Reflective assessment: portfolios in engineering courses

Quality problems in engineering education are caused by the wide range of student backgrounds and abilities, the need for integrating interpersonal and technical skills, the lack of feedback mechanisms for the assessment of quality, and the overall lack of relevance between the students' needs and the coursework. S.R. Covey's (1989) seven habits and P.M. Senge's (1990) five disciplines provide a framework for converting the classroom into a learning organization-an organization capable of addressing such quality issues. Portfolio assessment, a tool seldom used in engineering courses but particularly effective, is the key organizing element. By student portfolios, we mean a systematic and purposeful collection of student goals for learning, works in progress, peer and instructor feedback, and reflections on the work and processes. We show that the portfolio with reflective assessment supports each habit and discipline, promotes continuous improvement for both students and instructors, and clarifies the relationship between course learning and life long career development. Several examples of portfolio assessment are examined. These illustrate using portfolios with reflective assessment as a framework to link students' learning goals with team and individual projects. The portfolios focus both instructors' and students' attention on the quality of learning processes.