Assessment: Assessment	Is for Self-regulated Learning

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Formative Assessment: Assessment	Is for Self-regulated Learning

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Evidencing Learning workshop: Using personas

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Evidencing Learning workshop: Using personas

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How can I ensure my assessment practices are informing the learner, learning and teaching and the learning community?

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How can I ensure my assessment practices are informing the learner, learning and teaching and the learning community?

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In what ways am I inquiring into my personal assessment practices and can see possibilities for modification?

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In what ways am I inquiring into my personal assessment practices and can see possibilities for modification?

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How is learner agency supported through my assessment practices?

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How is learner agency supported through my assessment practices?

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Incorporating student-led reflections is vital in evidencing learning. Encourage students to articulate what they've learned, how they've tackled challenges, and their next learning steps. Tools such as digital portfolios or reflective journals can be instrumental. This practice not only promotes metacognition but also provides tangible evidence of learning progress.

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Someone once told me (or maybe I read it somewhere) that the best stories are like pearls on a string. Each moment or scene in the story is polished, lovely to read. But it is the string of scenes, all tied together that gives the whole story meaning and purpose. The pearls on their own are lovely, but threaded together they become something more.

We often think about the quality of the writing as the main goal of writing workshop. But there are also very important goals involving: work ethic, the ability to give and take feedback, setting goals, persevering, collaborating, conversational skills, and so much more.

Each lesson we teach in writing workshop is like a pearl on a string. But it's the other stuff (the goal setting, the conversational skills, the hard work) that threads it all together and gives it meaning and purpose.

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying out tools, strategies, and new routines to try to support students in recognizing some of that "other stuff" that threads our units together. Along with the teachers I work with, we've been brainstorming. "How do we teach students to self-reflect and self-assess? How do we help them be aware of what they are learning- all the things they are learning?"

This work is grounded in the belief that self-reflection and goal setting will support student growth. When students can articulate how they have changed, when they can name the strategies they've used, talk about how they have grown-then we help them make that growth replicable the next time they face a challenge. (It helps to know this is grounded in quite a lot of on student expectations and self-assessment as well.)

Here are five things we've tried recently:

SELF-REFLECTION QUESTIONS OR "QUICK WRITES"

Many teachers create a separate section in students' writing notebooks or folders for reflection and goal setting. In this section, from time to time, students are prompted to look back at examples of their writing or think back to moments during writing time.

You might try getting students started with open-ended questions. My favorite reflective quick writes are the ones that look back and look forward. Here are a few examples:

"I used to think... but now I know..."

"Last year/month/week I... but now I..."

"Right now I know how to... But what I really want to be able to do is..."

QUICK "RATE YOURSELF" ACTIVITIES

My favorite quick reflection tool is to ask students to rate themselves on a sliding scale. I pose a question or a prompt, for example:

"I use the feedback my teacher and writing partner gave me."

"I am an active listener when I'm working with my writing partner."

"I made major revisions to my writing today."

On one end of the scale might be "never" and on the other "always" and then each student places a post-it or a sticker anywhere on the line to represent how close to "never" or "always" they believe their work to be.

Once all the stickers are on display, you have a pretty good sense of how the class is thinking about their own work. The important thing is to give them the opportunity to brainstorm what's next. "How do we move toward 'always' as a class?" "How can we help each other?" this could be a written reflection, or perhaps students turn and talk to a neighbor, or as a whole class about their next steps.

MAKE THE MOST OUT OF PRE-ASSESSMENTS AND POST-ASSESSMENTS AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEEDBACK, REFLECTION, AND GOAL SETTING

Most teachers I know give some sort of pre-assessment before diving straight into a new unit of study. The information that can be gleaned from just a short on-demand piece of writing can be incredibly useful in determining what your students need to learn, and thus can help you make decisions about what to teach. Then, at the end of a unit of study, a post-assessment is used as an opportunity for students to independently apply everything they've learned throughout the writing process to a new piece of writing - without conferring or teacher input.

