Green Squiggly Lines:

Electronic Portfolios: Macro-level Reading, Responding, and Evaluating

A vision of the evaluation of student writing in computer-mediated environments as intimately connected with what the student text does rather than what the student text lacks would seem to require a micro-level approach to student writing. The Online Learning Record developed by M.A. Syverson (2000) at the University of Texas presents one of the most extensive examples of electronic portfolios relying on descriptive evaluations as the basis for course-based assessments of student performances. The Online Learning Record
follows sound practices that have grounded research across many disciplines, from biology to economics to anthropology:

• Observations of phenomena we wish to understand, over time and under diverse conditions.
• Gathering diverse kinds of data from phenomena over time.
  
• Interpretations based on these observations and data samples.
  
• Public reporting for confirmation or challenge by peers investigating similar phenomena. (Syverson "Beyond Portfolios")
  

The first two steps of the Online Learning Record, in fact, stress the importance of a descriptive form of evaluation: "observation" and the "gathering of data." This material is then interpreted by both the student composing the portfolio (self-reflection) and by peers (distribution). While the self-reflective aspect of Syverson's Online Learning Record clearly relates to traditional work in portfolios (Belanoff and Dickson, 1991), Syverson traces her work to the K-12 assessment materials of Myra Barrs and Mary Barr.