what is a coursework portfolio

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What is a Portfolio?

A “portfolio” is a selection of student work that they have chosen and evaluated as their best work, or as representative of their development over time. By making students responsible for collecting, organizing, drafting, revising, proofreading, and/or reflecting on their work, portfolio assignments engage them in the learning process and afford them an opportunity to share with the instructor their own reasons for investing in the project of the course.

Portfolios are especially common in the arts and for courses in which students conduct a range of writing assignments. (“ Exam wrappers ,” increasingly common in STEM fields, might also be considered a form of portfolio.) Portfolios can be assigned for semester-long courses, or for longer term capstones like certificate programs, across a range of fields.

Why use Portfolios?

Portfolios can be assigned as an alternative to a traditional final exam or paper, and can be especially effective at meeting some or all of the following goals:

• encouraging student agency;
• generating insights into each student’s engagement in their own learning;
• prompting students to reflect on and understand understand their own development over the course;
• inspiring students to identify future goals for continued learning beyond the course;
• providing students the opportunity to select and develop work that they can use beyond the classroom, such as samples for graduate school applications or future employers.

“Portfolio culture” honors both processes and products, and encourages students to prepare materials for the job market / interviews, by encouraging a mindset of professionalism, rather than an “assignment mindset.” Portfolios encourage students to reflect on the amount of work they’ve accomplished over the course of a semester, and ideally, to learn about themselves and their own learning strategies as much as they’re learning new content/skills.

What does a Portfolio contain?

A portfolio typically includes three key components:

• Samples of student work distributed across the term
• Reflections on the work samples
• A professional re-presentation of the work samples
• Samples of Work
• Reflections
• Re-presentation

Work samples can be chosen to:

• represent the students’ best work (potentially incorporating revisions of previous work)
• display an array and/or mastery of skills, such as drawing, digital media, music, language fluency, coding, etc.
• Demonstrate growth over the course of the semester

Depending on the needs of the course, the selection might include essays, interviews, charts, inventories, diaries, tests, or artwork. These samples can vary based on content, format, length, or style of writing or research. The instructor may give specific requirements for the type of work, or it may be selected entirely by the student. For instance, for a writing class, the instructor might stipulate that the portfolio ought to include at least one persuasive piece (in which the main purpose is to agree or disagree with a public concern), and one source-based piece (in which the main purpose is to respond to a primary source).

Some portfolio assignments incorporate the requirement or opportunity to revise prior work. In some circumstances, the opportunity to incorporate instructor feedback can help reinforce learning goals and allow students to take their own work to the next level. In other circumstances, including rough drafts or early-semester work can provide the student with the opportunity to reflect on their early work from the position of greater mastery, and allow them to see their own growth over the semester.

The key self-reflexive element of a portfolio is that it contains a reflection on the work by the student: without the reflection it is just a collection of assignments. The reflection is an opportunity to convey a philosophy, methods, and goals, and identify strengths as a writer or learner.

Each piece might be accompanied by a reflection, or they can be summarized in a “Dear Reader”-style cover letter, with the artifacts as more of an appendix. This letter might contain:

• What readers can expect to encounter in the portfolio
• A rationale for the documents included
• A description of the variety of strategies / methods / theories / skills utilized in the works included
• Connections drawn between the assignments
• Connections drawn between the assignments and the content/skills of the class
• A reflection on what the student is most proud of, and why: did they experiment with new theories? Did they push themselves to try new styles or methods?
• What the student was thinking when they created the artifact, and what impact did it have on their learning? (Questions here might include: What would you do the same or differently next time? How did specific moments in the assignment help you recognize that you were making improvement or on the right track?) This kind of reflective action involves an examination of their past work and the impact that it had in order to synthesize how it might be refined for a better outcome in the future
• Evidence for how it aligns with assignment objectives or class goals
• Moments of surprise or moments corroborating earlier intuitions

Finally, portfolios usually incorporate some sort of professional presentation—what would in another context be a physical portfolio. In other words, it is not merely the resubmission of the components in their original form, but rather an intentional re-presentation of them so as to make an argument about their relationship to each other. Tangible portfolios might take the form of a binder or book; digital portfolios might be collated into a website or slideshow. There could be a visual/graphic design component that could “package,” or “brand” the material to tie it all together, and/or a table of contents, to show how the components fit together. Giving students the opportunity to create a professional package with visual / non-textual material can encourage them to connect with it on a more personal level, and which might allow them to understand their own work in new ways. The act of “publishing” their work can also give it value.

What is an Exam Wrapper?

An exam wrapper (or paper wrapper) is an activity or document that “wraps around” an exam. Similar to portfolios, they are used to enhance student metacognition and self-awareness of their own strategies for study and performance. Common questions that might be asked in an exam wrapper include:

• How did you study for this exam? What strategies did you use to prepare, and which seemed most effective?
• Did these study strategies differ from your preparation for the last exam? Did these changes effect your performance?
• On which aspects of this exam did you perform well?
• Are there patterns to your errors that you can address in future preparation?
• Name at least three things you plan to do differently in your preparation for the next exam. (For example, will you spend more time, change a study habit, or add a new skill?)

How are Portfolios Assessed?

Because of the open-ended nature of work that could be produced across portfolios, it is important to provide clarity about what is expected. Explicit instructions are necessary to avoid student uncertainty about what to include in their own portfolios. Periodic check-ins between student and instructor could alleviate student uncertainty. Students could be organized into pairs or groups, and could thought partners for students working on assembling and explaining their work.

Because of the potential variability between portfolios, a clear grading rubric is key to students understanding how their own work will be assessed. While the precise assessment scheme will depend on the course learning objectives, a rubric might include:

Selection of work

• Shows a variety of work (for example, in different genres or at different stages of drafting)
• Shows development / growth / moving up Bloom’s taxonomy
• Shows clarity / concision of writing

Reflection: demonstrates understanding of course skills

• Shows awareness of and ability to communicate development / growth

Professionalization: has an organizational structure, which is carried out consistently over the project

• Shows engagement with presentation style: includes visual or graphic components that convey a polished professional finish, an overall “brand”
• Is adapted to audience

Portfolios by definition contain individual parts that are organized into a whole, and these parts are themselves coming together at different stages of the assignment. As a result, assessment itself might take place at different stages—including lower-stakes formative feedback—with rubrics that are tailored to the individual parts and/or the final submission.

For more information...

University of Hawai’i at Mānoa: Using Portfolios in Program Assessment

The University of Arizona, Tucson: The Use of Portfolio Assessment in Evaluation

Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center, Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation: Exam Wrappers

Indiana University Bloomington, Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning: Help Students Learn to Take Exams with Exam Wrappers

J.E. Sharp, “ Using Portfolios in the Classroom .” Proceedings Frontiers in Education 27th Annual Conference. 1997.

Crystal Kwan and Camilla Kin Ming Lo, “ Evaluating the Portfolio as a Social Work Capstone Project A Case Study in Hong Kong .” Social Work Education 42, no. 1. April 2023: 145-160.

Betty McDonald, “ Portfolio Assessment: Direct from the Classroom .” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 37, no 3, May 2012, 335-347.

J. L. Ray, “ Industry-Academic Partnerships for Successful Capstone Projects .” 33rd Annual Frontiers in Education, 2003.

David R. Schachter and Deena Schwartz. “ The Value of Capstone Projects to Participating Client Agencies .” Journal of Public Affairs Education, 15:4 (2009), 445-462.

John Zubizarreta, The Learning Portfolio: Reflective Practice for Improving Student Learning . Jossey-Bass, 2009.

Elana Michelson, Alan Mandell, eds., Portfolio Development and the Assessment of Prior Learning: Perspectives, Models, and Practices . Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, 2004.

• Learner-Centered Design
• Putting Evidence at the Center
• What Should Students Learn?
• Start with the Capstone
• How to Write an Effective Assignment
• Scaffolding: Using Frequency and Sequencing Intentionally
• Curating Content: The Virtue of Modules
• Syllabus Design
• Catalogue Materials
• Making a Course Presentation Video
• Teaching Teams
• In the Classroom
• Getting Feedback
• Equitable & Inclusive Teaching
• Advising and Mentoring
• Teaching and Your Career
• Teaching Remotely
• Tools and Platforms
• The Science of Learning
• Bok Publications
• Other Resources Around Campus

How to Prepare a Course Portfolio

Adapted from The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine Their Teaching to Advance Practice and Improve Student Learning , Hutchings, Pat, ed. Washington D.C.: American Association for Higher Education, 1998.

"A portfolio is an illustrated story of the writer's thinking . " --Carmen Werder, 2005

A course portfolio is a reflective notebook that an instructor creates on one course, including artifacts and commentary.

Course Portfolio = Artifacts from a specific course + Reflection on them.

A course portfolio provides an opportunity to investigate the intersection between pedagogy and learning-- to determine relationships between what we do as teachers and what students do as learners.

What are some typical approaches to the course portfolio?

• Anatomy of a course (analyzing what it's made of)
• Natural history of a course (chronicling how it evolved)
• Ecology of a course (explaining how it fits in with other courses in a sequence/curriculum)
• Laboratory notebook of a course (speculating on what it reveals)

What is its purpose(s)?

"Teaching and learning are full of busyness. Going and coming, we not only 'lay waste our powers,' but we risk losing sight of what we care about most. Portfolios provide a space or perch to see and remember what we're doing and also provide a record for the future." --Carmen Werder, 2005

• To remind us of successes, questions, concerns encountered in a particular course
• To describe and analyze the pedagogical reasoning implicit in a certain learning site
• To document student learning and its relationship to instruction
• To understand what's happening in a course
• To enhance a course's effectiveness
• To make public and share pedagogical insights
• To enable professional rewards

Who is the audience(s)?

• Departmental, external, and potential colleagues
• Tenure and promotion committees
• Professional societies

Which course(s) should I choose to create a portfolio for?

• A course you have taught before
• A course you enjoy
• A course that matters to you
• A course you want to understand more
• A course you want to improve or showcase
• A course that is crucial in your department/program.

What are the steps to creating a portfolio?

Also see General Tips at the bottom of this page.

• Gathering diverse evidence or artifacts from a course
• Selecting artifacts that reveal what you are interested in studying
• Composing reflective commentary exploring your discoveries

What are the essential components of a course portfolio?

• Design - overall course vision
• Enactment - methods for implementation
• Results - learning outcomes

To be a portfolio, it must include a reflection on each of these pieces.  Each component ( Design , Enactment , and Results ) is discussed in more detail below.

The Design component of a course portfolio refers to the overall course vision, its grand scheme, its governing principle - its dream.

Design artifacts:

• Schedule/Calendar
• Course description
• Governing question (overall question that the course addresses)
• Course topics or concepts
• Learning outcomes

Some questions to consider in writing a Design Narrative: In answering these questions, be sure to explain why you say what you do.

• What overall question does the course address?
• What is your overall vision for this course?
• How does this course fit in with other courses in its surrounding curriculum?
• How did this course come to be? What is your attitude toward this course?
• What is the attitude of other faculty in your department toward this course?
• What expectations do you have for this course in terms of student learning? What main challenges does this course present you?
• What main benefits does this course provide you?
• Why did you select this particular course to use as the basis of your portfolio?

Enactment refers to the realization of a course vision, its actual implementation methods.

Enactment artifacts:

• Assignments
• Exercises 
• Overhead copies
• Lecture notes
• Quizzes/Tests
• In-class/out-of-class activities
• Labs/Demonstrations
• Study Questions/Guides
• Research/Inquiry questions
• Videotapes/peer observations of class sessions
• Audiotapes of out-of-class interactions such as conferences
• Hard copies of individual and group listserv discussions

Some questions to consider in writing an Enactment Narrative: Remember: The most useful comments here are those that explain why you do what you do.

• What rhythm does this course have from beginning to end? (starts quickly/starts slowly/gets intense at midterm/or?)
• If you were going to describe your role in this course, what overall metaphor would you use? (For example, are you like a conductor who orchestrates the learning? Or like a midwife who oversees the labor of the learners? Or?)
• If you were going to describe the students' role in this course, what overall metaphor would you use? (Musicians working to harmonize their learning? Expectant parents working to birth new ideas? Or?)
• How would you describe the assignment sequence in this course and your rationale for this line-up?
• What is the most important assignment/reading/activity in this course?
• What is your favorite assignment/reading/activity in this course?
• What is your least favorite assignment/reading/activity in this course?
• If you were going to highlight one piece of this course that is most representative of its process, what would it be?

Results refers to student performance based on learning outcomes, which should rely on evidence of student learning and may include demonstrated competencies, understandings, and attitudes.

Results Artifacts:

• Student papers
• Oral reports/presentations/demonstrations
• Lab reports
• Conferences
• Web board/electronic discussion comments
• Pre- and post-tests
• Evaluation rubrics

Some questions to consider in writing a Results Narrative: As always, focus your reflection on accounting for why the results occur as they do. Based on the evidence of student performance that you have for this course:

• What main learning outcome do most or all students seem to achieve?
• What main learning outcome do some or many students fail to achieve?
• How do you account for these results?
• What is the most surprising result and what does it tell you?
• What result are you most pleased about? Why?
• What result are you most disturbed about? Why?
• What feature(s) of the course do you definitely plan to keep? Why?
• What feature(s) of the course might you revise/add? Why?

General Tips

• Determine purpose(s), audience(s) and format(s) before you begin. Consider alternative versions for different audiences or purposes.
• Refer to Portfolios page of this Teaching Handbook and look at sample portfolios. Also look at The Course Portfolio (AAHE) ; this text includes detailed guidelines for compiling a portfolio, along with case studies drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and math/sciences.
• Be selective about what to include. The value of a portfolio results from highlighting essential features of a course. If it includes every scrap of instructional material or student response, the overall effect can be numbing, instead of informing.
• Consider using an electronic format. A hypertext format can resolve the design challenge because it allows you to present readers with summaries or condensed discussions along with electronic access to more detailed examples and additional evidence. It also facilitates going public by making the portfolio more portable.
• Arrange sections with reflective commentary first .
• Table of Contents You might want to make it briefly annotated, so readers can spot items of particular interest to them.
• Executive Summary or Overview Beginning with an overall view of the course can help readers get a sense of the big picture or larger theme of the course before jumping into its details.
• Section Summary or Overview You might use the three main portfolio categories as your sections: Design, Enactment, and Results. In that case, the narrative for each component could serve as the section introduction. Or you might create even more sections and provide a brief preface to each one.
• Tabs You could use colored tabs to divide the sections or use clear tabs in combination with color-coded pages to distinguish between different kinds of documents, e.g. blue for narrative/reflective commentary.
• Index A comprehensive index at the back of the portfolio could include key terms or concepts that readers might use to navigate the smaller parts of each section.
• Navigation Bar If you are using an electronic format, you could include a bar at the bottom of each page with each portfolio component available through links.
• Consult with colleagues. Like all pieces of writing, portfolios can benefit from multiple readers, so seek out responses from colleagues inside and outside your department.

