Study Advice Service

Portfolios
Author: Peter Wilson

The aim of this leaflet: It is an unfortunate fact that many students find the idea of the portfolio very threatening. This leaflet has been written in the hopes that it will reduce some of the (groundless) fears that students experience when they are faced with having to produce a portfolio. It may be reassuring to realise that producing a portfolio rarely demands new skills of a student. It gives you a chance to show that you possess certain skills, and have learned certain competencies; but in itself the portfolio should only be a matter of showing that you have them, not of acquiring new ones. What is a portfolio? Originally, this word just meant : A receptacle or case for keeping loose sheets of paper, prints, drawings, maps, music, or the like; usually in the form of a large book-cover, and sometimes having sheets of paper fixed in it, between which specimens are placed.
(The Oxford English Dictionary)

In academic circles, it has come to mean a form of assessment. A student submits a portfolio that is, a collection of evidence. The key idea here is that of proof. The evidence submitted must be good enough to prove that you are as good as you say you are. (An academic portfolio is not necessarily in the form of the traditional portfolio as described above: some departments prescribe that it should be in the form of a single A4 ring binder, for example.) Why produce a portfolio? The first reason is to allow a student to show what she or he can do and has done, in such a way that a reader of the portfolio can believe it. An assessor or examiner, for example, can award a pass; an employer can offer a job; a professional body can admit a new member on the proof being given to them that the candidate is competent. A second important reason for keeping a portfolio and one reason why some departments have made it a requirement for assessment in their subjects is that it is a very good way of learning. The portfolio is NOT just another sort of exam. A common ingredient sometimes a compulsory one of a portfolio is a learning journal. If you are going to use this, remember to start it soon enough as soon as you know that a portfolio will Be demanded of you. (maybe all students should keep a learning journal all the time anyway?)

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This, like other real life and real time bits of evidence, need not be too tidy. First-hand evidence can look more authentic if raw in form. If you keep a Learning Log, Learning Journal or Learning Diary, you will in fact be reflecting on or thinking about what you are learning. You will be learning by internalising your experiences by making them more fully your own. A good portfolio will not only show that you have learnt; the construction of a good portfolio will actually help you to learn better. Part of this process is that it will present you with (i.e. you yourself will come up with) questions. Answering those questions should be a positive step forwards. Most students have at least some moments of panic when they say, in desperation, What can I put in my portfolio? How can I prove that I can ? Will this do? These questions are worrying at the time. That is human nature. But dont panic! The answers you find to them will themselves be part of your training in the subject area, or profession, in which you are working or hoping to work. Answering the questions should be a source of strength. The portfolio at its best can help to bring together your whole learning process. It adds to even while it helps you to reflect on your personal growth, learning and development. What should be in the portfolio? One implication of the above is that different subjects, different professions, and different employers may be looking for different things. Make sure you know who will eventually read your portfolio. It may be: the course leader for a particular short course; the examiner at the end of a full three year degree course; an employer, to prove that you have benefited from a secondment; a prospective employer, to see if you are any good; yourself, as you set out on the beginning of a life-long collection (many teachers of art, for example, keep a running portfolio of their work until they retire); some reader (or purpose) as yet un-dreamt of by the writers of this leaflet. In any case, keep your eventual reader in mind. It may help you decide how to set about assembling your portfolio. One job all students trying to build up a portfolio should undertake is to find out what evidence is required by the reader of their portfolio. Then the students should make sure that they have that evidence or at least are on the road to acquiring it, perhaps by way of a course they have signed up for but not yet completed. They will have the evidence, in other words, at a clear time in the future. (I have recently completed the first of two semesters improving my skills in French. An outline of the course is on page ZZ.) A second job that all students should undertake is to ask themselves What can I put in my portfolio? The portfolio should be an individual piece of work. It should reflect the personality (in an academic or professional sense) of the person who puts it together. Your strengths are not the same as the strengths of others; and everyone has areas where they are not as strong as some of their fellow students or colleagues. Therefore your portfolio will not be should not be the same as that of everybody else. 2

