Asking the Experts: Engaging Students in Self-Assessment and Goal Setting Through the Use of Portfolios

Wagner, L. & Lilly, D. H. (1999). Asking the Experts: Engaging Students in Self-Assessment and Goal Setting Through the Use of Portfolios. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 25(1), 31-43. doi:10.1177/073724779902500105

ABSTRACT

Wagner and Lilly discusses the positive attributes toward engaging students through portfolios. The purpose of this article is to propose the use of implementing student portfolios to encourage self-assessment and individualize goal setting. Wagner and Lilly focus on several questions to analyze their topic: How do students view their own competencies and learning process? How can teachers engage students in self-assessment and goal setting? How does involving student in self-assessment and goal setting benefit students? How can teachers provide support and structure to help students self-assess and set goals? Wagner and Lilly offers a process to approach this method in a successful manner. First they discuss the importance of allowing students to become experts in their field. Students will demonstrate their expertise by viewing their own learning, sharing their ideas and demonstrating what they know and what they want to learn. Students will then use artifacts and evidence of reflection to support their point of views. Students analyzing their work will then promote student responsibility of their own learning development. This will allow them to engage themselves in self-assessment and individual goal setting. Goal setting will be accomplished by teacher modeling, parent involvement, and peer feedback.

Wagner and Lilly redefines the use of portfolios as a process of collecting, selecting, reflecting, conferencing, sharing, and projecting goal. This process will allow students to develop a meaningful connection towards their own thought process and recognizing their strengths and weaknesses through their learning. In the end, students will be able to set goals in order to strength their weaknesses. Students will then be motivated to become self-monitors and strategic learners.

This article does not provide data or concrete evidence that displays the success of implementing portfolios in the classroom. However, the authors do provide positive quotes from students from various grades and are able to site several resources to support their findings. I feel that this article is accurate and useful to be implemented in the classroom on a daily basis and be utilized for curriculum development. The authors provide an organized guideline towards applying the use of portfolios in the classroom.

This article allowed me to reevaluate the process I use when my students reflect on their work in my class. I have come to my own conclusion that the reflection method I am currently using does not allow them to develop a deeper understanding of their learning process. I have also started reflecting on how I incorporate Digital Portfolio’s in my classroom. In 7th grade, it is not required for students to display their DP’s during their Presentations of Learning (POL). However, it is recommended for students to update their DP’s throughout the year and showcase the work they have completed in their classes. Last year, my students updated their DP’s one week prior to the last POL of the year. This was not enough time for them to update the work they accomplished that year. I would like to further investigate strategies I can use towards motivating students with their learning development through self-assessment. “Self-assessment that reveals such insights and that leads to goal setting is more likely to occur with a teacher who is sensitive to the needs of the students, who actually teachers students how to engage in the process, and who provides time and structure to support the process” (Wagner & Lilly, 1999).