39 E-Learning Portfolio Examples and 75 Tips For Getting Started #333

E-Learning Portfolio Examples RECAP #333: Challenge  |  Recap

This week's challenge asked course designers to share their e-learning portfolios along with some tips to help others get started creating their portfolios. 

Alistair McWiggan

Example | Alistair McWiggan

Jonathan Hill

Example  |  E-Learning Challenges  |  Jonathan Hill  |  Website  |  @DevByPowerPoint

Jonathan's e-learning portfolio tips:

• I've organized my demos by the type of learning experience, with links across the top of the page that 'jump' you to each section. Useful if you don't have a particular 'use case' for a demo that has arisen from the challenges.
• A searchable blog can also function as a portfolio of sorts, with tags used to categorize and organize your demos.
• Test your site works well on a mobile device too! 

Example  |  Montse Anderson  |  Website  |  @mLearning

Montse's e-learning portfolio tips:

• Don't let vanity prevent you from getting started. In other words, never wait to post your work because you think it's not good enough. When I first got started, I held off on putting anything public because I didn't think it measured up to the level of those I admired. So instead, post what you have today regardless of where you are in your career. You can always swap your old work for new examples as you create them. 
• Keep your WordPress plugins and themes up to date. Older plugins and themes are vulnerable to exploits.
• Use a hosting provider that’s optimized for WordPress and includes daily backups.

Joanna Kurpiewska

Example  |  Joanna Kurpiewska  |  Website  |  @elearningjoanna

Joanna's e-learning portfolio tips:

• Keep updating your portfolio regularly. The more conscientious you'll be on that point, the more "fresh" your portfolio will appear.
• Check your examples links at least once a year - some of your (especially older projects) may not work anymore due to browser updates.

Karlis Sprogis

Example | Karlis Sprogis | Website | @fastercourse

Karlis’ e-learning portfolio tips:

• Bring your best work forward (in front), and don't add bad or mediocre work at all. It is better to have three good examples than nine examples, where six are ok, and three are good.

Jennifer Gupta

Example | Jennifer Gupta

Jennifer’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Stress less on the website design thing.  Find a WordPress template you love and that works for you, and use that.  I did pay for my template, but I love it, and it took all the stress off of me making my site and portfolio the way that I wanted it.  
• Incorporate projects of different scopes and sizes and showcase what you can do in a few different genres and styles.
• Don’t let perfection be your enemy.  Build your site/portfolio in phases if need be.  

Samuel Apata

Example | Samuel Apata | Website | @afrostem

Samuel’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Pick a color scheme.
• Use flat graphics.
• Be direct - Speak directly to your audience.
• Only show your best work.
• You don’t need to buy a domain- Take advantage of free website builders like Google Site and Wix?
• Consider using Sans Serif fonts- Research shows they read better for the Web.

Example | Nancy Hyde

Nancy’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Keep your examples short, but make sure they are creative and interactive.

Allison Goldthorpe

Example | Allison Goldthorpe | Website | @AGoldthorpeID

Allison’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Just get started! 
• When I'm evaluating other's portfolios, I both like to see the finished product (the actual published output) and read about how they approached the problem/challenge. It gives good insight into your thought process and shows you know your stuff!

Dan Strizak

Example | Dan Strizak

Dan’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• I have seen many people do it, but get over the "analysis paralysis" and just get something out. Of course, it’s going to be ugly, but editing is easier than creating!
• Have a friend look at it for minor details and grammar. When you ask for feedback from someone in ID, their focus should be targeted at assets. Poor grammar and punctuation can be distracting and lead to off-topic feedback.

Sherri Sagers

Example | Sherri Sagers | Website

Sherri’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Constantly update it with exciting projects - even if you can only share one piece of a project. It's so much easier to add little pieces as you go rather than trying to pull together the entire thing at once. 
• I completely agree with others' advice to just start somewhere - even if it's not perfect.

Rebecca Patterson

Example | Rebecca Patterson

Rebecca’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Try to upload your new material as you create it.  It can get hard and complicated when grabbing links for multiple projects at the same time.
• After publishing the new links, check the links to make sure everything is working.

Example | Megan Neff | Website |  @mn_elearning

Megan’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• I create demo reels with client approval to showcase my work. 
• I also send these demo reels to my clients as a free service after project completion. A lot of them use these for internal marketing purposes. It's been a hit!

Gretchen Johanson

Example | Gretchen Johanson

Gretchen’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Think longevity when picking a domain name. If you are considering doing some freelance work later down the road, choose a name that can grow with you. For example, one of the reasons I rebranded was b/c my initial site was only a portfolio and didn't meet the need for me to become a freelancer. So, I ended up having to pay for a second domain name when I rebranded. 
• Think quality of work over quantity. It is better to have a few fantastic assets versus a bunch of mediocre assets. 
• Include contact information and an updated resume on your site.

Example | Ron Katz | Website

Ron’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• It didn’t matter when you started with Articulate; go back through some of the challenges from before you started and give those a try as well.  I try to do 2-3 challenges a week (as you can see by my portfolio).

Kimberly Eng

Example | Kimberly Eng | Website

Kimberly’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Don't wait until an e-learning challenge asks you to post a portfolio to make one. :) 

Blanche Allen

Example | Blanche Allen | Website

Blanche’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Participate in various eLearning challenges to become comfortable using Articulate. 
• Do not hesitate to reach out to other experienced designers for advice and tips on using the software. 

Tracy Carroll

Example | Tracy Carroll | Website | @1tracycarroll

Tracy’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Let go of perfectionism and just start building your portfolio. It'll get better over the years as you keep working on it. 
• My biggest problem is trying to find the time to delete the really old not-even-working-anymore samples!

Jodi Sansone

Example | Jodi Sansone | Website | @jodimsansone

Jodi’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• I collect a set of projects that I believe match the client's needs or interests.  I present it to them via Zoom or in person where we can talk about why and how each of the examples was developed and how the approach can be applied to their project.  By sharing the projects with them I get to gauge their reactions and learn more about what they want and expect.
• Make sure your security and comment settings are set the way you want.  I once posted a demo called "How to Give your Pet a Pill" and I was spammed for months with erectile dysfunction solicitations--sometimes 30 a day. 
• Also, I removed most of my personal information because I was receiving phony messages that sounded so convincing that I fell for one and wasted a ton of time until I figured out I was being scammed.

Shante Bryan

Example | Shante Bryan

Shante’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Keep browsing through other people's work (outside of ID). It sounds a cliche, but it's true. Whenever I found something that I like, I tried to integrate it into my site. So go through them and ask yourself things like: What do you like best about their site? What's their process? What were my takeaways from reading their case studies? What's their personal touch?
• Relax when you can. Again, cliche but vital. It was easier for me to overcome roadblocks when I took time off to catch up on shows or play games.

Daniel Sweigert

Example | Daniel Sweigert | Website | @elearningwdan

Daniel’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• If you haven't got any work you have permission from the client to share, you can build up your portfolio samples by participating in the weekly challenges.
• It's easier to get a client to agree to allow you to share the work you did for them on your site if you only show a sample of part of a lesson. Something that displays something special you designed you feel particularly good about. And you should also remove any proprietary information. Kind of remake the slides so the content is a little more generic and does not include any of your clients’ information, logos, etc.

Steve Morey

Example | Steve Morey

Catherine Johns

Example | Catherine Johns | Website  

Example | Catherine Johns | Website

Catherine’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• List your e-Learning and/or Instructional Designer skills.
• Show a variety of samples. 
• Create "branding" for yourself in terms of your voice, design style, and subjects you typically work with.

Amar Kulshreshtha

Example | Amar Kulshreshtha | Website | @AmarShreshtha

Jessica Bradt

Example | Jessica Bradt | Website

Jessica’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Make sure your sections have space to breathe (ie, whitespace). Adding dividers and spacers really made some of my headings, text, and images stand out a little more.

Kathy Currey

Example | Kathy Currey | Website

Kathy’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Feature a few key pieces and then show something different. You don't want to bore someone with 100 examples of the same kind of work.

Shannon Keller

Example | Shannon Keller

Shannon’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• My tip would be to try creating a website for your portfolio. With programs like Wix.com, it is a user-friendly way to have freedom in your design. There is always more to learn on every front in instructional design, design as a whole, etc.

Moore II Learn

Example | Moore II Learn

Moore’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Add some variety in your assets with tools, topics (unless you have found your niche), and multiple pieces like a storyboard, video, infographic, etc. for one asset.
• Check for all working links.
• Take some risks in designing and organizing your content in your portfolio
• Request peer-reviewed feedback before publishing

Example | Aman Vohra | Website

Aman’s e-learning portfolio tips:

• Adding Interactive samples to your portfolio is always better than having static screenshots of your work.
• Add a short description of the projects you showcase in your portfolio so that the users can have a brief understanding of what to expect when they test them. (I provided the links to LinkedIn articles in most places so that users could read about the project before testing it.)
• Divide your projects into different categories so that the users can easily find what they are looking for.
• Always ask for recommendations.

Sarah Flynn

Example  |  Sarah Flynn

Sarah's e-learning portfolio tips:

• Keep it simple - don't have too much text. Keep only the text and content that's relevant to your work.
• Think about the flow as the user navigates it.

Example | Dan Graham | Website | @EzLearnin

• Grab a few of your best pieces of work, lock up a domain, and just get them on there. It WILL evolve. "Perfection is the Enemy of Progress."

Formación Digital

Example  (Rise 360) | Example  (Storyline 360) |  Formación Digital

Formación Digital's e-learning portfolio tips:

• Look for new solutions and let's not continue replicating the courses as templates. If possible, look for the original if there are resources and time.

Sommer Riley

Example  |  Sommer Riley  |  Website  |  @sommerlriley

Sommer's e-learning portfolio tip:

• Don't be like me and let it go a year and a half out of date! Instead, make sure to keep adding new items to it on a regular schedule. Which reminds me, I need to add some new stuff to my portfolio!

Bela Gaytan

Example  | Bela Gaytan | Website

Bella's e-learning portfolio tip:

• Have a clean design (not just here but throughout your website).
• Provide details on the projects, such as tools used, your audience, and a brief write-up.
• If you don't have projects created as a result of employment or freelancing (which I don't) - create something you enjoy! I've found this site and Devlin Peck's live sessions a huge source of inspiration and ideas.

Lacey Wieser

Example  | Lacey Wieser | Website | @laceywieser

Lacey's e-learning portfolio tips:

• Show a variety of samples.
• Keep the design clean and consistent.

Preethi Ravisankar

Example  | Preethi Ravisankar

Preethi's e-learning portfolio tips:

• As many of us have highlighted, the best way to build a portfolio and learn Articulate is by participating in E-learning challenges.
• Also, most of the great examples come with the source file. We can learn by looking through the file and trying to create something similar. Well, I learned it that way :-)

Joel Colley

Example  | Joel Colley

Robbie Christian

Example  | Robbie Christian | Website

Robbie's e-learning portfolio tips:

• Be very thorough about your quality assurance and quality control.
• Quality over quantity. You may have a hundred courses or samples, but only put up a few that will showcase various skills and make you look good.
• Don't post on Articulate Review with the ability for others to comment and see other comments. By the time something is on your portfolio page, the feedback cycles should be over.
• Your portfolio doesn't need to be full of extensive courses, just high-quality samples.

New to the E-Learning Challenges?

The weekly challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios . You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.

If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We’ll link back to your posts, so the great work you’re sharing gets even more exposure. 

If you share your demos on Twitter, please include #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can track your e-learning coolness.

Share Your E-Learning Portfolio Examples!

The e-learning portfolio challenge is still open! If you have one or more ideas you'd like to share, please jump over to the original challenge and post your links in the comments section. I'll update this recap page to include your examples.

Related Content

20+ e-learning portfolio tips & examples from course designers #438, what to include in an e-learning portfolio.

30+ Best E-Learning Portfolio Examples for Inspiration in 2024 #451

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Teaching Portfolios and Course Portfolios

Teaching portfolios allow instructors to document the scope and quality of their teaching performance and to improve their skills through continuous reflection. Course portfolios are used to document the planning, process, and outcomes of a single course. The articles and links in this section describe the purpose and important components of teaching portfolios and offer detailed guidelines for creating teaching portfolios.

CRLT Occasional Paper #11: The Teaching Portfolio (Kaplan, 1998)

The teaching portfolio is one of the tools faculty members can use to document their scholarly work in teaching. This Occasional Paper contains a discussion of the nature and purpose of the teaching portfolio (and its offshoot, the course portfolio) and suggestions for how individuals and units can use portfolios most effectively.

Developing a Teaching Portfolio

This site from the Ohio State University aims to provide faculty and graduate teaching associates (TAs) with a practical and self-reflective guide to the development of a teaching portfolio.

The Course Portfolio as a Tool for Continuous Improvement of Teaching and Learning (Cerbin, 1994)

How to Prepare a Course Portfolio (Werder, 2000)

Summary adapted from Pat Hutchings’ (1998) The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine Their Teaching to Advance Practice and Improve Student Learning. Includes concise sections on design, results, and general tips for creating a course portfolio.

Creating Electronic Portfolios with Adobe Acrobat

Adobe offers a guide to how to use their Acrobat software to create a Teaching or Course portfolio. This focuses on practical instructions for using the software to create your portfolio, not choosing the content to be included.

Please also see: Teaching Philosophy and Teaching Statement

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Assessment and Curriculum Support Center

Using portfolios in program assessment.

On this page:

• What is a portfolio?
• Portfolios as a data-collection method for assessment
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Creating and designing portfolios
• Questions to ask before adopting portfolios
• E-Portfolios
• Links: universities implementing portfolios; online portfolios
• E-portfolio software and review

1. What is a portfolio?

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A portfolio is a systematic collection of student work that represents student activities, accomplishments, and achievements over a specific period of time in one or more areas of the curriculum. There are two main types of portfolios:

Showcase Portfolios:  Students select and submit their best work. The showcase portfolio emphasizes the products of learning. Developmental Portfolios : Students select and submit pieces of work that can show evidence of growth or change over time. The growth portfolio emphasizes the process of learning.

