Advancing assessment practice in continuing professional learning: toward a richer understanding of teaching portfolios for learning and assessment

Abstract

This paper reviews a range of challenges and tensions experienced when using portfolios for learning as well as for summative assessment in the context of continuing professional learning in academic development programmes. While portfolios are becoming increasingly prominent, the details of how they are used are under-examined; they are often simply assumed to be an appropriate tool. However, it is important that, as practitioners, we are able to justify our own assessment practices and convey our expectations to our participants, who may be unfamiliar with the demands of a reflective portfolio. In this paper we explore some of the appeal as well as the difficulties of using portfolios, many of which arise from the fact that portfolios are often simultaneously used for summative and formative purposes. We suggest how the challenges sometimes experienced with portfolio assessment can be addressed by course conveners.

Keywords:

• continuing professional learning
• continuing professional development
• academic development
• teaching portfolios
• academic practice

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for all the important conversations with colleagues, both participants on our programmes and others in academic and educational development in a number of countries. We also thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors for insightful comments on an earlier draft.