Cautions

Students can quickly be overwhelmed with the amount of organization and work required by portfolio assessment.

In a departmentalized situation, if each teacher is using portfolio assessment separately, it may be too much for students. In this situation, it is better for the faculty to coordinate objectives and deadlines for one portfolio to cover the content and skills of several disciplines. Alternately, teachers monitor the work-load and adjust portfolio expectations accordingly.

The second concern is that teachers provide sufficient guidance and support for students. Teachers need to prepare objectives, guidelines, checklists and grading guides to guide students’ choices of artifacts, and pace the writing of student reflection. It is imperative that students have sufficient structure, support, and periodic feedback for producing portfolios.