STUDENTS’ REFLECTIVE ESSAY: In both types of portfolios, students write reflective essays or introductory memos to the faculty/assessment committee to explain the work and reflect on how the collection demonstrates their accomplishments, explains why they selected the particular examples, and/or describes changes in their knowledge/ability/attitude.

2. Portfolios as a data-collection method for assessment

Portfolios can be created for course assessment as well as program assessment. Although the content may be similar, the assessment process is different.

3. Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of a portfolio

• Enables faculty to assess a set of complex tasks, including interdisciplinary learning and capabilities, with examples of different types of student work.
• Helps faculty identify curriculum gaps, a lack of alignment with outcomes.
• Promotes faculty discussions on student learning, curriculum, pedagogy, and student support services.
• Encourages student reflection on their learning. Students may come to understand what they have and have not learned.
• Provides students with documentation for job applications or applications to graduate school.

Disadvantages of a portfolio

• Faculty time required to prepare the portfolio assignment and assist students as they prepare them. Logistics are challenging.
• Students must retain and compile their own work, usually outside of class. Motivating students to take the portfolio seriously may be difficult.
• Transfer students may have difficulties meeting program-portfolio requirements.
• Storage demands can overwhelm (which is one reason why e-portfolios are chosen).

4. Using portfolios in assessment

TIP: START SMALL. Showcase portfolio : Consider starting with one assignment plus a reflective essay from a senior-level course as a pilot project. A faculty group evaluates the “mini-portfolios” using a rubric. Use the results from the pilot project to guide faculty decisions on adding to or modifying the portfolio process. Developmental portfolio : Consider starting by giving a similar assignment in two sequential courses: e.g., students write a case study in a 300-level course and again in a 400-level course. In the 400-level course, students also write a reflection based on their comparison of the two case studies. A faculty group evaluates the “mini-portfolios” using a rubric. Use the results to guide the faculty members as they modify the portfolio process.

Suggested steps:

• Determine the purpose of the portfolio. Decide how the results of a portfolio evaluation will be used to inform the program.
• Identify the learning outcomes the portfolio will address.Tip: Identify at least 6 course assignments that are aligned with the outcomes the portfolio will address. Note: When planning to implement a portfolio requirement, the program may need to modify activities or outcomes in courses, the program, or the institution.
• Decide what students will include in their portfolio. Portfolios can contain a range of items–plans, reports, essays, resume, checklists, self-assessments, references from employers or supervisors, audio and video clips. In a showcase portfolio, students include work completed near the end of their program. In a developmental portfolio, students include work completed early and late in the program so that development can be judged.Tip: Limit the portfolio to 3-4 pieces of student work and one reflective essay/memo.
• Identify or develop the scoring criteria (e.g., a rubric) to judge the quality of the portfolio.Tip: Include the scoring rubric with the instructions given to students (#6 below).
• Establish standards of performance and examples (e.g., examples of a high, medium, and low scoring portfolio).
• Create student instructions that specify how students collect, select, reflect, format, and submit.Tip: Emphasize to students the purpose of the portfolio and that it is their responsibility to select items that clearly demonstrate mastery of the learning outcomes. Emphasize to faculty that it is their responsibility to help students by explicitly tying course assignments to portfolio requirements.

Collect – Tell students where in the curriculum or co-curricular activities they will produce evidence related to the outcomes being assessed. Select – Ask students to select the evidence. Instruct students to label each piece of evidence according to the learning outcome being demonstrated. Reflect – Give students directions on how to write a one or two-page reflective essay/memo that explains why they selected the particular examples, how the pieces demonstrate their achievement of the program outcomes, and/or how their knowledge/ability/attitude changed. Format –Tell students the format requirements (e.g., type of binder, font and style guide requirements, online submission requirements). Submit – Give submission (and pickup) dates and instructions.

• A faculty group scores the portfolios using the scoring criteria. Use examples of the standards of performance to ensure consistency across scoring sessions and readers.Tip: In large programs, select a random sample of portfolios to score (i.e., do not score every portfolio).
• Share the results and use them to improve the program.

5. Questions to consider before adopting a portfolio requirement

• What is the purpose of the portfolio requirement? To document student learning? Demonstrate student development? Learn about students’ reflections on their learning? Create a document useful to students? Help students grow through personal reflection on their personal goals?
• Will portfolios be showcase or developmental?
• When and how will students be told about the requirement, including what materials they need to collect or to produce for it?
• What are the minimum and maximum lengths or sizes for portfolios?
• Who will decide which materials will be included in portfolios- -faculty or students?
• What elements will be required in the portfolio- -evidence only from courses in the discipline, other types of evidence, evidence directly tied to learning outcomes, previously graded products or clean copies?
• Will students be graded on the portfolios? If so, how and by whom?
• How will the portfolios be assessed to evaluate and improve the program?
• What can be done for students who have inadequate evidence through no fault of their own? (E.g., transfer students)
• What will motivate students to take the portfolio requirement seriously?
• How will the portfolio be submitted–hard copy or electronic copy?
• Who “owns” the portfolios–students or the program/university? If the program/university owns them, how long will the portfolios be retained after the students graduate?
• Who has access to the portfolios and for what purposes?
• How will student privacy and confidentiality be protected?

6. E-portfolios (electronic portfolios)

Traditional portfolios consist of papers in a folder. Electronic or “e-portfolios” consist of documents stored electronically. Electronic portfolios offer rich possibilities for learning and assessment, with the added dimension of technology.

• What about an electronic portfolio is central to the assessment?
• Who is the audience for the portfolio? Will that audience have the hardware, software, skills, time, and inclination to access the portfolio electronically?
• Does the institution have the hardware and software in place to create portfolios electronically? If not, what will it cost and who will install it? Does the institution have the IT/technical staff to support e-portfolios?
• What is the current level of computer skills of the students and faculty members involved in this project? Who will teach them how to use the technology necessary to create and view electronic portfolios?
• Easy to share with multiple readers simultaneously.
• Allows for asynchronous use for both students and faculty.
• Allows for multi-media product submissions.
• Offers search strategies for easy access to materials.
• Makes updating entries easier.
• Creating navigational links may help students see how their experiences interrelate.
• Provides students the opportunity to improve as well as demonstrate their technology skills.
• Allows faculty to remain in touch with students after graduation if the portfolio can become students’ professional portfolio.
• Time is needed to master the software. Students may not have sufficient computer skills to showcase their work properly.
• Faculty and students may be reluctant to learn a new software program.
• Requires IT expertise and support for both students and faculty.
• Cost associated with developing an in-house platform or the purchase of a commercial product may be expensive.
• Cost associated with maintaining portfolio software. Ongoing support and training are necessary.
• An external audience may not have access to proprietary software. Proprietary software may hinder portability.
• Requires large amounts of computer space.
• Privacy and security. Who will have access to the portfolio?

7. Links to universities implementing portfolios

Truman State University:  http://assessment.truman.edu/components/portfolio/

Penn State:  http://portfolio.psu.edu/

University of Denver:  https://portfolio.du.edu/pc/index

8. Electronic portfolio software

Laulima Open Source Portfolio . Laulima has an Open Source Portfolio (OSP) tool option. Contact UH ITS for information about turning on this tool.

List of E-Portfolio Software & Tools .  ePortfolio-related Tools and Technologies  wiki.

Sources Consulted:

• Skidmore College, Assessment at Skidmore College, http://cms.skidmore.edu/assessment/Handbook/portfolio.cfm
• Mary Allen – University of Hawaii at Manoa Spring 2008 Assessment Workshops
• ERIC Digest, Assessment Portfolios (ED447725),  http://www.users.muohio.edu/shermalw/eric_digests/ed447725.pdf
• Portfolio Assessment: Instructional Guide (2nd Ed.),  http://libdr1.ied.edu.hk/pubdata/img00/arch00/link/archive/1/instarh/1921_image.pdf
• Cambridge, B.L., Kahn, S., Tompkins, D.P., Yancey, K.B. (Eds.). (2001).  Electronic portfolios: Emerging practices in student, faculty, and institutional learning . Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

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ePortfolios: The What, Why, and How!

What is an ePortfolio? 

An ePortfolio is a collection of work (evidence) in an electronic format that showcases learning over time. Creating a digital portfolio encourages students to take responsibility for their learning and showcase that learning with others. An ePortfolio lets students organize, document, and display their most significant learning experiences in one digital space. The reflective learning process of creating and building a portfolio over time deepens their learning AND yields a dynamic product that makes learning visible to any audience.

Some educators see ePortfolios primarily as a tool for generating new or deeper learning while others view them as an assessment tool. Educator Helen Barrett described the difference in perspective this way: “There’s a major tension right now between student-centered and institution-centered ePortfolios” (Barrett, 2008). Institution-centered ePortfolios, she says, are driven by “assessment of learning.” In contrast, student-centered ePortfolios are driven by “assessment for learning,” referring to the academic assignments that fulfill the traditional role of assessing learning while providing an opportunity for learning to occur during completion.

Even within the student-centered approach to ePortfolios, it’s possible to classify different kinds of ePortfolios based on the student’s purpose. LaGuardia Community College’s ePortfolio initiative , for example, distinguishes between three types of ePortfolios. There’s the assessment version, where the audience is internal to the institution and the goal is to support institutional outcomes assessment. In learning ePortfolios, the audience is the students themselves and the goal is to help them examine and reflect on their learning. And finally there are Career/Transfer ePortfolios, where the audience is external and the goal is to provide students with a tool for showcasing their achievements to employers or transfer institutions.

Best practices for instructors

Explain the benefits of eportfolios to students.

• Help learners develop new or deeper learning, which results in higher grades
• Help learners develop a better sense of themselves as students and individuals
• Be shared with friends and family members
• Showcase learners’ achievements

Establish clear expectations

Explain to your students what you expect them to do in their ePortfolios. At first, learners may have difficulty understanding the need for them to reflect on their work and the need for them to make connections between different courses and experiences.

Provide examples created by students

As you build your own directory of student examples, direct students to LaGuardia’s ePortfolio gallery for inspiration and clarity on scope and purpose.

Scaffold student learning

Help students start small: ask them to choose just one artifact (such as an essay) and have them reflect on the challenges they had to address while writing. Or, have the student select a pair of assignments and have them reflect on how each helped them grow in the field.

Walk the talk

Create an ePortfolio for yourself based on your teaching practice or research project and share it with your students. You’ll better understand the challenges and benefits of maintaining an ePortfolio, and it will also convince students that it is a useful endeavor. Here are some examples to help get you started!

Make it social

Integrate viewing and commenting on other students’ ePortfolios as part of the assessment. For example, have a Canvas page with links to each student’s ePortfolio, or a discussion forum or VoiceThread where students can conduct a virtual gallery walk and make helpful and encouraging comments on one another’s ePortfolios.The ePortfolios then become an integral part of the online learning community. Professor Adam Rothman of Georgetown University refers to this approach as the hub-and-spoke model .

Assessment of ePortfolios

Since ePortfolios require a significant investment of time and energy from students, it is important that they be assessed carefully. However, their assessment does present some challenges: how does one evaluate the quality of “reflections”? If students see their ePortfolio as “just another assignment,” then they may not engage with it authentically. Helen Barrett suggests that “high stakes assessment and accountability are killing ePortfolios as a reflective tool to support deep learning”: (Barrett, 2005). Rubrics (such as this rubric developed by the University of Wisconsin ) may be the best way to overcome assessment challenges while still ensuring students benefit from their ePortfolio. Lastly, consistent formative feedback from the instructor, faculty, and student peers helps learners maintain motivation to work on their ePortfolio.

Canvas Student Pathways

Portfolium (Canvas Student Pathways, CSP) has been recently acquired by UM System and is fully integrated with Canvas. CSP is an online portfolio system allowing users to archive examples of their academic work and experiences in college. Work samples including papers, presentations, projects, audio and video files, designs, essays, and photo galleries all make great contributions to a portfolio. At its core, CSP is a cross between social media and an archive (think Linkedin, but a deeper look at the person rather than the person’s professional connections) so that students can make their identity, knowledge, and skills visible to any audience they choose, including employers, graduate schools, peers, and college faculty and staff.

Barrett, H. (2008). Balancing “eportfolio as test” with “eportfolio as story.” Presented at Making Connections conference.

Basken, P. (2008, April). Electronic portfolios may answer calls for more accountability . The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Bass, R. & Eynon, B. (2009). Capturing the visible evidence of invisible learning The Academic Commons.

CanvasLMS (2020). Portfolium: Digital Citizenship & Personal Branding with Folios [Video] YouTube. https://youtu.be/O_sEwq6ZoK0

Bryant Lazenby, M.Ed.

Laz is a lifelong learner and technology lover who joined Missouri Online as an instructional designer in July 2021. He is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator with over 10 years of teaching experience in secondary and post-secondary education and is currently working on a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Lindenwood University where his research is in incorporating gamification strategies into the classroom. He was born and raised on a farm that has been in his family for over a century located northwest of Sedalia, Missouri, where he lives today. When he isn’t in front of his computer, he can generally be found reading or attending local painting classes.

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Course Portfolios

An accessible version of the documents on this site will be made available upon request. Contact  [email protected]  to request the document be made available in an accessible format.

A course portfolio represents an instructor's most effective practices. It frequently takes the form of a stand-alone website or a section of a website. Sometimes it encompasses all an instructor's courses; other times, it highlights only one or two. Whatever the form, though, a portfolio allows instructors to explore how effectively the goals of student learning are being achieved by providing evidence and reflection.

A strong portfolio should provide an extensive explanation of work in at least one class: what the course goals were, how goals were implemented, how student performance was achieved, and the teacher’s reflection on what was achieved and what can be bettered in future offerings. A richer portfolio tracks a course’s evolution, showing what was learned and what skills improved over time. In contrast to other reviews, students’ voice and performance is evident through student work, not through student ratings. In order to publish student work in a course portfolio, you must have them consent to the representation of their work. You can have students fill out a consent form (.pdf) for granting consent. Finally, instead of a generalized teaching statement, the reflections of the teacher are encompassed in an in-depth analysis of his or her teaching and future teaching goals (Bernstein 2006).

What is it? 

A portfolio is a collection of student work (artefacts) collected and presented in a paper-based or, where appropriate, digital form. It is suitable for most genres of work and therefore most disciplines.  Clarke and Boud (2016) categorise portfolios as: the showcase portfolio, which demonstrates a collection of students’ best pieces of work; the working portfolio , which shows all the completed work of students as part of a course; and the progress portfolio , which is used to assess students’ development over a period of learning.  Portfolios are common in disciplines where there is a professional practice element, including but not limited to education, nursing, medicine, law and engineering.  Creating a portfolio is time-consuming for students so if you intend to set it as a formative assessment, the purpose(s) must be made clear to students to motivate them to invest that time.

