Using Competency-based Portfolios as a Pedagogical Tool and Assessment Strategy in MPA Programs

Abstract

The development and use of the portfolio has become a critical feature of many Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs. The portfolio assignment has grown out of deepened appreciation of learning theory and the application of both performance measurement and management systems in MPA program curricula. The portfolio assignment as part of a capstone experience can contribute to the development of professional practitioners of public service. Based on review of the literature on the use of portfolios in professional degree programs and a case study of two MPA programs, this article seeks to deepen our understanding of the portfolio as an effective pedagogical tool and assessment strategy, and it offers conclusions about best practices in using portfolios.

Keywords:

• NASPAA competencies
• professional portfolios
• MPA
• capstone experience

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Naim Kapucu

Naim Kapucu is a professor of public policy and administration and director of the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida. His research interests are collaborative governance, emergency and crisis management, decision making in complex environments, social inquiry and public policy, and scholarship of teaching and learning. He teaches network governance, collaborative public management, emergency and crisis management, methodology, and leadership courses.

Christopher Koliba

Christopher Koliba is a professor in the Community Development and Applied Economics Department at the University of Vermont (UVM) and director of the Master of Public Administration program. He is also a fellow at UVM’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, an associate researcher with the Vermont Cancer Center, and an associate faculty member of the Vermont Complex Systems Center. He was a Fulbright Scholar, conducting research at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, during the spring of 2015.