Portfolios: An ‘affective’ assessment strategy?

doi:10.1016/0260-6917(92)90132-8

Nurse Education Today

Volume 12, Issue 6, December 1992, Pages 416-423

https://doi.org/10.1016/0260-6917(92)90132-8 Get rights and content

Abstract

The curriculum research and development work undertaken to facilitate the implementation of a portfolio assessment strategy, as an integral component of a Project 2000 course, is described. Many excellent assessment schemes have floundered at the point of being put in to use, thus the question of consultation, reflection and preparation needs to figure from the early stages if the scheme is to be successful. This should include in-service education for nurse and midwifery educators and preparation of students. The principle questions explored in the paper are: What educational values do portfolios have? Against what criteria should students make decisions in relation to content? Against what criteria are educators to assess portfolios? The issue of evaluation of portfolio schemes is likely to determine whether portfolios maintain the important place they have captured in the nursing and midwifery education imagination. Finally, it is argued that innovations, such as portfolios, should be seen as catalysts, as points of departure, rather than as things to be implemented.

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Evaluation of an eportfolio for the assessment of clinical competence in a baccalaureate nursing program
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Citation Excerpt :
Portfolio-based assessments using traditional paper and binder portfolios have long been used for the evaluation of student performance, particularly in professional education, and health professional preparation programs (Chabeli, 2002; Diller and Phelps, 2008; Emden et al., 2003; Glen and Hight, 1992; Husoy, 2009; Lettus et al., 2001).
This paper reports a study undertaken to evaluate the implementation of an electronic portfolio (eportfolio) tool for the assessment of clinical competence in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Baccalaureate nursing programs increasingly use information and communications technologies to support student learning, assess and record progress. Portfolio based practice assessment and electronic portfolios represent growing trends to enhance learning via student reflection and self-identification of further learning needs. Using an action-research process, a mixed-methods evaluation strategy explored the efficacy of the eportfolio in its second year of use. Website tracking analytics and descriptive statistics were used to explore trends in eportfolio usage. Instructor and student surveys and focus groups were carried out at the end of the second year. Instructors valued the eportfolios convenience, improved transparency, an improved ability to track student progress, enhanced theory–practice links, and the competency based assessment framework. Students valued accessibility and convenience, but expressed concerns over assessment data openness and processes for standardization. Both groups felt that the eportfolio navigation required simplification. Electronic portfolios represent a technological evolution from paper-based clinical assessment systems. Although there appear to be many student and instructor advantages in using eportfolios, to maximize successful implementation, clinical teachers require additional training in this new pedagogic approach. Strategies to assist an institutional culture shift towards more transparent assessment processes may also need consideration.
Using portfolios in the assessment of learning and competence: The impact of four models
2004, Nurse Education in Practice
This paper discusses the diversity of portfolio use highlighted in a study funded by the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting exploring the effectiveness of portfolios in assessing learning and competence (Endacott et al., 2002).
Data collection was undertaken in two stages: through a national telephone survey of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) delivering nursing programmes (stage 1); and through four in-depth case studies of portfolios use (stage 2). Data collection for stage two was undertaken through field work in four HEIs purporting to use portfolios as an assessment strategy, and their associated clinical placement settings. Four approaches to the structure and use of portfolios were evident from the stage 2 case study data; these were characterised as: the shopping trolley; toast rack; spinal column and cake mix. The case study data also highlighted the evolutionary nature of portfolio development and a range of additional factors influencing the effectiveness of their use, including language of assessment, degree of guidance and expectations of clinical and academic staff.
Portfolio assessment: Practice teachers' early experience
2004, Nurse Education Today
Experience was recognised to be a vital source of learning as long ago as 1762 [Émile, Everyman, London, 1993] and reflection on practice experience may be one way forward in addressing nursing's anxieties concerning the practice theory gap. However, despite the acceptance that subjectivity in the process seems inevitable and potentially important, little is understood of the practitioner's experience of practice assessment.
Two questionnaires sought the views of specialist community nursing practitioner (SCNP) programme (United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) 2001) practice teachers (PTs) on the introduction of the portfolio approach to practice assessment. These were distributed to 62 and 76 PTs and the response rates were 32% and 50%, respectively. Responses of those PTs from the three specialisms participating in the piloting of the portfolio approach were compared with those using an existing approach.
An action research method was adopted which attempted to use established theory to explain the challenges presented by the introduction of this approach and ultimately to raise the PT group's awareness of assessment issues. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and the findings support the use of the portfolio approach to practice assessment.
The PT experience of portfolio use was found to be a largely positive one. PTs reported the utility of the portfolio in prompting student self-evaluation of learning. Concerns were expressed by PTs around the quality of portfolio evidence although many felt that it had promoted students' reflection on practice. Inter-PT reliability in practice assessment was identified as a topic for PT continuing professional development. Many sources of evidence, including patient feedback, were used by PTs in their assessment of students although PTs using the portfolio approach used less first-hand experience of students' practice in their assessments of competence, relying more on written evidence, than those PTs using a traditional approach to practice assessment.
From process to outcome: The effect of portfolio assessment on student learning
2003, Nurse Education Today
Literature suggests that assessment may influence student learning in a positive or negative way. Despite the support for the use of portfolio assessment, relatively little is known about its effect on student learning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of portfolio assessment in enhancing student learning. Students undertaking the Bachelor of Nursing programme in a University in Hong Kong participated in the study. Twelve of the students who underwent portfolio assessment described, in individual semi-structured interviews, their experience and perceptions of this form of assessment. This paper reported on the qualitative findings of the study, which employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. Three themes emerged from the students’ accounts: (1) the students favoured the use of portfolio assessment; (2) the process of preparing portfolios yielded positive academic and affective outcomes; and (3) unexpected findings in the form of spontaneous collaborative learning and apparent increased interest in learning during the process of preparing portfolios for those students who lacked motivation. The qualitative findings contribute to a better understanding of the use of portfolio assessment and have implications for teaching.
Professional portfolios: All you need to know and were afraid to ask
2003, Accident and Emergency Nursing
An evaluation of a standards based portfolio
2001, Nurse Education Today
In undergraduate and postgraduate nursing studies, the essay type assignment is commonly used to assess student learning. The literature suggests that of the alternatives for the assessment of learning, the use of portfolios may be an effective tool. A portfolio is generally conceptualized as a collection of the students best work or a collection of work that evidences incremental development.
For a particular unit of learning, ‘Nursing Business’, second year undergraduate students in the Bachelor of Nursing programme were required to complete a portfolio. The assessment directed the students to meet specific criteria which in turn reflected the learning outcomes. Therefore the portfolio in this study is more appropriately described as a standards based portfolio (SBP). A SBP is a series of student work that seeks to address pre-determined learning outcomes.
This study is an evaluation of student perceptions of a SPB and of interest to the study was the relationship between theory and practice, the availability of resources to complete the assignment and the contribution the portfolio made to the process of learning.

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Portfolios: An ‘affective’ assessment strategy?

Abstract

Needed: a new curriculum development design

Nurse Education Today

Introducing profiling: a practical manual

Understanding and facilitating adult learning

Tales of power

Issues in planning evaluation

Adult education foundation of practice

Appraisal of performance on persons

A new structure for professional development

Truth and method

Knowledge and human interests

Communication and the evolution of society

Thermalisation of power, the search for common interests and self reflection: towards a comprehensive concept of emancipatory education

International Journal of Lifelong Education

A guide to assessing prior experience through portfolios

Self-directed learning: a guide for learners and teachers

The adult learner: a neglected species

The modern practice of adults education: from pedagogy to andragogy