Why would I use it?

• Students are given choices about how they organise their work  and  some control over their own learning  in what they choose to present. This involves making reflective judgments, which fosters  the ability to make judgments about the quality of their own work rather than being dependent on teacher judgment.
• In a progress portfolio or working portfolio, students can include plans, outlines and drafts of written work (as appropriate for the  discipline) to  show their progress.   A progress portfolio can  reduce plagiarism as students need to depict their own individual processes.
• Individual pieces of work can be marked formatively, increasing  opportunities for feedback  and helping students understand criteria to judge performance.   Self- and peer-evaluation  can be included as part of portfolio work. This increases  opportunities for feedback , and  reduces teacher marking burden .
• They are  authentic  in preparing students for  workplace environments  where such collections and demonstrations of work are required. It can also form part of  assessment of internships, service learning and clinical placements.

Known issues: 

• A portfolio may not mitigate surface learning  if it is simply a collection of different genres, all summatively assessed and with no opportunity for revisions, leading to a sense of over-assessment. This can be addressed by encouraging students to demonstrate connections between different artefacts in their reflections. 
• Students might want to rely on teacher judgment to select their best pieces of work (although this can be facilitated in a dialogic way in tutorials).  If students choose individual pieces for the portfolio for themselves, the more benefits are derived from the portfolio.
• For courses where there is a lot of essay writing, and to encourage reflections on transitioning from A level to university-style writing, teachers might prefer a processfolio ( Pearson, 2017), which examines one essay with how students depict their journey to produce it.

How has it been used?

The portfolio is suitable for most pieces of work.  Artefacts can be individual pieces of completed work or they can be things which students have done to produce one completed piece of work.

• A definitive guide to key considerations when using portfolios as assessment is provided by the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE):
• Mahara is a King’s digital portfolio service which allows students to organise and present different media very flexibly. CTEL offer guidance on how to set up and use Mahara.
• You may allow students to choose their own technology, including external platforms such as WordPress or Weebly. However, King’s may not be able to support these.

Teresa MacKinnon from Dublin City University talks about her experiences with efolios in this podcast. 

King’s pioneering Liberal arts programme (A&H) uses Mahara for group portfolio tasks – see George Legg’s case study on the level 4 Lives of London module

How can I use portfolios?

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A student portfolio is a compilation of academic work and other forms of educational evidence assembled for the purpose of (1) evaluating coursework quality, learning progress, and academic achievement; (2) determining whether students have met learning standards or other academic requirements for courses, grade-level promotion, and graduation; (3) helping students reflect on their academic goals and progress as learners; and (4) creating a lasting archive of academic work products, accomplishments, and other documentation. Advocates of student portfolios argue that compiling, reviewing, and evaluating student work over time can provide a richer, deeper, and more accurate picture of what students have learned and are able to do than more traditional measures—such as standardized tests , quizzes, or final exams—that only measure what students know at a specific point in time.

Portfolios come in many forms, from notebooks filled with documents, notes, and graphics to online digital archives and student-created websites, and they may be used at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Portfolios can be a physical collection of student work that includes materials such as written assignments, journal entries, completed tests, artwork, lab reports, physical projects (such as dioramas or models), and other material evidence of learning progress and academic accomplishment, including awards, honors, certifications, recommendations, written evaluations by teachers or peers, and self-reflections written by students. Portfolios may also be digital archives, presentations, blogs, or websites that feature the same materials as physical portfolios, but that may also include content such as student-created videos, multimedia presentations, spreadsheets, websites, photographs, or other digital artifacts of learning.

Online portfolios are often called digital portfolios or e-portfolios , among other terms. In some cases, blogs or online journals may be maintained by students and include ongoing reflections about learning activities, progress, and accomplishments. Portfolios may also be presented—publicly or privately—to parents, teachers, and community members as part of a demonstration of learning , exhibition , or capstone project .

It’s important to note that there are many different types of portfolios in education, and each form has its own purpose. For example, “capstone” portfolios would feature student work completed as part of long-term projects or final assessments typically undertaken at the culmination of a middle school or high school, or at the end of a long-term, possibly multiyear project. Some portfolios are only intended to evaluate learning progress and achievement in a specific course, while others are maintained for the entire time a student is enrolled in a school. And some portfolios are used to assess learning in a specific subject area, while others evaluate the acquisition of skills that students can apply in all subject areas.

The following arguments are often made by educators who advocate for the use of portfolios in the classroom:

• Student portfolios are most effective when they are used to evaluate student learning progress and achievement. When portfolios are used to document and evaluate the knowledge, skills, and work habits students acquire in school, teachers can use them to adapt instructional strategies when evidence shows that students either are or are not learning what they were taught. Advocates typically contend that portfolios should be integrated into and inform the instructional process, and students should incrementally build out portfolios on an ongoing basis—i.e., portfolios should not merely be an idle archive of work products that’s only reviewed at the end of a course or school year.
• Portfolios can help teachers monitor and evaluate learning progress over time. Tests and quizzes give teachers information about what students know at a particular point in time, but portfolios can document how students have grown, matured, and improved as learners over the course of a project, school year, or multiple years. For this reason, some educators argue that portfolios should not just be compilations of a student’s best work, but rather they should include evidence and work products that demonstrate how students improved over time. For example, multiple versions of an essay can show how students revised and improved their work based on feedback from the teachers or their peers.
• Portfolios help teachers determine whether students can apply what they have learned to new problems and different subject areas. A test can help teachers determine, for example, whether students have learned a specific mathematical skill. But can those students also apply that skill to a complex problem in economics, geography, civics, or history? Can they use it to conduct a statistical analysis of a large data set in a spreadsheet? Or can they use it to develop a better plan for a hypothetical business. (Educators may call this ability to apply skills and knowledge to novel problems and different domains “ transfer of learning ”). Similarly, portfolios can also be used to evaluate student work and learning in non-school contexts. For example, if a student participated in an internship or completed a project under the guidance of an expert mentor from the community, students could create portfolios over the course of these learning activities and submit them to their teachers or school as evidence they have met certain learning expectations or graduation requirements.
• Portfolios can encourage students to take more ownership and responsibility over the learning process. In some schools, portfolios are a way for students to critique and evaluate their own work and academic progress, often during the process of deciding what will be included in their portfolios. Because portfolios document learning growth over time, they can help students reflect on where they started a course, how they developed, and where they ended up at the conclusion of the school year. When reviewing a portfolio, teachers may also ask students to articulate the connection between particular work products and the academic expectations and goals for a course. For these reasons, advocates of portfolios often recommend that students be involved in determining what goes into a portfolio, and that teachers should not unilaterally make the decisions without involving students. For related discussions, see student engagement and student voice .
• Portfolios can improve communication between teachers and parents . Portfolios can also help parents become more informed about the education and learning progress of their children, what is being taught in a particular course, and what students are doing and learning in the classroom. Advocates may also contend that when parents are more informed about and engaged in their child’s education, they can play a more active role in supporting their children at home, which could have a beneficial affect on academic achievement and long-term student outcomes .

While portfolios are not generally controversial in concept, it’s possible that skepticism, criticism, and debate may arise if portfolios are viewed as burdensome, add-on requirements rather than as a vital instructional strategy and assessment option. Portfolios may also be viewed negatively if they are poorly designed and executed, if they tend to be filed away and forgotten, if they are not actively maintained by students, if they are not meaningfully integrated into the school’s academic program, if educators do not use them to inform and adjust their instructional techniques, or if sufficient time is not provided during the school day for teachers and students to review and discuss them. In short, how portfolios are actually used or not used in schools, and whether they produce the desired educational results, will likely determine how they are perceived.

Creating, maintaining, and assessing student portfolios can also be a time-consuming endeavor. For this reason and others, some critics may contend that portfolios are not a practical or feasible option for use in large-scale evaluations of school and student performance. (Just imagine, for example, what it would require in terms of funding, time, and human resources to evaluate dozens or hundreds of pages of academic documentation produced by each of the of tens of thousands of eleventh-grade students scattered across a state in any given year.)

Standardized tests, in contrast, are relatively efficient and inexpensive to score, and test results are considered more reliable or comparable across students, schools, or states, given that there is less chance that error, bias , or inconsistency may occur during the scoring process (in large part because most standardized tests today are scored in full or in part by automated machines, computers, or online programs). Student portfolios are a comparably time-consuming—and therefore far more expensive—assessment strategy because they require human scorers, and it is also far more challenging to maintain consistent and reliable evaluations or student achievement across different scorers. Many advocates would argue, however, that portfolios are not intended for use in large-scale evaluations of school and student performance, and that they provide the greatest educational value at the classroom level where teachers have personal relationships and conversations with students, and where in-depth feedback from teachers can help students grow, improve, and mature as learners.

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Course Portfolios

Course portfolios for students.

Course Portfolios can be used by students to store all their documents for the course. It can also be used for collaboration with other students by using WebMeetings, Forums, Wikis, or its multiple-user authoring ability. Course Portfolios can be viewed by anyone with access to the class list.

Portfolios for courses may be used in a variety of ways such as:

• The Instructor may create a template for the class with Content Items where you will enter your homework by typing in your content or adding a document as an attachment. These Items can then be linked to the Gradebook and graded by the instructor.
• You may be requested to use the Revision features to allow you to make multiple drafts of a paper.
• Faculty may require students to create a Blog and keep it up to date.
• Frequently instructors will have students Review other students' Portfolio Items and post their comments.

The principal parts of a Portfolio are:

Pages - Each page can have multiple sub-pages with links to them. Content Item - A Content item consists of a Title, Abstract, and a container for the content. Reviews & Comments - Each content item has an area to provide Reviewers to respond and a place for the Item owner to make a Comment. Reflection - Each content item provides an opportunity for the author to write a reflection on their content and the reviews. Assessment - Each Content Item allows the instructor to assess the content and provide a grade. The grade can be automatically placed in the Gradebook.

Additional Content

Any Portfolio page can have the following items added on the Page Content tab of the Manage Page link: Weblogs (blogs) - an online diary that other students can comment on. Wiki - provides content that can be edited by multiple users. WebMeeting - synchronous software that allows an online meeting between users at a distance. Forum - online discussion tool.

Working with Content Items Creating and using content items is the most common use of the portfolio system. These instructions will provide you with detailed information on content items.

Edit Settings Each page in the Portfolio system has the Edit Settings link in the upper right corner for the owner of the Portfolio. That link provides access to 4 tabs covering: Page Content, Page Design, Security Settings, and Publish Page. This link describes the controls available to you.

Search form

Teaching portfolio development.

This practical guide is designed to assist in the development of teaching portfolios.

Over an academic career, instructors are asked to develop different types of portfolios , including the course portfolio, the professional (scholarly) portfolio, and the teaching portfolio.

Course portfolio:  Includes information specific to a particular course, including syllabi, course materials, and sample assignments, along with the rationale behind assignments and a discussion regarding how teaching methods and course materials help students learn.

Professional portfolio:   Includes a collection of documents submitted as part of the promotion and tenure process. This type of portfolio would include scholarly work and research progress, teaching experience and accomplishments, and academic service records.

Teaching portfolio:   Describes and documents multiple aspects of teaching ability. Teaching portfolios are prepared in one of two basic formats:

• Summative portfolios  are created for the purpose of applying for an academic job or for promotion and tenure within a department.
• Formative portfolios  are created for the purpose of personal and professional development.

Because teaching experience changes as a career progresses, it’s a good idea to periodically update portfolio(s) not only to ensure currency, but also to reflect regularly on teaching. At some point in a career, instructors may find that they need to keep a summative as well as a formative portfolio, because they serve different purposes. However, note that summative and formative portfolios may share materials. Some people describe a teaching portfolio as a place to summarize teaching accomplishments and provide examples of classroom material; others describe it as a mechanism and space for reflecting on teaching. The Drake Institute recommends a portfolio as a space to do both.

Why create a portfolio?

• To reflect on teaching goals
• To assess teaching strengths and areas which need improvement
• To document progress as a teacher
• To generate ideas for future teaching/course development
• To identify personal teaching style
• To promote dialogue with fellow teachers
• To consider new ways of gathering student feedback
• To collect detailed data to support your goals
• To curate multiple sources of evidence that document the implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies and their effectiveness
• To embark on the academic job search, to apply for promotion and tenure process, and to develop personally and professionally.

Getting Started

Portfolio formats vary, but an effective portfolio should be well documented and highly organized. The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) suggests that a teaching portfolio should be the following:

A structured portfolio should be organized, complete, and creative in its presentation. Some questions for you to think about might be: Is my portfolio neat? Are the contents displayed in an organized fashion? Are the contents representative for the purpose that it is intended?

Representative

In addition to attending to structure, a portfolio should also be comprehensive. The documentation should represent the scope of your work. It should be representative across courses and time. Some questions for you to think about might be: Does my portfolio portray the types and levels of courses that I have taught? Does my portfolio display a cross-section of my work in teaching?

The natural tendency for anyone preparing a portfolio is wanting to document everything. However, if a portfolio is being used either for summative or formative purposes, careful attention should be given to conciseness and selectivity in order to appropriately document one's work. We suggest that you limit the contents of your portfolio to what is required by the reviewer while also keeping the purpose in mind.

Content to Include

Because a portfolio describes and documents the abilities of a unique individual, no two teaching portfolios look alike. A portfolio can include a number of different types of documents, depending on the purpose for creating a portfolio, the type of teaching done, the academic discipline, and the portfolio's intended audience. In spite of the variation that exists across portfolios, the following materials are often included:

• Summary of Teaching Responsibilities
• Philosophy of Teaching Statement
• Rationale for Course Materials
• Documenting Teaching Effectiveness
• Teaching awards and recognition
• Professional development efforts

A table of contents is an important tool in organizing the various sections of your portfolio. 

Narrative Components

Some of the sections listed above, such as the teaching philosophy, are strictly narrative (reflective). Others consist of a set of materials that are supplemented by a narrative or rationale. The following questions should be answered in narratives accompanying any of the sections or documents:

• Why did you include this material in the portfolio?
• How was this material (or practice) used in the classroom?
• Was the material (or practice) effective? What did students learn as a result of incorporating the material (or practice) into instruction?
• How has instruction changed as a result?
• What have you learned about yourself as a teacher?

Need Further Assistance?

Drake Institute staff are available for individual meetings to discuss portfolio types and preparation, areas of the teaching process to be examined, the kinds of information to be collected, and how these materials might be analyzed and presented. Staff can also help instructors collect feedback on their teaching through the use of student focus groups and mid-term evaluation tools.

