Educación
42
Roy Emilio Gamboa Mena
Universidad de Costa Rica - Sede de Occidente
Revista Pensamiento Actual - Vol 22 - No. 39 2022
ISSN Impreso: 1409-0112 ISSN Electrónico 2215-3586
Período diciembre 2022 - mayo 2023
DOI 10.15517/PA.V22I39.53357
042. - 059
Portfolio Assessment in the English Teaching Program at the UCR, Western Campus
Los portafolios como estrategia de evaluación en la carrera de enseñanza del inglés en la UCR, SO
Roy Emilio Gamboa Mena
Sede de Occidente, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Ramón, Costa Rica
roy.gamboamena@ucr.ac.cr
Fecha de recibido: 21-05-2021
Fecha de aceptación: 01-11-2022
Abstract
Portfolios have been used as an assessment strategy for around four decades. Today, they continue to be relevant
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Key terms:
Resumen
siendo alternativas de evaluación relevantes en diferentes campos de la educación incluyendo el área de la escritura
presente estudio investigó el grado de convergencia entre el uso de los portafolios como estrategia evaluativa en los
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como herramienta de evaluación en la escritura a nivel teórico, los resultados indican una clara discrepancia entre el
en cursos de escritura por parte de los profesores. Con base en estos resultados, se sugirió la necesidad de capacitar
a los docentes participantes en la implementación de portafolios como estrategia de evaluación de la escritura, de
Palabras clave: portafolios, evaluación por portafolio, portafolios en la escritura, evaluación, evaluación de la escritura
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Educación
I. Introduction
The use of portfolios as an assessment strategy has
use, portfolio assessment continues to be relevant
in the educational arena. Its use as an assessment
portfolio assessment is an evaluation strategy often
theoretical principles of portfolio assessment.
II. Theoretical considerations
History of writing portfolio assessment
light as a response to those needs. Furthermore,
remained an up-and-coming assessment trend since
portfolio assessment in the US as an alternative to
connected to its use as a replacement of other types
of assessment methods. Thus, portfolio assessment
Writing portfolios
need to be purposeful. This means that portfolios
not only need to have a clear assessment purpose but
to be a guided endeavor. Teachers should provide
be successful tools of assessment and learning.
that translates into learning. Furthermore, Martin-
learning by contributing to goal setting is made
of portfolios refers to a collection of purposeful and
important dimension of portfolios as she asserts
that portfolios are grounded on constructivist
theory of learning, and assessment via portfolios
a constructivist standpoint.
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Revista Pensamiento Actual - Vol 22 - No. 39 2022 - Universidad de Costa Rica - Sede de Occidente
Writing portfolios as assessment
he proposes that portfolio assessment has been
a central role.
Types of writing portfolios
The different types of portfolios depend on the
lists three types of portfolio assessment: progress
can demonstrate attainment of learning goals; and
for formative purposes and portfolios used for
summative purposes. The third type is portfolios as
are used as accomplishment, portfolios include only
time. If they are used as progress, they cover a longer
portfolio offers evidence of both breadth and depth
formative evaluation purposes.
portfolio assessment
based pedagogy enables teachers to monitor and
learners become responsible in setting goals and
evaluating their progress; they enable teacher-
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Educación
and portfolios can give parents evidence of student
naively tend to believe that portfolios are easy to
need to help learners in understanding the purpose
portfolio reliability and the elimination of bias in
Considerations for the creation of
writing portfolio assessment
It is important that teachers have a clear
goals, the reasons they are engaging in a portfolio
that specifying the purpose of the portfolio does
timeline for the portfolio, indicating the number
portfolio has on the course total grade. Moreover,
Table 1. Steps in implementing a classroom
portfolio program
their portfolios.
the portfolio, the different purposes, and
purpose.
or documentation? Good portfolios can
have multiple purposes but the teacher
and students need to be clear about the
purpose.
to collect.
samples.
plastic tub on a shelf in the classroom?
5. Select
criteria to
evaluate
samples.
considerable time as different rubrics
used at least once.
students to
conduct self-
evaluations of
younger students, the self-evaluations
a more analytic approach is desirable
including using the same scoring rubrics
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Revista Pensamiento Actual - Vol 22 - No. 39 2022 - Universidad de Costa Rica - Sede de Occidente
and conduct
portfolio
conferences.
Teacher-student conferences are time-
consuming, but conferences are essential
enhance learning. These conferences
parents.
Parents need to understand the portfolio
parent, teacher-student conferences in
samples.
teachers a model for systematically designing and
the development and implementation of portfolio
Figure 1.
Framework for portfolio assessment
portfolios can be a success for both, the teachers, and
training on portfolio assessment is a must-have
assessment in their classes.
Principles for the scoring of portfolios
It is important for teachers using portfolio
assessment to have clear information regarding
the procedures and methods for the scoring of
to be clear regarding the instructional goals for
criteria should clarify instructional goals not only
of evaluation criteria should be readily available to
for the purpose of evaluating portfolios. Miller,
scoring rubrics are good for formative purposes
summative purposes. Furthermore, Johnson, Mims-
establish scoring guidelines to achieve agreement
understand the common strategies used in the
scoring of portfolios for them to be more at ease
implementation, teachers and students need to
and propose rubrics and rating scales to attain
procedures need to be determined and they need
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Educación
be given the chance to participate in the creation of
consistency and transparency in portfolio scoring.
Empirical studies on the
implementation of writing portfolios
Previous empirical studies concerning the
recommended the implementation of practices that
help learners put together their portfolios and have
of portfolio assessment and implementation. For
based study of portfolio assessment use in
able to identify the uses given to portfolio assessment
Freshman English and for assessment of the
departmental program. She also found that 99% of
set of recommendations for portfolio development
and learning outcomes for freshman composition;
affordance of active student involvement in
determining standards of performance; faculty
involvement across disciplines to establish program
policies to promote collegiality; design of studies
that impact on departmental goals and longitudinal
studies to determine the effectiveness of portfolio-
evaluation of such studies to improve portfolio
the perceptions of 10 teachers from elementary,
about portfolio development, implementation, and
development, and implementation of portfolios;
portfolio effectiveness as an educational tool and
legitimacy as an alternative assessment; and student
roles and responsibilities in portfolio development.
teacher concerns about the amount of time invested
in preparing portfolios and the accurate grading of
university preparatory schools. This research also
This survey-based study included the participation
participation in the selection of portfolio content,
sic
the formative functions of portfolio assessment
recommendations to strengthen formative aspects
of portfolio assessment and for the integration of
teaching and assessment so that student learning of