Reference no: EM133598793

Problem: Can you picture a college that assesses student performance but does not use examinations? You would if you were enrolled at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Alverno focuses on liberal arts education for female undergraduates. Since the 1970s, it has emphasized an "ability-based curriculum" that emphasizes abilities such as communication, analysis, problem solving, social in-teraction, a global perspective, and effective citizenship. The key to making this work is that samples of student performance are collected to demonstrate that each student has mastered the expected outcomes from particular courses and from the student's program of study as a whole. Central to this effort is the notion of a portfolio. Portfolios have been common in higher education, but only for some students; for example, art, English, or education majors. However, the idea at Alverno is that all students and all majors are evaluated based on samples of student work. There are no examinations-or grades! The university maintains a digital or ePortfolio for every student. This portfolio contains evidence of mastery of relevant abilities, primarily through self-assessment and feedback. Faculty and trained volunteers serve as assessors of the quality of the work submitted. The digital portfolio helps each student to reflect and analyze her learning patterns, and it also serves as a "permanent portfolio"-in digitized, electronic format-and is accessible to her even after she graduates. What do you think of the notion of using a portfolio to evaluate employee development, output, etc.? What might be some pros and cons of using an online or electronic portfolio to collect this information? How well do you think the idea of a "learning portfolio" or "professional portfolio" would work for employees in your particular field?