How do portfolios foster learning?
“…
[T]he main advantage of e-portfolios lie in the potential benefits they offer
students. These benefits are not limited
to the final product --- the e-portfolio itself --- but also derive from the engagement
in the process of portfolio creation, from ‘folio thinking.’ ‘Folio thinking’
emphasizes the need for structured opportunities to create portfolios as well
as opportunities for reflection on the purposes of creating coherence and
making meaning (Chen and Mazow 2002; Chen et al. 2005). E-portfolios offer a framework within which
students can personalize their learning experiences (student ownership of the
e-portfolio and its content leads to greater responsibility for learning);
develop multimedia capabilities to support student-created media; and create
different representations of their learning for different audiences. Moreover, unlike other assessment tools,
e-portfolios enable students to represent their own learning as well as their
interpretations of what Kathleen Yancey (1998) calls the multiple curricula
within higher education: the delivered curriculum, which is defined
by the faculty and described in the syllabus; the experienced curriculum, which is represented by what is actually
practiced by the student in the classroom; and the lived curriculum, which is based on the individual student’s
cumulative learning to date…”
“ E-portfolios --- as both process and product --- can promote deep learning and knowledge transfer by fostering the student’s ability to make connections between his or her learning experiences in a variety of classroom, workplace, and community settings. The ability of the student to look across his or her learning as he or she progresses through college is particularly important for integrative learning.”
Chen, H. L., and T. P. Light. 2010. Electronic Portfolios and Student Success: Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Learning. Washington, D. C.: Association of American Colleges & Universities