Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: Why should I want a Smart or
Intelligent Portfolio? What's in this for me?
Answer: The portfolio contains a record of your work. It
exhibits what you have read, thought, and discussed. But, what is more
important, it is evidence of your personal progress -- how your
thinking has changed, how new input has improved your attitude, how new
knowledge mixes with prior knowledge -- and how this progress enables
you to transfer and apply what you have learned. There is great value
in thinking about how you think and learn, in setting goals and
evaluating how well you have met them. Learning to assess yourself
strengthens your ability to assess others more accurately. And that is
a major responsibility of an educator.
Question 2: The Smart Portfolio or the
Intelligent Portfolio...must I decide to go completely with one format
or the other?
Answer: Many people combine the two formats. Some things,
especially Internet-based resources, they keep in their Intelligent
Portfolio. Others, such as handouts from classes taken, they place in
the envelopes of the Smart Portfolio. You can use both. The Smart
Portfolio should then become the staging area for your artifacts. Keep
an inventory listing of everything that is on your computer in the
appropriate Collection Point on the Smart Portfolio. That way, you have
a single focal point for retrieving artifacts in the future. Don't
forget -- if you begin with the Smart Portfolio, you can always
transfer your artifacts to an electronic medium.
Question 3: Must the portfolio consist of all
of the Collection Points described or can I develop a similar but more
individualized format?
Answer: The Collection Points were proposed for a basic
application. You may indeed determine that some you need, others you
may not, while still others (not proposed) are more important. Use the
concept of the Collection Points to help you identify those which are
suited to your particular professional development needs. Feel free to
adapt the portfolio structure.
Question 4: How long will it take to create a
portfolio?
Answer: Maintaining a portfolio becomes second nature once
you establish a viable organizational pattern. Many people fail with
portfolios because they are unable to identify and use a pattern that
works for them. Begin with what you have and where you are now. Artists
have pictures; builders have blueprints; writers have manuscripts.
Students have papers and classroom handouts. Teachers have exercises,
tests, and lesson plans. Scholars have publication abstracts. Organize
what you have and add new artifacts as they are acquired. Most of your
time will be needed to think about what those artifacts actually mean
to you as a learner. The portfolio must show this evidence of personal
learning. Regular journal entries are helpful and take relatively
little time if you keep your journal handy. Creating a portfolio to
support lifelong learning and professional development should take to
long time -- it should take your entire career.
Question 5: Who will evaluate my portfolio?
Answer: Portfolios can involve three different evaluators
with three different purposes. First, a portfolio might be evaluated by
your instructor. Instructors are usually interested in the quality and
quantity of artifacts and how well they demonstrate what students know.
Second, your portfolio might be evaluated by your peers. Although peers
can offer insight and new perspectives, their evaluative benefit is
best acknowledged when they use what they learn from viewing other
portfolios. Finally, your portfolio must be evaluated by you.
Self-evaluation is the most difficult, but perhaps the most valuable
form of assessment. In the end, you must monitor and manage your own
learning and professional development. The portfolio is there to help.
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Portfolio Exercise Home Page Click Here
Copyright ©2004
by Dr. Lawrence Tomei
Created 1998
Revised 10/28/2004
Contact Information: Email: tomei@rmu.edu