To schedule a consultation appointment, contact us (with “Teaching Portfolio” as the subject line).

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What is a Portfolio?

A portfolio  is a compilation of academic and professional materials that exemplifies your beliefs, skills, qualifications, education, training ,  and experiences. It provides insight into your personality and work ethic.    

Choosing the most relevant academic and professional experiences and putting them in an easily understood format will show an employer proof of your organizational, communication, and tangible career-related skills.    

If you’re ever struggling with what work samples to choose, how to organize your portfolio, or other career-related concerns, reach out to our Career Services Office for one-on-one help and support.  

What should be included in my portfolio?     

First, save everything you create and decide later what you want to include in your portfolio. Some items may be more relevant to the work you’ll do in one position than another, so it helps to have a variety of samples.  You can present your materials in your own creative style, and these are some of the top items to include:  

• Statement of Originality : A paragraph stating that this is your work and that it is confidential. It should also indicate if any parts of the portfolio should not be copied.
• Work Philosophy : A brief description of your beliefs about yourself and the industry you hope to enter.
• Resume : An overview of your skills and work experience. You may also choose to include documentation of your certifications, diplomas, degrees, awards, professional memberships, or community service experiences.
• Work samples : When selecting items for your portfolio, consider what work will best demonstrate your skills, competencies, and achievements, especially in relation to the type of work you’d be doing for this potential employer.
• Works in Progress : List career-related projects or activities you are currently working on that would add to your list of skills and qualifications for that career field.
• Academic Plan of Study : You can include a copy of your transcript which includes the classes you have taken and grades you have earned in those classes, as well as a listing of those classes you plan to take.
• References : A list of three to five people who can verify your professional qualifications. Professional references may include faculty members, internship supervisors, employment supervisors and supervisors of other activities such as community service projects.

How should I present my professional portfolio?

Depending on your field of interest and samples, you may choose to build a digital portfolio on a website, or physical copy such as a 3-ring binder. If presenting a physical portfolio, be sure to use high quality paper and bring extra copies for an interview committee.   

Academic Development Centre

Using portfolios to assess learning, introduction.

Paulson et al (1991) provide a useful definition to start our thinking about the value of portfolios as a means to assess student achievement:

a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas. The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of student self-reflection.

There are several important messages in the definition that will form themes of this briefing paper:

• purposeful: as with all methods of assessment the purpose is to evidence the learner’s achievement of the intended learning outcomes
• collection: portfolios should include many different forms of evidence of attainment: written; posters; artefacts; recordings [video and audio]; photographs; etc. The individual components may focus on particular learning outcomes, whilst the whole should evidence broader outcomes and success Link opens in a new window
• contents : many years ago as an external examiner my first experience of a portfolio arrived in a huge box. Everything, including the kitchen sink, appeared to be in there. It seemed that I, as the assessor, was supposed to select which of this myriad of evidence proved achievement / competence. No, that is one of the student’s tasks ….
• the criteria for selection : one value of portfolio assessment is that we give choices and responsibility to the student / learner. As assessors we provide the boundaries within which the student is working, but they have a say over why they think this particular piece of evidence - this component of the portfolio - satisfies the criteria
• the criteria for judging merit : we may go further and give, or share, responsibility with the learner about the criteria that will be used to decide achievement
• evidence of student self-reflection : another value of portfolio assessment is that we can require learners to analyse and reflect on their learning. In this way we are promoting and developing the ability to be self-critical and become autonomous learners; knowing what they know, realising what they need to know and deciding how they will achieve that further learning.

Lastly, in this overview of the method, is format. The portfolio can be (as mentioned above) in physical form as papers, objects, and recorded media, but it can be just as well be electronic: an e-portfolio. Warwick staff and students will have access to Mahara ( https://myportfolio.warwick.ac.uk ).

What can portfolios assess?

Whilst many of the individual items that are included in a portfolio will be short-term, in that they are produced at a particular stage of the course and capture evidence of achievement at that stage, the portfolio itself will be a long-term, sustained piece of work. Additional values of portfolios are:

• that the learner can return to elements of evidence and (based on formative feedback) update and enhance them; and,
• review their own learning over a period of time and reflect on their achievement and, ideally, move into double-loop learning (Argyris & Schön, 1974 and Anderson 1997) and think about how they learn as well as what they have learned.

This means that portfolios can be used to assess a wide-range of achievements and abilities but would only be recommended as a mean of assessment if the learning outcomes of the module/programme include the meta-learning/reflective aspects.

As will be noted in the design section below, a portfolio may include aspects that are not submitted for the final assessment, but may be useful for evidence of learning beyond the outcomes of the module and learners could rewrite sections to re-present the evidence to gain future study / employment opportunities or professional recognition.

Whilst here we are particularly concerned with the idea of a portfolio for assessment purposes it is worth thinking, even briefly, of the different types of portfolio and their uses as this background may be a useful means to ‘sell’ the idea to students; portfolios are a lot of work for both assessed and assessors and we need to be able to convince our learners of their value.

Working portfolio: or portfolio in waiting as I prefer to think about it. This is basically the collection / holding tank for all the materials that a learner may accumulate to use; it is work-in-progress. The definition above included student choice over what was presented; this is the wider collection that they are selecting from. This idea also links to the notion of the portfolio containing items that could be used for several purposes as discussed in the previous section. All of the collected work is, of course, linked to the learning outcomes but, after formative feedback, may be revised and selected from to respond to the assessment brief. As already noted, one important aspect of portfolio assessment is reflection across the collection to show what and how learning has taken place. It is during this reflective, double loop stage of the portfolio development that selection should occur.

Showcase portfolio: This is a collection of the best work and may go beyond the particular module / course. A student could collect work from across their degree course to use for job or further study application and / or professional recognition. As Danielson & Abrutyn (1997) say, a showcase portfolio allows a learner to say “Here's who I am. Here is what I can do.” This version of the portfolio is simply a selection from the working portfolio.

Assessment portfolio: the primary function of an assessment portfolio is to evidence what a student has learned and achieved against the intended learning outcomes. Depending on how the portfolio is originally defined this may be all of the work-in-progress portfolio or may be a selection.

How the portfolio is originally defined is the important point here. If the portfolio is defined just to address the outcomes of one module or course then it is likely that the working and assessment portfolios will be very similar; there will be a fairly narrow definition of purpose, content and expectation. If, however, the portfolio is seen to have a longer life then it will be available for the learner to use as all of the above. Many professions now require a portfolio for continuing professional development (CPD) purposes. These long-term records can be started during a first degree and then taken forward as needed; this is certainly a value of an e-portfolio which is transferable and mobile. Some universities now require academic staff members to maintain a portfolio that documents teaching even beyond any early-career development programmes.

Danielson & Abrutyn (ibid) outlined eight steps in designing an assessment portfolio system, building on those we suggest six crucial steps for designing valid portfolio assessment:

• determine the curricular outcomes to be addressed through the portfolio; the intended learning outcomes must be clear and broad-reaching including reflective / meta learning aspects to make portfolio assessment valid
• determine the decisions that will be made based on the portfolio assessments; will individual elements carry marks / grades or just the complete portfolio or a mixture of both, and in the latter case what are the relative weightings and why
• design assessment tasks for the curricular outcomes; constructive alignment must rule here and the tasks must measure the knowledge, skills and approaches / attitudes (at the appropriate level of difficulty / sophistication) that students are expected to attain. This will will ensure the validity of the assessment
• define / agree the criteria for each assessment task and the overall portfolio, as appropriate, and establish standards for each criterion
• decide formative assessment points and what feedback (judgement) and feed-forward (development) pointers will be given
• determine who will assess what: self, peers and staff can all contribute here.

Finally, returning to the requirement that students reflect on their learning through the portfolio:

• at the most basic level we could require them to map the contents of their portfolio to the learning outcomes using a grid
• at the next level we could ask that they write claims outlining explicitly how their work provides evidence that they have met the criteria and to what level
• if we have allowed choice of elements from their (working) portfolio we could also ask that they explain why they have selected certain tasks over others.

These exercises force the student to focus on the content of the portfolio. The next stage is to concentrate on the process of developing the portfolio and require them to analyse their learning - how and what - as a result of undertaking the building of the portfolio, and still further, to reflect on what else they need to do to master the content / skills addressed.

Diversity & inclusion

By including a range of different tasks completed in a range of formats we are enabling all students to exhibit their achievements. Further, by allowing selection from a range of tasks we add to the student control over the process.

Academic integrity

As portfolios are developed over time, we are able to track the development of the work making it very difficult to include work that has been plagiarised. The requirement of critical reflection further ensures that it is difficult to copy /plagiarise. (Click for further guidance on academic integrity .)

By giving students agency and ownership of their learning they become more invested in the output, which can promote academic integrity.

The cumulative nature of portfolio building removes the big bang assessment, one high-stakes task at the end, which often creates stress and assessment bottlenecks which can motivate students to seek other solutions, such as contract cheating, collusion, or other shortcuts which compromise academic integrity.

All text-based assessment can be compromised by the use of AI if the intended learning outcomes address elements that generative AI can produce. Portfolio assessment provide opportunities for more creative, individuated, and ongoing assessment that would be harder to achieve with a one-off use of AI.

Student and staff experience

Portfolios include work that is produced over an extended period and should require a wider range of skills in its production. As a result students may view it as a fairer form of assessment. Given the opportunity to be involved in

• designing of the individual tasks
• deciding the criteria to be used
• selection of content to present
• peer assessment

and the longer-term opportunities afforded by portfolio assessment all add to the attractiveness of the method.

Deciding on an e-portfolio rather than a paper-based version has further benefits (Madden, 2007) including:

• cost-efficient means to store a large amount of material, allowing a range of media types to be included
• easy sharing of the portfolio and, by selecting permissions, selective sharing of content
• easy to adapt and so use for more than one purpose
• ease to update, add to and delete from the content
• developing additional IT skills
• opportunities to display in a number of ways and so suit different purposes; showcase and assessment roles.

For students

Developing a portfolio is time consuming and if the range of tasks does not go beyond the ‘usual’ (essays, short answers , mcqs etc.) then there will be little motivation to engage and to invest the time. Counter to this, requiring production in a range of formats (audio, video, blogs, etc.) and as an e-portfolio may add time demands as students have to learn how to produce new formats, master editing techniques and gain competence in the use of additional technologies.

All of these concerns can be mitigated by providing advice and guidance on the techniques and underlining the added values of the method.

• assessing portfolios can be time-consuming, especially as they can provide evidence of more than the usual disciplinary knowledge and understanding
• building in student choice, whilst a positive in terms of developing autonomous learners, can be challenging when trying to ensure that the assessment of the portfolio is consistent and reliable
• over-assessing if we are not careful about weighting elements and making this clear to learners.

Time consuming but has the potential to generate great benefits.

Time consuming - but all good assessment is. The Strivens (2006) report lists twelve strategies, identified by surveying users of portfolios, to mitigate workload; well worth considering.

Useful resources

Hamp-Lyons, L. and Condon, W. (2000). Assessing the Portfolio: Principles for Practice, Theory and Research . Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.

Klenowski, V. (2002). Developing Portfolios for Learning and Assessment: Processes and Principles. Abingdon UK: Routledge-Falmer

Madden, T (2007). Supporting Student e-Portfolios - The purpose of this guide is to provide a basic introduction to e-portfolios: what they are how they are being used potential benefits and challenges technical implications and how they might be introduced. https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/hea/private/eportfolios_jisc_1568036898.pdf

Strivens, J. (2006). Efficient assessment of portfolios. The Centre for Recording Achievement. - An account of ways in which portfolios are used efficiently by:

• describing portfolio practice in a minimum of five professional courses with large student cohorts
• identifying efficient practices
• discussing trade-off between educational effectiveness and efficiency
• providing advice on the design of affordable portfolio assessment.

https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/efficient-assessment-portfolios

University of Edinburgh. Institute for Academic Development. - Some further ideas, guidance and sample portfolios

https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/learningteaching/staff/assessment/resources/techniques/portfolios

Annotated bibliography

Class participation

Concept maps

Essay variants: essays only with more focus

• briefing / policy papers
• research proposals
• articles and reviews
• essay plans

Film production

Laboratory notebooks and reports

Objective tests

• short-answer
• multiple choice questions

Oral presentations

Patchwork assessment

Creative / artistic performance

• learning logs
• learning blogs

Simulations

Work-based assessment

Reference list

Center for Teaching

Teaching portfolios.

Print Version

What Is a Teaching Portfolio?

Why assemble a teaching portfolio, general guidelines, components of a teaching portfolio, sample teaching portfolios, electronic teaching portfolios, what role do teaching portfolios play on the job market, other resources.

• Portfolios provide documented evidence of teaching from a variety of sources—not just student ratings—and provide context for that evidence.
• The process of selecting and organizing material for a portfolio can help one reflect on and improve one’s teaching.
• Portfolios are a step toward a more public, professional view of teaching as a scholarly activity.
• Portfolios can offer a look at development over time, helping one see teaching as on ongoing process of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection.
• Teaching portfolios capture evidence of one’s entire teaching career, in contrast to what are called course portfolios that capture evidence related to a single course.

Portfolios can serve any of the following purposes.