But what about students? How do your students use the pre and post assessment to figure out their own strengths and next steps?

One option is to teach kids how to use a student-friendly version of the rubric or checklist to self-assess their own pre-assessment on-demand writing before the unit begins. Another version of this is to provide a really strong mentor text and show kids how to compare their own work to it.

Another option is to do a round of conferring at the start of your new unit of study to share your feedback from the pre-assessment and/or most recent post-assessment. This could include some student self-assessment and goal setting as well.

A third option is to teach your students how to provide thoughtful, constructive, peer-feedback to each other by teaching them to use a student-friendly checklist with a partner, as a jumping off point to talk to each other about their strengths and next steps.

STUDENT-CREATED CHECKLISTS AND RUBRICS

Typically, teachers get together and create a rubric or a checklist to use to assess the work that students will do. But what if kids had a hand in creating those rubrics? Student-created rubrics and checklists provide an opportunity for students to reflect on what they already know about the topic and provides a great tool for a teacher to build from that list.

A few ways this might go:

Using an existing checklist, you might invite students to rewrite the wording together or create their own picture clues to make it even more kid-friendly and easier to understand. I've seen this go really well as a whole class, moving through a checklist just a few items at a time, in bite-size chunks.

Alternatively, you might provide a very strong mentor text for students to study and name what the writer has done really well that they might try in their own writing. Creating a list of what the writer has done (and why) can become the checklist for their own writing.

Another option is for a checklist or rubric to grow out of an issue or problem that has sprung up in your class. A "1" on the rubric is a description of the problem as it stands - the starting point. For example:

Kids aren't listening or looking at each other during partner time.

Then each point on the rubric is a description of what the work looks like at increasingly better stages-incremental goals to reach for.

2. Kids take turns and make eye contact during partner time.

3. Kids take turns and make eye contact during partner time. They also ask each other questions and give compliments.

4. Kids take turns and make eye contact. They ask each other questions, give compliments, and make suggestions for their writing partner.

WHOLE CLASS CONVERSATIONS

Often, these conversations grow out of a problem that needs to be discussed, and the conversation is a brainstorm of various ways to solve the problem. For example, I might gather my writers and say, "You know, it was noisy today during writing workshop. Some kids told me it was too noisy to think straight about their writing. What can we do about this? Who has an idea for a solution?"

Through a combination of partner talk ("Turn and talk to your partner..." and whole class conversation ("Who will start us off? Talk to each other...") the class generates a list of ideas, which I'll often chart for them as they talk. In these conversations, I play a role as facilitator, but I rarely join the conversation with my own ideas. The point is for kids to reflect, brainstorm, problem solve, and set goals.

The same format can also be applied to celebrating successes as a class. "Wow! You all wrote more than ever today! What do you think it was that made today different than other days?" or "Holy smokes! I think your partner conversations were the best they've ever been today! What do you think you did today that you could do again tomorrow (and any day)?"

These opportunities to reflect help student tie together all the separate lessons, conversations, and bits of writing they've done. Taking all these separate bits and asking, "How is it going? What's next? What do I think about all this?" helps students learn not only how to reflect on their writing lives... but on their lives in general.

Last but not least, one the most important things you can do is to be a reflective practitioner. You can start by reflecting alongside your students. As you think back across the year, to each unit of study, each type of writing you taught: What patterns emerge? What seem to be the common threads? Was there a recurring success, mistake, issue, or highlight? What can you do to make the successes and highlights happen more often? What can you do differently to avoid repeating the same mistakes and issues?

Some teachers have students keep a space in their writer's notebook or writing folder to write a short reflection each week. How did things go this week? What went well? What did not go well? I think I'll start doing the same in my plan book.

