Use Of Portfolios Research Articles

Portfólio: desafio de portar mais que folhas: a visão do docente de odontologia

O objetivo deste trabalho foi compreender a concepção dos docentes da área de Saúde Coletiva do curso de Odontologia da UFPB no uso do portfólio reflexivo. A adoção de novas abordagens metodológicas e consequente avaliação desses processos foram disparadas pelo Programa de Reorientação da Formação dos Profissionais em Saúde (Pró-Saúde). A abordagem qualitativa foi a opção metodológica, e os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas com os docentes. A análise dos dados foi realizada a partir da técnica de análise do conteúdo. Constataram-se duas dimensões do uso do portfólio. A primeira diz respeito ao seu uso como ferramenta de reflexão e acompanhamento das vivências dos estudantes. A segunda trata do fato de que essa experiência nesses dois anos reflete a necessidade de continuação dos registros, pois é uma forma de ampliar o processo de ensino-aprendizagem, além do diálogo entre professores e estudantes, oferecendo a criação de vínculo. Por fim, os docentes compreendem que é preciso o aprimoramento da aplicação do portfólio, o que tem acontecido de maneira gradual a cada semestre, contribuindo ativamente para a construção de profissionais mais reflexivos, críticos, norteando a autoavaliação e trabalhando a autonomia do estudante.

Field testing of the ACCESS materials: a portfolio of materials to assist health workers to identify children with disabilities and offer simple advice to mothers

Children in less-developed countries with mild to moderate disabilities often remain unidentified until school age. Delayed identification leads to less successful interventions for most children and risks secondary disabilities. The disability group at the Centre for International Child Health was funded to address this issue by developing a screening portfolio. The field testing of this portfolio is reported here. The results collected through quantitative analysis of the children brought for screening, and the fact that the field workers identified disabilities in children over the age of 2 years with over 82% accuracy when compared with professionals, suggests that health workers can be taught to use the portfolio effectively. Among younger children the accuracy is poorer. Field workers can additionally be trained to give advice to mothers and/or refer where appropriate. Equally important, results from focus group discussions with both health workers and parents, and questionnaires to health workers, demonstrate that both groups found the process clear and useful. Parents liked the process and found the advice materials helpful. Several health workers made comments about how the portfolio's use helped to develop positive attitudes towards disability and improved their own self-confidence.

Assessing communities of practice

Extracted from text ... EDITORIAL Assessing communities of practice One of the dominant themes in this edition of Education as Change is the quest for alternative forms of assessment. Natalie Hyde-Clarke proposes the use of online continuous assessment in her article, while both sets of authors, Linda du Plessis and Imelda Koen and Mary Grosser and Kobus Lombard suggest the use of portfolio assessment. Louise Botha, Neels Fourie and Hester Geyser reflect on the impact large classes have on assessment, as an integral part of the teachingteaching- assessment triad. These four articles aim to investigate the possibilities of a greater and improved learning experience ..

Setting Standards in the Language Arts and Literature Classrooms and the Implications for Portfolio Assessment

Based on a series of working sessions with teachers who elaborated their implicit standards for student performance, this article makes a case for portfolio assessment in the English and language arts classroom. Portfolios, created by student and teacher, consist of exemplars, which are products that have been rated by a jury according to public criteria. These are arranged to illustrate the agreed-on dimensions of performance in the subject and the established standards or levels of performance within those dimensions. The portfolio can thus portray the student's performance across the domain. Such dimensions and standards can be generalized beyond the classroom for the purposes of large-scale assessment, but the portfolio's use is primarily, if not entirely, at the individual level. A sample set of dimensions and standards is elaborated and implications for reporting are discussed.