• Job applicants for faculty positions can use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness.
• Faculty members up for promotion or tenure can also use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness.
• Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios to reflect on and refine their teaching skills and philosophies.
• Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios, particularly ones shared online, to “go public” with their teaching to invite comments from their peers and to share teaching successes so that their peers can build on them. For more on going public with one’s teaching, see the CFT’s Teaching Guide on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning .
• Start now! Many of the possible components of a teaching portfolio (see list below) are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain after you have finished teaching a course. Collecting these components as you go will make assembling your final portfolio much easier.
• Give a fair and accurate presentation of yourself. Don’t try to present yourself as the absolutely perfect teacher. Highlight the positive, of course, but don’t completely omit the negative.
• Be selective in which materials you choose to include , though be sure to represent a cross-section of your teaching and not just one aspect of it. A relatively small set of well-chosen documents is more effective than a large, unfiltered collection of all your teaching documents.
• Make your organization explicit to the reader. Use a table of contents at the beginning and tabs to separate the various components of your portfolio.
• Make sure every piece of evidence in your portfolio is accompanied by some sort of context and explanation. For instance, if you include a sample lesson plan, make sure to describe the course, the students, and, if you have actually used the lesson plan, a reflection on how well it worked.
• A reflective “teaching statement” describing your personal teaching philosophy, strategies, and objectives (see Teaching Philosophy ).
• A personal statement describing your teaching goals for the next few years
• A list of courses taught and/or TAed, with enrollments and a description of your responsibilities
• Number of advisees, graduate and undergraduate
• Course descriptions with details of content, objectives, methods, and procedures for evaluating student learning
• Reading lists
• Assignments
• Exams and quizzes, graded and ungraded
• Handouts, problem sets, lecture outlines
• Descriptions and examples of visual materials used
• Descriptions of uses of computers and other technology in teaching
• Videotapes of your teaching
• Summarized student evaluations of teaching, including response rate and relationship to departmental average
• Written comments from students on class evaluations
• Comments from a peer observer or a colleague teaching the same course
• Statements from colleagues in the department or elsewhere, regarding the preparation of students for advanced work
• Letters from students, preferably unsolicited
• Letters from course head, division head or chairperson
• Statements from alumni
• Scores on standardized or other tests, before and after instruction
• Students’ lab books or other workbooks
• Students’ papers, essays, or creative works
• Graded work from the best and poorest students, with teacher’s feedback to students
• Instructor’s written feedback on student work
• Participation in seminars or professional meetings on teaching
• Design of new courses
• Design of interdisciplinary or collaborative courses or teaching projects
• Use of new methods of teaching, assessing learning, grading
• Preparation of a textbook, lab manual, courseware, etc.
• Description of instructional improvement projects developed or carried out
• Publications in teaching journals
• Papers delivered on teaching
• Reviews of forthcoming textbooks
• Service on teaching committees
• Assistance to colleagues on teaching matters
• Work on curriculum revision or development
• Teaching awards from department, college, or university
• Teaching awards from profession
• Invitations based on teaching reputation to consult, give workshops, write articles, etc.
• Requests for advice on teaching by committees or other organized groups

The website from University of Virginia provides sample teaching portfolios from a variety of disciplines. As you look at these portfolios, ask yourself,

• “What components did the author choose to include and which ones are most effective at describing their teaching?” and
• “What structural and organizational decisions did the author make as they assembled their portfolio?”

Sample Portfolios from the University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center

How do electronic portfolios differ from print portfolios?

• Increased Accessibility: Teaching portfolios are intended, in part, to make teaching public. Distributing a portfolio on the web makes it even more accessible to peers and others.
• Multimedia Documents: Technology allows for inclusion of more than just printed documents. For example, you can include video footage of yourself teaching, an audio voiceover providing context and reflection on the portfolio, or instructional computer programs or code you have written.
• Nonlinear Thinking: The web facilitates nonlinear relationships between the components of your teaching portfolio. The process of creating a portfolio in this nonlinear environment can help you think about your teaching in new ways. For example, since readers can explore an e-portfolio in many different ways, constructing an e-portfolio gives you an opportunity to consider how different audiences might encounter and understand your work.
• Copyright and Privacy Issues: While examples of student work can be compelling evidence of your teaching effectiveness, publishing these examples online presents legal copyright and privacy issues. Talk to someone at the VU Compliance Program before doing so.
• 585 include the words “teaching philosophy,”
• 27 include the words “teaching statement,” and
• 28 include the words “teaching portfolio.”
• 388 include the words “teaching philosophy,”
• 5 include the words “teaching statement,” and
• 8 include the words “teaching portfolio.”
• write a meaningful teaching philosophy statement and
• to discuss your teaching more effectively during interviews.

The following books on teaching portfolios are available for check-out in the Center for Teaching’s library.

• Seldin, Peter, The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions , 3rd edition, Anker, 2004.
• Cambridge, Barbara, Electronic Portfolios: Emerging Practices in Student, Faculty, and Institutional Learning , American Association for Higher Education, 2001.
• Hutchings, Pat, ed., The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine Their Teaching to Advance Practice and Improve Student Learning , American Association for Higher Education, 1998.
• Murray, John P., Successful Faculty Development and Evaluation: The Complete Teaching Portfolio , ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, 1997.
• Anderson, Erin, ed., Campus Use of the Teaching Portfolio: Twenty-Five Profiles , American Association for Higher Education, 1993.

The following web sites offer additional resources and strategies for creating effective teaching portfolios:

• Developing a Teaching Portfolio , from the Center for Instructional Development and Research at the University of Washington
• Developing a Teaching Portfolio , from the Office of Faculty and TA Development, The Ohio State University
• The Teaching Portfolio , an Occasional Paper from the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
• What is a Teaching Portfolio?, from the Office of Instructional Consultation, UCSB.
• Curating A Teaching Portfolio , from the Center for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Texas-Austin
• The Teaching Portfolio , from the Center for Teaching Excellence at Duquesne University
• “The Teaching Portfolio,” an article published by the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education

Teaching Guides

• Online Course Development Resources
• Principles & Frameworks
• Pedagogies & Strategies
• Reflecting & Assessing
• Challenges & Opportunities
• Populations & Contexts

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Building a College Portfolio? Here are 9 Things You Should Know

If you’re a high school student about to apply to college, you should be working on a college portfolio! Before we dive into the “why” of a college portfolio as a student, let’s take a look at what a college portfolio means for you. 

What is a college portfolio? 

A college portfolio showcases a student’s individual accomplishments and capabilities, tailored to align with the requirements and expectations of the desired academic program. 

For STEM disciplines, the portfolio typically highlights research experience and/or supplementary materials such as personal projects that demonstrate a deep engagement with the subject matter. In fields like music or art, the emphasis shifts towards demonstrating proficiency and achievements within those domains, encompassing performances, exhibitions, and creative projects.  Ultimately, a well-crafted portfolio not only showcases a candidate's academic prowess but also offers insights into their passion, dedication, and potential for success within their chosen field of study.

In this article, we’ll break down the significance of portfolios in college admissions, the main components to include, and 9 things to know as you begin creating your own portfolio. 

Why are portfolios important to college applications? 

Portfolios are entirely optional — they’re supplemental materials for activities or accomplishments already discussed on your resume or activity list. You might wonder why this is worthwhile — isn’t the description enough? 

For students with incredibly high accomplishments in a given academic or artistic field, portfolios can hold a lot of weight, as they include tangible evidence of a student’s exact level of competence. Though colleges will generally be interested in admitting students with advanced skills in STEM or the arts, those with markedly standout achievements may be actively recruited by faculty members in the relevant departments. In short, already impressive credentials can be strengthened by the “proof” included in portfolios.

What should I include in a college portfolio? 

Colleges have individual standards on the materials they accept within applicant portfolios; though there are  common elements, you’ll likely need to tailor your portfolio to each program you apply to. Never  assume that all schools will accept the same portfolio format. 

General guidelines for portfolio submissions by discipline include:

Research: Abstract(s) and/or full-text research paper(s).

Technology & Computer Science: Description of and link(s) to web pages or projects.  

Music, Film, Dance, or Performing Arts: Approximately 10 minute high-quality video recording.

Creative Writing:  Short story or essay and/or brief collection of poems

9 things to know before building your college portfolio

1. add achievements relevant to your application.

Even though your overall goal in a college application is to impress the admissions committee on all fronts, portfolios are intentionally a highly-specialized submission. 

Your portfolio should serve a very specific purpose, typically one of the following: research, design, music, creative writing, art, or performing arts. If you have done high-level work in multiple areas, you should submit separate portfolios.  If you have strong expertise in one area and a single substantial accomplishment in another, you should stick to your greatest strength. 

This is compounded by the fact that portfolios will be reviewed in-depth by faculty in the relevant department at the college.  Think about it like this — if you were applying to an engineering job, they might find your performance at a national dance competition impressive, but it wouldn’t do much to convince them you were the best choice for the position. 

So, keep the portfolio you submit cohesive.  Everything you include should serve as a singular point within a broader argument for your expertise in the relevant area.  

2. Be effective, yet concise

If you’ve accomplished enough in high school that you’re prepared to submit an entire portfolio to colleges, you likely have lots  to say about your passion, experience, and accomplishments. To put it bluntly, these thoughts should be saved for application essays. Portfolios will be read or viewed quickly during the first round of review, so stick to the essentials — the most important (and impressive) details and relevant  contextual information. On the side of research, an abstract or research paper is sufficient; lab notes and presentation posters are extraneous. Attaching scores to music supplement videos is standard, but notes on the program you’re playing is not. Keep their focus on the primary matter at hand — your impressive research or performance.

3. Consider adding links to your complete work

Although colleges might only ask for limited materials, providing easy access to additional content can be useful should they desire more context on your achievements. While you should never directly submit more content than requested, linking  to this content is not objectionable, and can potentially work in your favor if an application reader is particularly curious. For example, some colleges only accept research abstracts, not research papers. While you should only submit  the abstract, adding a link  to the paper is fine. Similarly, a college might request a single short story for a creative writing portfolio, but adding a link to additional publications or a personal website can be a worthwhile choice.

4. Ensure your work is of sufficient quality 

Though portfolios aren’t necessarily a “less is more” endeavor, remember that these are optional additions to your application intended to show a high level of achievement. Typically students who submit effective research portfolios have publications, impressive findings, or patents associated with their work. Similarly, successful music supplements are often submitted by students who have studied at prestigious conservatories or music festivals. In these instances, university faculty may specifically advocate for your admission due to the value you can offer the school.

Though it is incredibly frustrating that only the highest of accomplishments can move the needle in your favor, this is important to know before you start intensively working on your portfolio — if it won’t put you ahead of other applicants, your time may be better spent on improving your essays, grades, or standardized testing scores.

5. Don’t undermine your application

Related to the point above, when making your decision about whether to submit a portfolio, consider the content of your portfolio relative to your resume entry. 

It is documented  that ineffective portfolios can sometimes have a detrimental effect on your application, and that leaving details of your accomplishments slightly ambiguous can be to your advantage.  Think about it like this — if your resume states that you won 5 awards for your academic research, this will almost definitely be impressive to a reader. However, these competitions may have had few entries, or hold lower standards than other competitions. If your research is of lower quality than students with fewer awards, this may bring into question the actual value of your accomplishments. In these instances, letting your resume stand alone can be a better choice.

If you’re uncertain of where you stand, asking your research mentor, art or music instructor, or college counselor about the strength of your supplement can help you make the best choice for your application.      

6.  Have someone review your application 

It’s always useful to have someone trusted to review your application and give you feedback. These people could be teachers, counselors, family members and even peers! However, if you want a professional look at your application - consider opting for services such as Early Bird . 

At Early Bird, former admission officers from highly selective universities will review your entire application, including your transcript, testing, school profile, supplemental essay, and your CommonApp! It is a solid choice if you’re looking to cement your chances of gaining admission into your dream school. 

7. Carefully follow formatting guidelines

Even a beautiful presentation of your work may not be desirable to colleges. As they’ll be reviewing tens of thousands of applications, admissions officers want the materials they review to be in a standardized format so that they can be easily read and compared. All schools that accept supplemental portfolios will provide clear guidelines of what they’ll permit you to submit. (See Yale’s  guidelines as an example). If you don’t carefully follow these instructions, you risk alienating your application readers who may find you careless or unable to follow directions. 

Though standards may vary between schools, those submitting research portfolios should typically have an abstract and/or full-text paper prepared, and those submitting arts portfolios should be familiar with how to use SlideRoom .

For schools that do not provide specific formatting instructions, you should still follow best practices, modeling the typical structure requested by other programs. Making your submission too  “unique” can come off as distracting, and make you stand out in a negative way.  

8. Begin well in advance

If you’re submitting a portfolio, it’s likely the culmination of extended participation in a research project, music study, or artistic endeavors.  As these will have been monumental achievements from your time in high school, it should earn the recognition it deserves. Starting in advance will ensure you meet all requirements and put together a well-presented portfolio.

If you’re submitting a research portfolio, ensure your abstract effectively summarizes the most important findings of your work and is written in a clear, professional tone. Quickly-written abstracts can leave out key details, and even the most impressive research can be undermined by sloppy writing. For music supplements, familiarize yourself with portfolio repertoire requirements early on, and don’t leave your recordings to the last minute.

9. Confirm references in advance

Even if you’re not required to submit additional recommendation letters, you’ll generally be encouraged to provide contact information to relevant individuals — such as mentors or instructors  — who have supported your portfolio work. These references serve to confirm the strength of your competencies, personal character, level of preparation for college-level work, and potentially confirmation of your work’s originality. 

Even if they won’t be submitting a letter on your behalf, make sure to ask your research mentor, music instructor, or art teacher in advance before listing them as a reference on your portfolio. You want them to be prepared in case the university gives them a call, and confirming their willingness to serve as a reference is an important sign of responsibility.   

If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in subjects like data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, and chemistry, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs ! 

This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper in a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far, and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from. 

You can find the application link here

One other option – Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you are interested in doing university-level research, then you could also consider applying to the   Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a selective online high school program for students that I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the   application form   here.

Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation , a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.

Alexej is a graduate of Princeton University, where he studied Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Humanities & Sciences. Alexej works in college admissions consulting, and is passionate about pursuing research at the intersection of humanities, linguistics, and psychology. He enjoys creative writing, hiking, and playing the piano.

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DartWrite Digital Portfolio Project

Dartmouth's home for digital writing portfolios

Course Portfolio & Reflection (Assignment Example)

Nick Van Kley asks his writing 2/3 and 5 students to complete a holistic reflection on the term as their last meaningful engagement with the course. This reflections draw on and cite the material that students curate in their digital portfolio throughout the term. Here, the portfolio is an inward-looking space for reflection on learning.

Nick shares his portfolio assignment:

In this course, you will develop new strategies, explored new contexts, and created new knowledge. You will also re-used and adapt old knowledge and familiar strategies. All of this work will take place within multiple collaborative environments. You will work with your peers, with librarians, with RWIT tutors, and with me. And you will be encouraged to write about those experiences in informal reflective assignments throughout the term.

The end of the term affords you the chance to synthesize work and to gain a clearer perspective on your learning and your development as a writer. To this end, you'll assemble a course portfolio and reflect on that portfolio in writing.

You'll create a portfolio website early in the term, add to it it periodically during the term, and finalize it during finals period. 

Creating Your Portfolio

You will build your portfolio using WordPress, an open-source Content Management System (in other words, a system you can use to build your own website). In fact, you already have a site; Dartmouth's DartWrite project created one for you before you arrived on campus. To access it and explore, visit journeys.dartmouth.edu and login.

You can also find information about the DartWrite project, as well as guidance on using WordPress: https://writing-speech.dartmouth.edu/dartwrite.

Organizing Your Portfolio

Your portfolio will come pre-loaded with several sections; I'll ask you to interact with four of them. 

Homepage:  About Me.  Your homepage should be a short, informational page that explains who you are as a student/writer. It should also explain the purpose of your site. Include images or media if you choose, and ensure your homepage includes working menus that direct visitors to the rest of your site.