For more ideas on incorporating more opportunities for student reflection across the school year, here are a few more great reads:

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

This giveaway is for a copy of Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice . Thanks to for donating a copy for one reader. (You must have a U.S. mailing address to win a print copy of this book. If you have an international address, then Stenhouse will send you an eBook of Stenhouse Publishers .) Day by Day

For a chance to win this copy of Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice, please leave a comment about this or any blog post in this blog series by Sunday, May 7th at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Melanie Meehan will use a random number generator to pick the winner's commenter number. His/her name will be announced in the ICYMI blog post for this series on Monday, May 7th.

Please leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment so Melanie can contact you to obtain your mailing address if you win. From there, our contact at Stenhouse will ship the book to you. (NOTE: Your e-mail address will not be published online if you leave it in the e-mail field only.)

If you are the winner of the book, Melanie will email you with the subject line of TWO WRITING TEACHERS - DAY BY DAY. Please respond to her e-mail with your mailing address within five days of receipt. A new winner will be chosen if a response isn't received within five days of the giveaway announcement.

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Student Self-Reflection: Looking Back and Moving Forward

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Someone once told me (or maybe I read it somewhere) that the best stories are like pearls on a string. Each moment or scene in the story is polished, lovely to read. But it is the string of scenes, all tied together that gives the whole story meaning and purpose.

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Utilize rubrics to make learning expectations clear and to provide consistent assessment criteria. Rubrics help students understand their learning journey and where they need to focus their efforts. Design rubrics that align with the PYP key concepts and learner profile attributes. This transparency aids in self-assessment and goal setting, making learning outcomes evident.

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This rubric helps teachers to assess learners in five key areas during a PYP Unit of Inquiry: - Knowledge - Concepts - Approaches To Learning - Learner Profile - Taking Action There is also a reflection and next-steps page that the learner and teacher can go through together to develop goals for future learning.

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Promote collaborative projects to evidence learning through teamwork. Collaborative learning helps in developing social, communication, and problem-solving skills. Use digital platforms like Padlet or Google Docs to facilitate group work and showcase collective knowledge construction. This approach highlights the importance of shared learning experiences and mutual support among students.

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Collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. Peer learning, or peer instruction, is a type of collaborative learning that involves students working in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts or find solutions to problems. Similar to the idea that two or three heads are better than one, educational researchers have found that through peer instruction, students teach each other by addressing misunderstandings and clarifying misconceptions.

Why use collaborative learning?

Research shows that educational experiences that are active, social, contextual, engaging, and student-owned lead to deeper learning. The benefits of collaborative learning include:

Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills.

Promotion of student-faculty interaction.

Increase in student retention, self-esteem, and responsibility.

Exposure to and an increase in understanding of diverse perspectives.

Preparation for real life social and employment situations.

Considerations for using collaborative learning

Introduce group or peer work early in the semester to set clear student expectations.

Establish ground rules  for participation and contributions.

Plan for each stage of group work.

Carefully explain to your students how groups or peer discussion will operate and how students will be graded.

Help students develop the skills they need to succeed, such as using team-building exercises or introducing self-reflection techniques.

Consider using written contracts.

Incorporate  self -assessment and  peer  assessment for group members to evaluate their own and others' contributions.

Getting started with collaborative learning

Shorter in-class collaborative learning activities generally involve a three-step process. This process can be as short as five minutes, but can be longer, depending on the task at hand.

Introduce the task. This can be as simple as instructing students to turn to their neighbor to discuss or debate a topic.

Provide students with enough time to engage with the task. Walk around and address any questions as needed.

Debrief. Call on a few students to share a summary of their conclusions. Address any misconceptions or clarify any confusing points. Open the floor for questions.

For larger group work projects, here are some strategies to help ensure productive group dynamics:

Provide opportunities for students to develop rapport and group cohesion through  icebreakers, team-building, and reflection exercises.

Give students time to create a group work plan allowing them to plan for deadlines and divide up their responsibilities.

Have students  establish ground rules. Students can create a contract for each member to sign. This contract can include agreed-upon penalties for those who fail to fulfill obligations.

Assign roles to members of each group and change the roles periodically. For example, one student can be the coordinator, another the note-taker, another the summarizer, and another the planner of next steps.

