Student Portfolios

The best activities for a portfolio implement an on-hands, manipulated approach to most, if not all, of the teaching activities that are incorporated into the student’s daily learning processes. In addition, the selected content utilizes methods that have been proven to enhance the direct contact needed for learning success; these techniques include tapping into all of the senses through multiple intelligences and integrating multimodal, multidisciplinary attributes to all academic content areas and lessons.

These teacher-directed and student-guided interactions with the material being studied will produce a high quality product that the student can be proud of, and the teacher can be assured that learning has taken place. A well-developed portfolio containing many examples can be used by the student in future classes as demonstration of having learned academic content, shown to prospective employers, and even included in a college admissions packet. The portfolio is not limited to the present, but is an extension of the student’s bright educational future.

Many examples can be included in a student’s portfolio; in fact, the possibilities are almost endless. Only the imagination of the student shall reveal the dynamics of their enclosed content within the portfolio. Possible activities are presented in the list below as a beginning sample for students to include and for teachers to engage their students, tapping into prior knowledge and higher order thinking skills. Also, in the right hand column are visual representations of some of the choices that students can encompass into their portfolio.

One important attribute of a portfolio that teachers can utilize, and has also been cited in the research literature, is its prospective as an alternative method of assessment of student work and grading. A portfolio is far more than just a hodgepodge of paper and pencil tests; these are passive instruments that reveal only a portion of the student’s learning outcome. Teachers shall have to develop alternative grading procedures, expanding beyond the traditional A-F standard that is commonly used. Different systems can include multiple categories for grading, evaluation statements that outline key points for student reflection, or Likert rating scales with several variables being assessed on a predetermined number scheme.Although grading is crucial, it is the contents of the portfolio that is most important.