Best Practice Guide for Designing and Delivering EPICUR courses

Guidance and resources to support EPICUR course development, cc-by-sa

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Portfolio

Why portfolio assessment?

Portfolios in general, which originally come from the art world, are primarily collections of a person's artifacts, that demonstrate skills, creativity, and accomplishments. Nowadays, however, portfolios are used far beyond art, such as in higher education, to showcase the learning processes of individual students. They serve as a tool for self-reflection, assessment, and documentation of personal growth.

E-portfolios differ from "normal" portfolios in that they offer the ability to incorporate digital media, such as videos, music or sounds. Rennie & Morrison (2013, S.77) define E-Portfolios as ”electronic collections of documents and other objects that support individual claims for what has been learned or archived."

A well known E-Portfolio tool, for example, is called ”Mahara”, but some Learning Management Systems such as ILIAS provide integrated E-Portfolio tools as well.

5 key points about portfolio assessment

Multimedia, creative design and presentation possibilities
In e-portfolios, it is possible to integrate videos or audio contributions in addition to images and texts. This enables a more individual, diverse and creative approach to learning content.
Access independent of location and time
Through the digitization of portfolios and the use of designated digital platforms, students can access learning content anytime and anywhere, which can make managing their leisure and student life easier.
Possibility of a central collection, reflection, and presentation of results
Depending on the tool used, students can collect, reflect on, and comment on their learning materials in one place. If desired by the teacher, students can also view each other's portfolios. Moreover, using digital tools can simplify the submission and grading process of Portfolios.
Use as an assessment or development tools
E-portfolios can serve as an effective tool for evaluating both student performance and their overall progress over time. Teachers can use them not only to assess individual tasks but also to gain a holistic view of a student's development. This method of assessment offers a unique opportunity for meta-reflection: students are encouraged to reflect not just on their learning content but also on the reflective process itself. By doing so, they can gain deeper insights into how reflection influences their thinking, shapes their learning strategies, and contributes to their personal and academic growth.
Reuse and export of individual modules
E-portfolios allow students to reuse individual components, such as written texts, images, or projects, for other purposes or contexts. Moreover, many platforms enable the export of completed modules, making it easy for students to integrate their work into applications, presentations, or professional portfolios outside of their academic environment.

Portfolio assessment in practice

In general, there are two different ways in which portfolios can be used: On the one hand, there are portfolios as an assessment tool. On the other hand, they can also be used as a development tool, where, for example, the learning process is reflected upon, but no assessment in the sense of an examination takes place. Usually the second form is voluntary. (Czerwionka & Knutzen, 2010, S. 5)

In both cases the teacher needs to clarify the framework conditions, learning objectives and task(s) of the portfolio work well in advance. Learning objectives in terms of constructive alignment always play an important role in teaching, but in the case of portfolios (regardless of whether they are digital or traditional), these are even more important, as they offer great and needed orientation for students. Equally important are assessment and feedback, which must be carefully planned and clearly communicated.

Once students are informed about the framework conditions, they are tasked with selecting appropriate documents, critically engaging with them, and reflecting on their content. This process not only fosters deeper learning but also allows E-portfolios to individualize the students' learning paths, tailoring them to their personal interests, needs, and goals.

A key advantage of E-portfolios becomes particularly evident in this context: they facilitate meta-reflection. This means that students can not only reflect on the content they engage with but also analyze how the process of reflection itself influences their understanding, learning strategies, and personal growth. Naturally, the depth and scope of this reflective process depend on the learning objectives set by the teacher and the cognitive demands of the chosen taxonomy. For instance, evaluating and creating will require more advanced reflective practices than basic comprehension or recall tasks.

Links to resources for portfolio assessment

Podcast “ Share. Engage.“ on https://podcast.mahara.org/. Description: „Portfolios for learning and more brought to you by the Mahara team at Catalyst IT. Host Kristina Hoeppner talks with portfolio practitioners, researchers, learning designers, students, and others about their portfolio story.”
EU CREATES. (e)Portfolios. Available at: https://europe-creates.eu/toolkit-for-co-creative-learning/e-portfolios/

References

Bandtel, M., Baume, M., Brinkmann, E., Bedenlier, S., Budde, J., Eugster, B., Ghoneim, A., Halbherr, T.,Persike, M., Rampelt, F., Reinmann, G., Sari, Z., Schulz, A. (Hrsg.) (2021). Digitale Prüfungen in der Hochschule. Whitepaper einer Community Working Group aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Version 1.1.Berlin: Hochschulforum Digitalisierung.
Czerwionka, T. & Knutzen, S. (2010). E-Portfolios als Reflexions- und Präsentationsraum: Didaktische Konzeption und Erprobung eines hochschulweiten E-Portfoliosystems an der Technischen Universität Hamburg-Harburg:Tübingen
Rennie, F., & Morrison, T. (2013). E-learning and social networking handbook: Resources for higher education. Routledge.

Innovative Assessment

Author(s)

This resource sheet has been co-written or written by

Elisa Bumann (UFR)

Related Resource Sheets

Multimedia assessment

Next steps

If you need further support with developing your course, please contact your local teaching support unit.
If you need further information on offering your course for EPICUR, please contact your EPICUR institutional coordinator.

Contact Details

Local teaching support units

EPICUR Institutional Coordinators

Adam Mickiewicz University
Karolina Choczaj
karmench@amu.edu.pl

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Nikos Kouloussis
nikoul@agro.auth.gr

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Michael Zacherle
zacherle@kit.edu

University of Amsterdam
Tiffany Boersma
t.a.boersma@uva.nl

Universität Freiburg
Charlotte Langowski
charlotte.langowski@zv.uni-freiburg.de

Université de Haute-Alsace
Léa Ziri
lea.ziri@uha.fr

Universität für Bodenkultur Wien
Nicolas Fries
nicolas.fries@boku.ac.at

University of Southern Denmark
Ida Thøstesen
ilt@sdu.dk

University of Strasbourg
Pascale Nachez
pnachez@unistra.fr

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This Resource Sheet within the Best Practice Guide for Designing and Delivering EPICUR Courses was created by Elisa Bumann, University of Freiburg.
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