Allow students to rate each other's quality and quantity of contributions. Use these evaluations when giving individual grades, but do not let it weigh heavily on a student's final grade. Communicate clearly how peer assessment will influence grades.

Check in with groups intermittently but encourage students to handle their own issues before coming to you for assistance.

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Collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. Peer learning, or peer instruction, is a type of collaborative learning that involves students working in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts or find solutions to problems. Similar to the idea that two or three heads are better than one, educational researchers have found that through peer instruction, students teach each other by addressing misunderstandings and clarifying misconceptions.

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Highlight how students embody the IB learner profile attributes through their actions and reflections. Create a display or digital showcase capturing instances where students demonstrate attributes like inquiry, risk-taking, and empathy. This visual evidence connects student behavior to the curriculum's ethical dimension, reinforcing the idea that learning is not just academic but also personal development.

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Digital portfolios offer an effective way to collect and present evidence of learning. They allow for a diverse range of work to be showcased, including written pieces, multimedia projects, and reflections. Portfolios can be reviewed and added to over time, providing a comprehensive view of each student's learning journey. Explore platforms like Seesaw or Google Sites to implement portfolios in your practice.

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Assessment and Curriculum Support Center

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On this page:

1. What is a portfolio?

2. Portfolios as a data-collection method for assessment

3. Advantages and disadvantages

4. Creating and designing portfolios

5. Questions to ask before adopting portfolios

6. E-Portfolios

7. Links: universities implementing portfolios; online portfolios

8. E-portfolio software and review

1. What is a portfolio?

A portfolio is a systematic collection of student work that represents student activities, accomplishments, and achievements over a specific period of time in one or more areas of the curriculum. There are two main types of portfolios:

Showcase Portfolios: Students select and submit their best work. The showcase portfolio emphasizes the products of learning.
Developmental Portfolios: Students select and submit pieces of work that can show evidence of growth or change over time. The growth portfolio emphasizes the process of learning.

STUDENTS' REFLECTIVE ESSAY: In both types of portfolios, students write reflective essays or introductory memos to the faculty/assessment committee to explain the work and reflect on how the collection demonstrates their accomplishments, explains why they selected the particular examples, and/or describes changes in their knowledge/ability/attitude.

2. Portfolios as a data-collection method for assessment

Portfolios can be created for course assessment as well as program assessment. Although the content may be similar, the assessment process is different.

Course portfolios contain products of student learning within a course, within a single term.

Program portfolios draw from several courses, extracurricular activities, internships, and other experiential learning related to the program. Program portfolios can serve the same purpose as an exit exam: provide evidence of the cumulative effect of the program.

Students include items from a single course.

Students select items from multiple courses and may be required to submit items from co-curricular activities, internships, employment, etc.

Students write a reflective essay or cover memo to explain the portfolio and their learning.

Students write a reflective essay or cover memo to explain the portfolio and their learning.

All students in a single course participate.

All students in the program participate.

Course instructor scores portfolio by using a scoring rubric(s).

Multiple faculty members, not the instructor, score the portfolio by using a scoring rubric(s).

Usually every item and every student's portfolio is scored.

Either all portfolios or a sample of portfolios is scored. In some cases, particular items are scored from the portfolio.

3. Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of a portfolio

Enables faculty to assess a set of complex tasks, including interdisciplinary learning and capabilities, with examples of different types of student work.

Helps faculty identify curriculum gaps, a lack of alignment with outcomes.

Promotes faculty discussions on student learning, curriculum, pedagogy, and student support services.

Encourages student reflection on their learning. Students may come to understand what they have and have not learned.

Provides students with documentation for job applications or applications to graduate school.

Disadvantages of a portfolio

Faculty time required to prepare the portfolio assignment and assist students as they prepare them. Logistics are challenging.

Students must retain and compile their own work, usually outside of class. Motivating students to take the portfolio seriously may be difficult.

Transfer students may have difficulties meeting program-portfolio requirements.

