Another excellent link fron Ray Schroeder’s Online Learning Update pointing to a paper on Graduate Portfolios.
Using Online Education to Develop Graduate Portfolios outlines one use of an electronic portfolio – as a capstone in a Master of Science Degree program.
The author (L. Dayle Yeager from Texas A&M) does a good job in describing what e-portfolios in general are useful for, and the how this application fits:
The type of graduate portfolio developed in this online project was a hybrid prototype that combined various aspects of different portfolios. Named the showcase/professional portfolio, it incorporated (1) a summative mode of assessment, (2) best work samples of an overall graduate degree program, and (3) “highly” professional attributes.
What I like about this paper is that it is eminently practical, and does a good job of addressing both faculty and student concerns. One that stands out relates to grading. When taking on a protfolio project students and faculty both have questions related to grading:
– “How are we going to grade these things?”
– “How are these things going to be graded?”
(I know, I should have used the word assessed there, but I tend towards the pragmatic)
In that regard, their checklists are very useful:
– Student portfolio checklist
– Graduate Faculty’s Assessment Checklist
– Graduate Faculty’s Rubric
This is a must read!