portfolio grading [or] why an essay is a simple beast

Some preliminary thoughts…

Freshmen year of College. Semester 1: Class 1: Adv. Composition 112

I began this class with a false sense of writing greatness; the first real test of my ability was a harsh critique and left me mildly stunned: B-

Since it was a composition class and I had a stellar professor, my B- was just the starting point, the benchmark, for my improvement over the semester. My progress was compiled and displayed through a simple portfolio that was graded periodically; every single paper turned in demanded at least one re-write and I began to think of every work as a prototype.

My largest composition problem was a lack of focus in my essays. Instead of lasers, they were sawed-off shotguns; or an artillery filled with glass and shrapnel. Too many victims, confusion, and wasted ammo. My multi-verse mind made so many connections and always decided they should all have space on the page. Because of the portfolio process, I was able to build a body of work, look at multiple past mistakes and re-focus my writing entirely.

[Don't worry I'm getting to a good point here!]

If my essays were graded singularly I would have seen the flaws of the essays, but the portfolio let me see the flaws of myself, the errors I made–not just once–but consistently throughout my writing.

Since, in College, the actual content students create often has no real purpose aside from practice and student improvement, the grading process should not focus on the critiquing the specific work, but rather the student’s work as a whole and, therefore, the student themselves.

While I know that this sort of portfolio grading is fairly common in Composition courses, it was an entirely new experience for at least one of my classmates who was so overwhelmed by the experience that she cried, walked out, and never came back to the class. It turns out grading an essay is much less personal than grading a person’s writing ability over a period of months. This is exactly what we need though; too many students will disregard a single critique, dismissing the grade due to their lack of effort or time, but an entire portfolio? The portfolio grade gives the student an incentive–and a chance–to process the critique, deal with problems, and improve.

Because I had to keep re-working and digging into my personal bad habits the A- I wound up getting for my final portfolio grade was probably the most worthwhile of my four years.

If it weren’t for that process I think I would have continued to think that essay writing was a mystical sort of process attempting to combine disparate ideas in a single space that met a certain word limit. Thankfully, the arduous portfolio editing process showed me that essays are simple beasts: tell them what you have to say, why they should care, and leave a little mystery at the end. To this day, an essay is the easiest thing you could ask me to create.

[Getting to an even better point now...]

This brings me to a larger extrapolation of the idea: if portfolio grading works for composition, why not for other subjects?

I know that this grading structure is utilized by certain schools already, but I want to take the Cartesian approach and not assume anything.

The portfolio process and its associated critique seems to make sense in conjunction with my previously mentioned ideas of project-based courses with problem-solving themes.

The course, then, would look like this:

1. Identify a problem or a question
2. Study the problem and present research
3. Have research critiqued and further research

4. Present two or three possible solutions
5. Have solutions critiqued; choose one and refine its focus

6. Enact your chosen solution: take action to solve the problem!
7. Record results and have solution critiqued

The “portfolio” would be graded at points 3, 5, and 7. This general structure seems like it could work for numerous courses. In order for it to be an actual “portfolio”; students would be required to keep multimedia records of their progress through journals, essays, data recording, photo, video, etc. Intentional portfolio-keeping will be made even more important for course based on creative/physical projects, that would not naturally have a writing component.

Example 1: Design:Build Course in Tiny Home Construction
1. Problem: I want to build a quality house, but it needs to be very small, environmentally friendly and very inexpensive.
2. Study small-home construction resources, current builders, tour recent projects, develop lists for reclaimable or inexpensive materials, compile energy audit data for different types of homes, and compile research into an essay or multimedia presentation that focuses on your specific interests and architectural techniques.
3. Have research critique and add new sources, improve presentation format

4. Present two or three home designs complete with buyers lists, potential budgets, energy usage estimates, etc.
5. Have designs and project plans critiqued: choose your best plan and refine it

6. Build a tiny house!
7. Record the process of your work in a journal and have the work critiqued, make changes if necessary and possible.

I am thinking of a couple other examples… they will have to get detailed later; I have run out of time.