Storage demands can overwhelm (which is one reason why e-portfolios are chosen).

4. Using portfolios in assessment

TIP: START SMALL.
Showcase portfolio: Consider starting with one assignment plus a reflective essay from a senior-level course as a pilot project. A faculty group evaluates the "mini-portfolios" using a rubric. Use the results from the pilot project to guide faculty decisions on adding to or modifying the portfolio process.
Developmental portfolio: Consider starting by giving a similar assignment in two sequential courses: e.g., students write a case study in a 300-level course and again in a 400-level course. In the 400-level course, students also write a reflection based on their comparison of the two case studies. A faculty group evaluates the "mini-portfolios" using a rubric. Use the results to guide the faculty members as they modify the portfolio process.

Suggested steps:

1. Determine the purpose of the portfolio. Decide how the results of a portfolio evaluation will be used to inform the program.

2. Identify the learning outcomes the portfolio will address.Tip: Identify at least 6 course assignments that are aligned with the outcomes the portfolio will address. Note: When planning to implement a portfolio requirement, the program may need to modify activities or outcomes in courses, the program, or the institution.

3. Decide what students will include in their portfolio. Portfolios can contain a range of items-plans, reports, essays, resume, checklists, self-assessments, references from employers or supervisors, audio and video clips. In a showcase portfolio, students include work completed near the end of their program. In a developmental portfolio, students include work completed early and late in the program so that development can be judged.Tip: Limit the portfolio to 3-4 pieces of student work and one reflective essay/memo.

4. Identify or develop the scoring criteria (e.g., a rubric) to judge the quality of the portfolio.Tip: Include the scoring rubric with the instructions given to students (#6 below).

5. Establish standards of performance and examples (e.g., examples of a high, medium, and low scoring portfolio).

6. Create student instructions that specify how students collect, select, reflect, format, and submit.Tip: Emphasize to students the purpose of the portfolio and that it is their responsibility to select items that clearly demonstrate mastery of the learning outcomes.
Emphasize to faculty that it is their responsibility to help students by explicitly tying course assignments to portfolio requirements.

Collect - Tell students where in the curriculum or co-curricular activities they will produce evidence related to the outcomes being assessed.
Select - Ask students to select the evidence. Instruct students to label each piece of evidence according to the learning outcome being demonstrated.
Reflect - Give students directions on how to write a one or two-page reflective essay/memo that explains why they selected the particular examples, how the pieces demonstrate their achievement of the program outcomes, and/or how their knowledge/ability/attitude changed.
Format -Tell students the format requirements (e.g., type of binder, font and style guide requirements, online submission requirements).
Submit - Give submission (and pickup) dates and instructions.

1. A faculty group scores the portfolios using the scoring criteria. Use examples of the standards of performance to ensure consistency across scoring sessions and readers.Tip: In large programs, select a random sample of portfolios to score (i.e., do not score every portfolio).

2. Share the results and use them to improve the program.

5. Questions to consider before adopting a portfolio requirement

What is the purpose of the portfolio requirement? To document student learning? Demonstrate student development? Learn about students' reflections on their learning? Create a document useful to students? Help students grow through personal reflection on their personal goals?

Will portfolios be showcase or developmental?

When and how will students be told about the requirement, including what materials they need to collect or to produce for it?

What are the minimum and maximum lengths or sizes for portfolios?

Who will decide which materials will be included in portfolios- -faculty or students?

What elements will be required in the portfolio- -evidence only from courses in the discipline, other types of evidence, evidence directly tied to learning outcomes, previously graded products or clean copies?

Will students be graded on the portfolios? If so, how and by whom?

How will the portfolios be assessed to evaluate and improve the program?

What can be done for students who have inadequate evidence through no fault of their own? (E.g., transfer students)

What will motivate students to take the portfolio requirement seriously?

How will the portfolio be submitted-hard copy or electronic copy?

Who "owns" the portfolios-students or the program/university? If the program/university owns them, how long will the portfolios be retained after the students graduate?

