Portfolio Assessment in Engineering: Student Perspectives on Effective Implementation

Learning professional skills through exposure to real-world contexts demands sophisticated assessment practices. However, complex and often novel genres can bedauntingforundergraduatestudents.Thisstudyexaminedstudentperspectivesas theyengagedinPortfolioassessmentforthefirsttimewithinacoreundergraduate engineeringunit.42studentsweresurveyed(27%)with11participatinginafollow-up telephoneinterview.Studentsratedcontentderivedfromtheircontributionstoteam projectsasthemostvaluablecomponentoftheirportfoliointermsofdemonstrating the unit learning outcomes and developing the skills and dispositions needed in professionalpractice.Theteamstructureofmanylearningopportunitiesencouraged studentstocollaborateandtodrawoneachotherasinstructionalresources.Thedata indicateditishighlyworthwhileforinstructorstodevelopstaticresourcesthatreduce students’need tocontact instructorswith trivialquestions, though lecturercontact wasdeemedessentialandeffectiveforcomprehendingmorecomplextasks. KEywoRdS Engineer, Higher Education, Portfolio Assessment, Project-Based Learning, Student Perspectives