Using Portfolios To Assess Student Writing

Portfolios as a qualitative assessment tool are nothing new—art, architecture, and writing students, for example, have long used portfolios to showcase and evaluate their work. However, portfolios have become increasingly popular over the past few years; they are now used to assess everything from student outcomes to faculty accomplishments. In this paper I focus on the use of portfolios for feedback to individual students in writing or writing-intensive classes such as engineering design. I briefly outline the most common ways in which portfolios are used in such classes, discuss some of their advantages and disadvantages, and conclude with some suggestions for those considering using portfolios to assess writing. When appropriate, I include some of my own experiences using portfolios in classes ranging from introductory writing-intensive courses in the humanities and social sciences to senior-level engineering design. Currently I am working with faculty from across campus at the Colorado School of Mines to design a four-year longitudinal portfolio assessment for students in our McBride Honors Program.