Here, you should be thinking What else is there (that is relevant) that proves I am competent (for the purposes of this portfolio)? A clean driving licence may be useful in some job application portfolios; it may be a useful addition to the list of skills you bring to a given opportunity; or it may be completely irrelevant to the academic field in which you are working. (If it is a useful document, include a photocopy of it, rather than the original.) In some areas, like Nursing and Management, it may be helpful to demonstrate that you can instruct or coach younger, or junior, people. Here it may strengthen your case if you can include a certificate you have been awarded to allow you to coach in a sport or work as a volunteer instructor in the St John Ambulance Brigade. Or whatever. Only you can decide what is relevant to your portfolio though your supervisor, mentor or other students may give you helpful advice. What is the nature of the portfolio? Is it Formative or Summative? to use the educational jargon. The jargon here is useful. Summative assessments are those that sum up a students performance. They are designed to measure the students level at a particular moment, like the end of the course. (Final examinations are the classic summative assessment.) Formative assessments are ones which help to shape (or form) the students learning, and the way in which the student (and sometimes the teacher) should go forward. They do not simply measure achievement. Assembling your portfolio should be a formative experience even when you are asked to submit it as a summative assessment. Use it: to consider and therefore consolidate what you have learnt already; to recognise what you still need to do and plan to do it! to gather the proof that will let you move on to the next stage of your life. Remember that these are processes you will often have done in your head already, perhaps very informally. They are a natural and normal part of academic life. Here, you are just making sure that others can read your thoughts, share them and give you credit for them. We are so convinced of the value of the formative process that we would advise even those who are studying in Departments that do not demand a portfolio to consider keeping their own. So how do you do it? First, realise from what has been said already that you should avoid pre-conceived formats and ways of doing things. Your portfolio should be an expression of you. Only if your fellow student is exactly like you should your portfolio be exactly like hers. And who wants robot students? Be different! (A tutor once said, The better portfolios can be very different. Then she reconsidered her words: the better portfolios are different. However, remember that there is a difference between different and eccentric, odd or mad.)

Of course, there are many items of evidence that will always be the same perhaps everyone in your group will have a certificate of proficiency in computer skills. Everyone should include that certificate as proof of their competence as long as it is relevant to the occasion for which this portfolio is being assembled. Think through the portfolio and its purpose as a whole. Notice the directions given for such elements as length. If you are told that no portfolio should be longer than a single A4 binder, it is foolish to collect too much material to fit into one binder. Find out if your department assesses portfolios on a simple pass/fail rating, or awards a full range of marks. In both cases, it is quality, not quantity, that will lead to success. Equally, notice the instructions about presentation. Some departments like clear plastic wallets; some dislike them so much that they ban them. Do as you are asked. If such things are not spelled out in your directions, use your best judgement with advice, if it is available. Writers should always think of their readers; in the example of plastic wallets, we would advise you to reduce the effort the reader has to make. If you feel you must have them, use a separate one for each two sides of paper, so that a reader can read both sides of your work, without having to remove anything from its wallet. And do label any plastic wallets you use clearly. The most important page The most important page(s) is the List of Contents or some other more imaginative and helpful guide to your portfolio. It may be one of the last things you write but we would recommend you to keep a working draft in your portfolio from the day you start. One creative form of a guide to a portfolio might consist of a learning journal, suitably crossreferenced. It should lay out clearly: What skills, abilities, competencies etc you are trying to prove. (You may derive these from the syllabus or similar document from your course.) How you are trying to prove it. (How does piece of evidence Y support your claim to be able to do syllabus item ZZ?) Where your reader can find the evidence concerned. How does this evidence link to other pieces of evidence? Your Table of Contents, or Guide, is one of your best certainly your first chances to show how you have reflected on your learning; how your experiences on this course have linked together in your mind to create a much better educated individual. It also gives you the chance to show that you can assemble the evidence, and marshal a case together. In this case, the case for which you are marshalling this evidence is the simple one that you deserve to be well rewarded on this module. Some last ideas The evidence in a portfolio need not all be written. A computer program, a videotape, or a photograph might be better ways of proving that you can do what you say you can do. Artwork can be a valid way of showing that you understand a concept like visual impact in marketing. (In all cases, check that your reader will accept such non-written evidence. It is often more time-consuming to assess, so some departments do not allow some forms of evidence, and there may be some legal issues confidentiality and intellectual property (copyright), for example.) 4

The written evidence may well include items not written by yourself. References and testimonials from work placements can be the best evidence that you have for your professional competence; certificates are the obvious proof of academic success; quality review sheets completed by your students might establish your skills as teacher or instructor. Be creative! Think of other (honest!) ways in which your good qualities can be supported by other peoples writing. Dont be afraid to ask for it. Ask, Could you please give me a note for my portfolio about how well I did on my fieldwork? Sometimes, using such evidence can show two competencies. The student nurse who furnishes something written by a grateful patient might add an account of why this does not breach confidentiality guidelines and claim this as showing awareness of professional ethics. Summing up One of the great values of the portfolio for both student and staff is that it is a way of validating, proving and rewarding the practical competencies of professional life. Academic life in some ways centres on theory; ordinary assignments and exams largely test theoretical knowledge. The portfolio adds evidence of success in more practical directions. The good portfolio will show the learner linking theory and practice. In week 1, we had lectures about A year later, I applied this knowledge on my industrial placement. I found out that the theory was useful for [evidence attached, p. XX]; but I had to adjust my theoretical understanding in the light of [evidence attached, p. YY]

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO AND ON PROVING THAT YOU CAN DO IT.

All web addresses in this leaflet were correct at the time of publication.

The information in this leaflet can be made available in an alternative format on request. Telephone 01482 466199.
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