Pre-College: If you haven't already, please upload a piece of writing you created before you came to Dartmouth. I'd love to read it and have a brief conversation about it with you at the start of term. My colleagues and I believe that it's crucial you build on the skills and knowledge you developed before you arrived. And recording evidence of that is an important step in that process.

First Course . This section will include your Portfolio Reflection. Note: You should write this piece last. Find directions for writing it below. Under this menu item, you should also link to Projects 1, 2, and 3.

Second Course : You can leave this section alone this term. You'll have a chance to take it up in your First-Year Seminar.

Reflection:  You will use this page frequently this term during in-class reflection activities.

Drafting the Reflection - Writing Knowledge and Strategies

Review the feedback you received in this course; read what your peers said about your work and  the feedback you received from me on Projects 1 and 2 and on the early draft of Project 3. Take a moment to think about what they say about your learning this term.  Then, make a list of the writing knowledge and strategies your work in the term helped you create, revise, or formalize . This list might cover drafting processes that you plan to use in the future, definitions of written genres, theories of communication, or a host of other topics.

Then, choose a  piece of writing knowledge or a strategy from that list, and  examine the projects in your portfolio and the reflective posts you’ve completed during the term for evidence that you made use of it.

In a single area of the Portfolio website, record your list and, below that, write a ~900 word essay making the case that your chosen idea or strategy productively informed at least one piece of work in the course, citing evidence from the projects, feedback, or reflective posts. Think of these as your archive, the place you would find evidence to support claims about your learning process.

Sharing the Portfolio 

I'll ask you to upload your portfolio URL to this assignment page at any time before the end of the class. If you adopt password protection to make some parts of your site more private, please submit that password as a comment to this assignment once you've submitted your URL. [note that you have to be viewing your site rather than editing it to get a clean URL.]

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Build a Standout UX/UI Portfolio: Land Your Dream Job

How this course will help your career.

• Transcript loading…

In a competitive job market, first impressions count. For designers, this is your design portfolio—a representation of who you are, what you can do and why you’re the best candidate for the job. Join us in this design portfolio course as you learn the components and requirements of an exceptional portfolio that catches attention, impresses employers and wins clients. 

What You Will Learn 

Why a portfolio is pivotal to your job hunt and how hiring managers review portfolios. 

How to create a design portfolio that communicates your unique skills and personality and makes the reader want to learn more about you.  

How to create a compelling design portfolio, what it includes and how to implement the key components and arrange them according to industry expectations.  

The common mistakes designers make with their portfolios and how to avoid them.  

Why your portfolio needs attention-grabbing hooks and how to create them.  

Why content and documentation are the most critical parts of a design portfolio and why you should prioritize them over visual design. 

How to craft engaging design case studies that draw the reader in and sell your abilities. 

For new and transitioning designers, how to reframe your non-design experiences into robust case studies. 

What types of portfolio creation tools are available, their differences and why you might choose one over another. 

How to approach the visual design of your portfolio and apply the finishing touches that will captivate your audience. 

How to prepare your portfolio and present it to potential clients and employers. 

“Your portfolio is your best advocate in showing your work, your skills and your personality. It also shows not only the final outcomes but the process you took to get there and how you aligned your design decisions with the business and user needs.”  

— Morgane Peng, Design Director, Societe Generale CIB  

In many industries, your education, certifications and previous job roles help you get a foot in the door in the hiring process. However, in the design world, this is often not the case. Potential employers and clients want to see evidence of your skills and work and assess if they fit the job or design project in question. This is where portfolios come in.  

Your portfolio is your first impression, your foot in the door—it must engage your audience and stand out against the hundreds of others they might be reviewing. Join us as we equip you with the skills and knowledge to create a portfolio that takes you one step closer to your dream career. 

Build Your Portfolio is taught by Morgane Penn, a designer, speaker, mentor and writer who serves as Director of Experience Design at  Societe Generale CIB. With over 12 years of experience in management roles, she has reviewed thousands of design portfolios and conducted hundreds of interviews with designers. She has collated her extensive real-world knowledge into this course to teach you how to build a compelling portfolio that hiring managers will want to explore. 

In lesson 1, you’ll learn the importance of portfolios and which type of portfolio you should create based on your career stage and background. You’ll discover the most significant mistakes designers make in their portfolios, the importance of content over aesthetics and why today is the best day to start documenting your design processes. This knowledge will serve as your foundation as you build your portfolio. 

In lesson 2, you’ll grasp the importance of hooks in your portfolio, how to write them, and the best practices based on your career stage and target audience. You’ll learn how and why to balance your professional and personal biographies in your about me section, how to talk about your life before design and how to use tools and resources in conjunction with your creativity to create a unique and distinctive portfolio. 

In lesson 3, you’ll dive into case studies—the backbone of your portfolio. You’ll learn how to plan your case studies for success and hook your reader in to learn more about your design research, sketches, prototypes and outcomes. An attractive and attention-grabbing portfolio is nothing without solid and engaging case studies that effectively communicate who you are as a designer and why employers and clients should hire you. 

In lesson 4, you’ll understand the industry expectations for your portfolio and how to apply the finishing touches that illustrate your attention to detail. You’ll explore how visual design, menus and structure, landing pages, visualizations and interactive elements make your portfolio accessible, engaging and compelling. Finally, you’ll learn the tips and best practices to follow when you convert your portfolio into a presentation for interviews and pitches. 

Throughout the course, you'll get practical tips to apply to your portfolio. In the " Build Your Portfolio" project, you'll create your portfolio strategy, write and test your hook, build a case study and prepare your portfolio presentation. You’ll be able to share your progress, tips and reflections with your coursemates, gain insights from the community and elevate each other’s portfolios. 

Gain an Industry-Recognized UX Course Certificate

Use your industry-recognized Course Certificate on your resume , CV , LinkedIn profile or your website.

Our courses and Course Certificates are trusted by these industry leaders:

Entry and mid-level designers looking to build their portfolios from scratch or improve their existing design portfolio. 

Aspiring designers looking to transition to design from an unrelated or semi-related field. 

Experts, managers and leads looking to improve and polish their existing portfolio. 

All design disciplines, including user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) designers, user researchers, web designers and more. 

Lessons in This Course

• Each week, one lesson becomes available.
• There’s no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines .
• Estimated learning time: 11 hours 21 mins spread over 6 weeks .

Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction

• 0.1: Welcome to Build a Standout UX/UI Portfolio: Land Your Dream Job (15 mins) Start course now
• 0.2: Build Your Portfolio: Overview (2 mins) Start course now
• 0.3: An Introduction to Our Courses (37 mins) Start course now
• 0.4: Let Our Community Help You (1 min) Start course now
• 0.5: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins) Start course now
• 0.6: Meet Your Peers Online in our Discussion Forums (6 mins) Start course now
• 0.7: Meet and Learn from Design Professionals in Your Area (1 min) Start course now
• 0.8: Gain Timeless Skills Through Courses From the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins) Start course now
• 0.9: Mandatory vs. Optional Lesson Items (7 mins) Start course now
• 0.10: A Mix Between Video-Based and Text-Based Lesson Content (6 mins) Start course now
• See all lesson items See less lesson items

Lesson 1: Attract Success: Your Portfolio is the Key to Design Your Dream Career

• 1.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins) Start course now
• 1.2: Design Your Career Success: Why Your Portfolio Matters More Than Ever (19 mins) Start course now
• 1.3: Attract Jobs at Every Career Stage! How to Tailor Your Portfolio (19 mins) Start course now
• 1.4: 7 Design Portfolio Mistakes That Are Costing You Jobs! And How to Fix Them (44 mins) Preview Preview Start course now
• 1.5: Mistakes Make Us Masters! Share Your Biggest Mistake and How You Conquered It (7 mins) Start course now
• 1.6: Beyond Beauty: What a Content-Driven Portfolio Is and Why It's a Gamechanger (17 mins) Start course now
• 1.7: More than the Final Product: Showcase Your Design Process to Impress Hiring Managers (16 mins) Start course now
• 1.8: Build Your Portfolio: Build a Winning Portfolio Strategy (12 mins) Start course now
• 1.9: Congratulations and Recap (6 mins) Start course now

Lesson 2: Hook Hiring Managers' Attention with Your Design Portfolio

• 2.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins) Start course now
• 2.2: Grab Hiring Managers’ Attention with Your Design Portfolio Right From the Start (18 mins) Preview Preview Start course now
• 2.3: Craft an “About Me” Section that Gets You Noticed (23 mins) Start course now
• 2.4: Turn Your Non-Design Experience into Design Portfolio Gold (42 mins) Preview Preview Start course now
• 2.5: Stand Out in a Competitive Market: Land Your Dream Job (13 mins) Start course now
• 2.6: Peer Power! Get Feedback to Make Your Portfolio Stand Out (8 mins) Start course now
• 2.7: Build Your Portfolio: Craft a Portfolio Introduction that Makes Viewers Say "Tell Me More!" (8 mins) Start course now
• 2.8: Congratulations and Recap (6 mins) Start course now

Lesson 3: How to Make Your Case Studies Stand Out and Tell Your Story

• 3.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins) Start course now
• 3.2: Tell Your Story: Transform Your Case Studies into Powerful Design Narratives (19 mins) Start course now
• 3.3: The First Impression Formula: Write Case Study Intros That Hook Hiring Managers (16 mins) Start course now
• 3.4: User Research: Show Hiring Managers You Understand Users (20 mins) Start course now
• 3.5: Tell Your Design Story with Powerful Sketches and Wireframes (12 mins) Start course now
• 3.6: Share, Refine and Get Feedback: The Power of Clean Sketches in Your Case Studies (7 mins) Start course now
• 3.7: From Lo-Fi to Hi-Fi: Showcase Your Design Evolution with Prototypes and Iterations (19 mins) Start course now
• 3.8: Keep it Confidential: How to Showcase Your NDA-Protected Design Work (18 mins) Preview Preview Start course now
• 3.9: Build Your Portfolio: Craft Case Studies that Get You Invited to an Interview for Your Dream Job (8 mins) Start course now
• 3.10: Congratulations and Recap (6 mins) Start course now

Lesson 4: Land Your Dream Job with a Standout Portfolio

• 4.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins) Start course now
• 4.2: Match Your Design Portfolio Tool to Your Skills and Goals: Website vs. PDF vs. Slideshow (19 mins) Start course now
• 4.3: Tool Time! Share Your Tool Wins, Fails and Lessons Learned (7 mins) Start course now
• 4.4: Design with Intent: Craft Your Portfolio with Visual Storytelling Tools (21 mins) Preview Preview Start course now
• 4.5: Missed Clicks, Missed Job Opportunities: Optimize Your Portfolio Navigation (17 mins) Start course now
• 4.6: Design a Landing Page That Gets You an Interview (16 mins) Start course now
• 4.7: Show, Don't Tell: Design UX Case Studies that Get You Hired (19 mins) Start course now
• 4.8: Clickable or Classic? Choose the Right Interactivity Level for Your Portfolio (16 mins) Start course now
• 4.9: Land Your Dream Job with Your Portfolio Presentation (43 mins) Start course now
• 4.10: Land That Job: What Top Design Leaders Really Look for in a Portfolio (33 mins) Preview Preview Start course now
• 4.11: Build Your Portfolio: Get Ready to Land Your Dream Job with Your Presentation (9 mins) Start course now
• 4.12: Congratulations and Recap (5 mins) Start course now

Lesson 5: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up

• 5.1: Get Your Course Certificate (1 min) Start course now
• 5.2: Course Evaluation (1 min) Start course now
• 5.3: Continue Your Professional Growth (1 min) Start course now

Learning Paths

This course is part of 8 learning paths:

How It Works

Lessons are self-paced so you’ll never be late for class or miss a deadline.

Your answers are graded by experts, not machines. Get an industry-recognized Course Certificate to prove your skills.

Use your new skills in your existing job or to get a new job in UX design. Get help from our community.

Start Advancing Your Career Now

Join us to take “Build a Standout UX/UI Portfolio: Land Your Dream Job”. Take other courses at no additional cost. Make a concrete step forward in your career path today.

• Frequently Asked Questions

Don't worry if you miss the course. We will re-run it shortly. One of the reasons we open and close enrollment is to control the classroom size.

Why? Networking is a large part of your learning journey, so we want just the right number of people inside the courses. That’s also why we display the "XX% percent booked" on our course icons.

If it’s very important that you enroll now, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

With a Professional membership, you can take as many courses as you would like at no additional cost. For example, if there are over 40 active courses, you can enroll in all of them at the same time and move from one to another as you like.

With a Student membership, you can take a maximum of two courses at the same time. You can still take as many courses as you like – free of extra charges – just as long as you finish (or drop them) so that you don’t have more than two ongoing courses at any one time.

There are no "live sessions" since we have members from all time zones around the world. We are a truly global community.

Once you’re enrolled, you can take all the time you need to complete a given course. Every ‘classroom’ in each course will never close, so you’ll have permanent access to your classmates and your course material (as well as your own answers) for as long as you have an active IxDF membership.

You’ll get a digital industry-recognized course certificate every time you complete a course with a score of 70% or more at no extra cost.

Certificates never expire and can be saved as a .jpg file, so they’re easy to share. Also, there’s no limit to how many certificates you can earn during your membership.

You can see an example of a Course Certificate at the bottom of the Course Catalogue.

There is no specified time by which certificates must be awarded. Instead, they are given to members as and when they have answered all questions. This applies even if the questions are answered long after the official end date of the course.

Course lengths vary to fit your schedule, so you can squeeze in short sessions daily or dive deep in longer bursts—whatever fits your busy life. Course lengths vary to fit your schedule, so you can squeeze in short sessions daily or dive deep in longer bursts—whatever fits your busy life. You can also see a rough estimate of how much time you would spend on learning in the course outline before enrolling.

Once enrolled in a course, you’ll gain access to a new lesson each week. You’re free to complete the lessons without any deadlines or end dates.

If you need to unlock lesson content sooner, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

Your answers will be graded by our experts and course instructors (not by machines) approximately two weeks after you submit your work.

We mark/grade in so-called "sprints." This is much more efficient than doing little batches every day. It's part of our lean/agile work philosophy, and this is one of the factors that keeps our membership prices so low.

No, you’ll not be locked out of any lesson or course. You’ll have access to all course materials throughout your membership, so there is no pressure to keep at the same pace as the specified lesson release dates.

Sticking to a schedule has its benefits. When you follow along with other members, you can reap the benefits of our online community, ask questions, and exchange ideas. This has the potential to accelerate your learning.

