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Aim Because it deals with qualitative information, portfolio assessment inevitably involves some degree of subjectivity. The use of stricter assessment criteria or more structured and prescribed content would improve interrater reliability, but would obliterate the essence of portfolio assessment in terms of flexibility, personal orientation and authenticity. We resolved this dilemma by using qualitative research criteria as opposed to reliability in the evaluation of portfolio assessment

Medical students reported that use of an electronic portfolio that provided quantitative feedback on their progress was useful when the number and complexity of targets were appropriate, but not when the portfolio offered only formative evaluations based on reflection. Students felt that use of the e-Portfolio guided their learning process by indicating knowledge gaps to themselves and teachers.

"In portfolio assessment, the face validity is high; the educational impact is positive in terms of directing student learning toward the curriculum outcomes; many medical schools find portfolio assessment to be feasible; acceptability grows with time and with suitable modifications; and reliability may be acceptable if one is prepared to sample through the sources of bias, make use of pre-validated rating rubrics, and train the assessors. Portfolio assessment has much to offer"

Direct instruction on how to create portfolios

Interesting blog post from Cole Camplese of Penn State University which puts forward a model of the personal reflection process which includes the development of personal and academic goals, putting content into a private personal repository and then publishing elements of this into an e-portfolio.

"Five steps in the portfolio assessment process are identified: documentation, reflection, evaluation, defence and decision."

" A structured portfolio is one systematic approach to encourage trainees to continually interact with the evaluation system. Assessment drives learning, and evaluation provides the judgment and rigor to determine competence."

Portfolios have high face validity and are a useful formative assessment tool

"The authors describe the use of the portfolio as a pilot project aimed at introducing reflective thinking and measuring clinical learning in undergraduate nursing education."

"We're going to change all that! We're making oPortfolio - the open portfolio that medics want. It'll be free for the NHS to use, open-source, fast, modern, feature-rich, portable and interoperable between deaneries."

"The authors review the components necessary to successfully build and maintain a robust portfolio learning environment in a graduate medical education setting. These include gaining staff acceptance, staging implementation, enhancing learner participation, training mentors, choosing paper versus electronic formats, and selecting assessment methods."

"If you are considering developing this approach with and for colleagues for whom you have educational responsibility, it might help to consider the following 12 questions."

Examples of Health stories created with StoryWorks

Google's version of e-portfolios the preferred tool for assessing student advocacy skills.

" Four students share personal reflections of their experience to illuminate themes from the subjective experience of the learner and to understand how to align the learners' interests with the requirements of an assessment program."