Who has access to the portfolios and for what purposes?

How will student privacy and confidentiality be protected?

6. E-portfolios (electronic portfolios)

Traditional portfolios consist of papers in a folder. Electronic or "e-portfolios" consist of documents stored electronically. Electronic portfolios offer rich possibilities for learning and assessment, with the added dimension of technology.

Critical considerations

What about an electronic portfolio is central to the assessment?

Who is the audience for the portfolio? Will that audience have the hardware, software, skills, time, and inclination to access the portfolio electronically?

Does the institution have the hardware and software in place to create portfolios electronically? If not, what will it cost and who will install it? Does the institution have the IT/technical staff to support e-portfolios?

What is the current level of computer skills of the students and faculty members involved in this project? Who will teach them how to use the technology necessary to create and view electronic portfolios?

E-Portfolio Advantages:

Easy to share with multiple readers simultaneously.

Allows for asynchronous use for both students and faculty.

Allows for multi-media product submissions.

Offers search strategies for easy access to materials.

Makes updating entries easier.

Creating navigational links may help students see how their experiences interrelate.

Provides students the opportunity to improve as well as demonstrate their technology skills.

Allows faculty to remain in touch with students after graduation if the portfolio can become students' professional portfolio.

E-Portfolio Disadvantages:

Time is needed to master the software. Students may not have sufficient computer skills to showcase their work properly.

Faculty and students may be reluctant to learn a new software program.

Requires IT expertise and support for both students and faculty.

Cost associated with developing an in-house platform or the purchase of a commercial product may be expensive.

Cost associated with maintaining portfolio software. Ongoing support and training are necessary.

An external audience may not have access to proprietary software. Proprietary software may hinder portability.

Requires large amounts of computer space.

Privacy and security. Who will have access to the portfolio?

7. Links to universities implementing portfolios

Truman State University: http://assessment.truman.edu/components/portfolio/

Penn State: http://portfolio.psu.edu/

University of Denver: https://portfolio.du.edu/pc/index

8. Electronic portfolio software

Laulima Open Source Portfolio. Laulima has an Open Source Portfolio (OSP) tool option. Contact UH ITS for information about turning on this tool.

List of E-Portfolio Software & Tools. ePortfolio-related Tools and Technologies wiki.

Sources Consulted:

Skidmore College, Assessment at Skidmore College,http://cms.skidmore.edu/assessment/Handbook/portfolio.cfm

Mary Allen - University of Hawaii at Manoa Spring 2008 Assessment Workshops

ERIC Digest, Assessment Portfolios (ED447725), http://www.users.muohio.edu/shermalw/eric_digests/ed447725.pdf

Portfolio Assessment: Instructional Guide (2nd Ed.), http://libdr1.ied.edu.hk/pubdata/img00/arch00/link/archive/1/instarh/1921_image.pdf

Cambridge, B.L., Kahn, S., Tompkins, D.P., Yancey, K.B. (Eds.). (2001). Electronic portfolios: Emerging practices in student, faculty, and institutional learning. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

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Using Portfolios in Program Assessment - Assessment and Curriculum Support Center

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On this page: What is a portfolio?Portfolios as a data-collection method for assessmentAdvantages and disadvantagesCreating and designing portfoliosQuestions to ask before adopting portfoliosE-PortfoliosLinks: universities implementing portfolios; online portfoliosE-portfolio software and review 1. What is a portfolio?

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Organize student-led conferences to empower students in the assessment process. These conferences involve students presenting their work to parents and teachers, discussing their achievements and areas for growth. This format fosters accountability and pride in their learning, offering a powerful demonstration of their understanding and progress.

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student-led conference | SharingPYP Blog

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"This year, our PYP school decided to make the step from traditional teacher-parent reports day to student-led conference from primary grades 1 to 5. According the IB guidelines: "Student-led conferences involve the student and the parents. The students are responsible for leading the conference, and also take responsibility for their learning by sharing the process [...]