We provide courses for all levels of mastery and across the full spectrum, whether you're an aspiring designer, an experienced designer, or a professional looking to implement design principles in your work.

Our beginner-level courses provide a good refresher for seasoned designers—while the advanced ones will present new insights and a bit of a challenge to your current design thinking process.

Best-rated beginner design courses:

AI for Designers

Perception and Memory in HCI and UX

Human-Computer Interaction: The Foundations of UX Design

User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide

Design for the 21st Century with Don Norman

Best-rated advanced design courses: 

Conducting Usability Testing

Mobile UI Design

UX Management: Strategy and Tactics

Agile Methods for UX Design

Mobile UX Strategy: How to Build Successful Products

Yes! Everyone's learning journey looks different, and we encourage you to continue learning and improving your progress. To retake a course, just follow these steps:

Before you start, please note that when you drop a course, you’ll lose your progress and any answers you submit. We advise that you screenshot or save any of your answers you'd like to reuse.

1. Go to your profile and click on the course you'd like to retake.

2. Underneath your progress bar, you'll see UX Courses’ with an arrow (>) pointing to the course landing page

3. Click through to the landing page and scroll down to the bottom. Tap the red button that says, ‘Drop my course now.’

4. Head back to our UX Courses page and re-enroll yourself in the course.

You're all set to try again!

In some cases, we can open lessons for members who are retaking a course so that they don't have to wait for familiar lessons to unlock each week. If you'd like us to do this, please let us know at [email protected].

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1.4 - 7 Design Portfolio Mistakes That Are Costing You Jobs! And How to Fix Them

2.2 - Grab Hiring Managers’ Attention with Your Design Portfolio Right From the Start

2.4 - Turn Your Non-Design Experience into Design Portfolio Gold

3.8 - Keep it Confidential: How to Showcase Your NDA-Protected Design Work

4.4 - Design with Intent: Craft Your Portfolio with Visual Storytelling Tools

4.10 - Land That Job: What Top Design Leaders Really Look for in a Portfolio

New to UX Design? We’re Giving You a Free ebook!

Download our free ebook The Basics of User Experience Design to learn about core concepts of UX design.

In 9 chapters, we’ll cover: conducting user interviews, design thinking, interaction design, mobile UX design, usability, UX research, and many more!

Equestrian at 2024 Paris Olympics: How it works, Team USA stars, what else to know

Here’s what you need to know about equestrian at the 2024 Paris Olympics .

When did equestrian become an Olympic sport?

Although equestrian dates to Ancient Greece, the sport is actually returning to its Olympic birthplace in Paris. 

The 1900 Paris Olympics included equestrian with five events at the Place de Breteuil arena. Women first competed in dressage at the 1952 Helsinki Games, and the sport became fully mixed 12 years later. 

The 1908 London Games featured only polo. At the 1912 Stockholm Games, the three disciplines — jumping, dressage and eventing — were included on the program and have been since.

How does Olympic equestrian work? 

At the Olympic level, equestrian is a mixed-gender sport across three different disciplines.

In jumping, riders and horses compete against the clock while jumping over obstacles; time penalties are added depending on how many obstacles are toppled along the run.  

In dressage, a horse and rider perform a choreographed series of movements around the course set to music, and judges evaluate the fluidity and difficulty. Dressage caught the attention of Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart during the Tokyo Olympics and sparked many online memes.

Eventing combines dressage and jumping with cross country, which consists of running a long course of natural and designed obstacles. Versatility for both horse and rider is the key to eventing success. 

On top of competing individually, all three formats feature team elements. Medals are awarded separately and team competitions are held separately. 

The setting for equestrian at Paris 2024 has a historic feel, with the competition taking place at the Château de Versailles.

Horses are subject to testing for performance-enhancing substances. All horses must be at least 9 years old. 

Top Team USA athletes in equestrian at Paris 2024 Olympics

Boyd Martin is one of the more popular figures in American equestrian. The 44-year-old competes in eventing and is a four-time Olympian. The eventing team finished sixth in Tokyo, while Martin placed 20th individually.  

Laura Kraut is also a four-time Olympian on the jumping team. She earned a team gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games and a team silver medal at the Tokyo Games.

International landscape for equestrian at Paris 2024 Olympics

Sweden, Germany, France and Great Britain tend to put forth strong teams in all three disciplines. The United States and Australia have also fared historically well in equestrian.  

Reigning individual jumping gold-medal winner Ben Maher (Great Britain) is working back from a shoulder injury that could have ended his riding career.  

Equestrian at the Château de Versailles during Paris 2024 Olympics

Versailles will host Equestrian and modern pentathlon events. A temporary outdoor arena, flanked by several constructed stands, will be set up on the Etoile Royale esplanade at the heart of the palace’s gardens. Jumping and dressage will take place there. The individual and team eventing cross-country section will be held alongside the Grand Canal at Versailles. 

Employment Resources for People Recovering From Substance Abuse Issues

Job Search Tips For People in Recovery

Resume building tips for people in recovery, interview preparation for people in recovery, what are you legally required to disclose to employers, maintain your support network during recovery, resources for recovering job seekers.

In the U.S., over 19 million Americans suffer from substance abuse issues. The road to recovery is long, filled with lifelong trials and tribulations—yet many people encounter one major challenge: reentering the workforce after achieving sobriety. And a lack of employment and career prospects is a leading cause of relapse.

Although reentering the workforce after treatment can be difficult, your past does not dictate your future. With perseverance and diligence, you have every opportunity to build a career that brings you fulfillment. Throughout this guide, we’ll provide you with valuable insights and resources to drive your job search forward.

Job seekers in recovery face several unique challenges that can impact employment prospects and career advancement. If substance abuse issues affected your performance in previous roles, you might lack references to help with the job search. You may also encounter unconscious biases from hiring managers if your struggles with addiction are revealed during a background check.

Despite these obstacles, achieving your long-term career goals with careful planning and diligence is more than possible. Taking the time to develop the right job search strategy will significantly improve the strength of your application and maximize your chances of landing the interview. Below, you’ll find expert tips for a successful job hunt as you recover:

Identify your career goals

The first step in the job search process is taking time to self-reflect. Were you happy in your previous position? Did the stress of your job contribute to substance abuse issues? Can you see yourself working in this field five years from now? If the answer is no, you may want to chart a new career path as you reenter the workforce.

For many individuals, unhappiness with their employment prospects and stress from a poor work-life balance were contributing factors to reliance on drugs and alcohol in the first place. Although transitioning to a new field is rarely easy, it can be worth the time investment if it means finding a job you’re genuinely passionate about.

One path you can take is to continue your education. Going back to school full-time may not be an option for everyone, as you’ll likely need to find employment immediately to meet your current financial needs and obligations. That said, investing in your education can positively impact your future career prospects, and a vast array of online programs are available that you can balance effectively with your schedule.

If you were happy in your previous career, you could take steps to find a position in your current field. Prior connections within your industry can help you find openings, and you could also consider obtaining additional certifications to bolster your skill sets and enhance the strength of your application. This will also show prospective employers that you’re passionate about further developing your industry expertise and could help alleviate concerns related to an employment gap.

Utilize your network and connections

As you reenter the workforce, you’ll want to leverage your connections, professional network, and support groups to identify potential job opportunities. If you still have contacts within your industry from previous jobs, you’ll want to connect with them first to find opportunities matching your current skill sets.

You can also seek guidance from sponsors and connections you’ve made in your support groups. These individuals understand your challenges and can provide valuable insights to help you reenter the workforce. You may find that a connection you’ve made during recovery may have a contact in your field. Your support network may also be able to guide you in obtaining coaching from a career service professional or finding job fair events. Although it’s never easy to ask for help, remember that recovery is a complex process and a burden that no one needs to shoulder alone.

Manage your expectations

It’s important to manage your expectations and avoid becoming discouraged as you begin the application process. Finding the ideal position takes time, especially when recovering from addiction, and you’ll need to remain patient to find the ideal position for your long-term goals. If you receive rejection after an interview, use it as a learning experience to improve. There are many reasons hiring managers may choose to select another candidate for a position, and you don’t want to allow a rejection to impact your confidence or optimism during the job search.

Once you’ve identified your career path, you’ll need to create a compelling resume to generate interview opportunities during the job search. Even if you have a gap in your employment history, you can still make a positive impression on the hiring manager by featuring a compelling overview of your career accomplishments and prominent skill sets. As you craft your content, you’ll want to tailor your document toward individual job applications carefully.

Take the time to evaluate the organization’s needs and draw attention to aspects of your industry experience that align with the company’s goals. For more guidance, we have numerous resume examples across all professions and industries to help you build your document.

• Craft an accomplishment-driven resume that highlights the most relevant achievements from your previous employment with an emphasis on metrics, numbers, and end-results
• Create an eye-catching professional profile that draws attention to prominent skill sets and industry expertise that organizations are looking for
• Provide accurate employment dates but avoid providing a direct explanation for gaps, as you want to keep the reader’s focus on the positive aspects of your career experience
• Tailor your resume towards individual job descriptions and Applicant Tracking Systems by incorporating specific key terms that match the position requirements

Addressing employment gaps on the resume

If you have a significant gap in your timeline, it’s likely to draw the attention of prospective employers during the application process. Although it’s almost certainly something you’ll need to address during the interview, drawing the reader’s focus towards the gap by including an explanation on the resume will only invite more scrutiny.

In most instances, it’s better to leverage your professional achievements, industry expertise, and relevant skill sets to demonstrate why you’re qualified for the position rather than draw more attention to something negative. If the hiring manager thinks you’re a strong candidate, you’ll have the opportunity to explain the break in your timeline later during the interview.

Remember to update your LinkedIn profile

After building your resume, you’ll want to create a LinkedIn profile to apply for positions and explore additional networking opportunities by joining online groups. You’ll also be able to include content that you wouldn’t typically feature on the resume.

One aspect that makes the LinkedIn profile distinct is the About Section. Here, you’ll be able to create a more extended professional summary that draws attention to your core professional values and industry expertise. If a hiring manager is interested in bringing you in for an interview, they’ll likely search for you on the platform to evaluate your profile, so you’ll want to ensure that your profile is compelling and adds value to your job search.

It’s natural to be nervous prior to an interview, especially if you’ve taken a significant leave of absence from the workforce while seeking treatment. Many people in recovery feel anxiety about employers asking about employment gaps or negative biases stemming from their substance abuse disorders.

Preparing responses to sample interview questions or conducting mock interviews with a career coach can help you feel more confident when conversing with prospective employers. You’ll also want to dress professionally for in-person and virtual interviews, as you want to make a positive impression on the hiring manager during your first meeting.

How to explain gaps in the resume during the interview

Substance abuse issues and rehab can result in significant employment gaps. If the gap is substantial enough, it’ll draw the hiring manager’s attention, and you’ll likely be asked about it during the interview. Although you won’t necessarily need to disclose that you were receiving treatment for substance abuse issues, you will need to explain why you were unemployed.

You could tell the hiring manager that you had to step away from your previous job while dealing with a personal issue or medical condition that has since been resolved. If you were let go by your last employer, you don’t need to reveal this information directly. Instead, you could explain that your skill sets didn’t match the organization’s needs or that the previous position didn’t align with your long-term career goals.

Job seekers with a history of substance abuse are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act . In most cases, you won’t need to tell the hiring manager that you received addiction treatment. The only situation where you’ll need to confront this issue head-on is if something in your legal history may come up on a background check. In this situation, getting ahead of it and having an honest conversation with prospective employers is better.

Many companies will have empathy and even admiration for taking steps to seek help and improve your life. By telling your side of the story, you have more control over the narrative, whereas if a prior legal charge comes up in the background check, the employer may feel that you were hiding information. Although it’s rarely ideal to discuss a personal medical issue with the hiring manager, it’s better to have an open dialogue with employers if the background check will reveal the information.

If you need to disclose your struggles with addiction to employers due to a legal issue, you can still frame your recovery journey in a positive way. For instance, you could explain to the hiring manager that overcoming these challenges would make you a valuable member of their team. If you choose to tell your story, be sure not to overshare, as you always want to keep the focus of the interview on your qualifications for the job.

Overcoming substance abuse and addiction is a lifelong journey. No matter how many years of sobriety a person has, there’s always a risk of a relapse. During the early phases of recovery, your chances of falling back into addiction are often much higher. Jay Westbrook , an award-winning clinician, notes, “Researchers are accumulating evidence to support a theory that substance abuse is caused by, more than anything else, either a lost sense of connection or never having been able to find a sense of connection.”

One way to find a sense of connection is to listen to and observe the shared experiences of other people in recovery by continuing to attend meetings in a 12-step program such as AA or NA. You could also find support in your family, friends, and loved ones. Finding your passion for a new job, hobby, or healthy activity is another avenue for building and maintaining a positive sense of connection in your life. Whether you choose to attend meetings with an organization or rely on your close relationships, having a strong support network is essential to moving forward in recovery.

Thousands of non-profit organizations across the country offer valuable resources to job seekers in recovery. These organizations can help you find job fairs, update your resume, or get career advice to move forward during your job search. Recovery presents a number of unique challenges to the job search process and leveraging these available resources can help you gain an advantage. Below, you’ll find a list of ten national organizations offering career services to people in recovery:

Career One Stop

Sponsored by the United States Department of Labor, Career One Stop is a national organization with a variety of valuable resources for job seekers in recovery. This organization features an online portal where you can take self-assessment surveys on your current skill sets to aid you in identifying the right career path. Career One Stop also provides resources in finding job fairs, career coaching services, resume writing help, and job training programs.

Recovery Career Services

This non-profit organization was founded by Ty Reed, who overcame substance abuse issues to become a prominent career coach and thought leader. Recovery Career Services offers valuable resources to job seekers in recovery, including coaching and professional development programs. The site also features articles and a YouTube series providing insights into the challenges of reentering the workforce after treatment and advice on overcoming them.

Rehab Centers, State Programs, and Unemployment Offices

Many rehab centers offer career services to people in recovery to aid them in obtaining employment after completing a rehabilitation program. Another option is to explore non-profit organizations within your state or connect with a state department to get additional resources to aid you during the job search. For instance, Massachusetts offers a state-funded program, Access to Recovery (ATR), which provides MA residents with six-month treatment and employment services.

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Frank Hackett

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)

Frank Hackett is a professional resume writer and career consultant with over eight years of experience. As the lead editor at a boutique career consulting firm, Frank developed an innovative approach to resume writing that empowers job seekers to tell their professional stories. His approach involves creating accomplishment-driven documents that balance keyword optimization with personal branding. Frank is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PAWRCC).

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