Green Squiggly Lines:

Self Assessment, Reflection, and a Wider Audience

In the Diagnostic Digital Portfolio system used at Alverno College in Milwaukee, students include key performances from "selected courses, internships and volunteer work." The portfolio guidelines define a key performance as "an assignment, internship, assessment or independent learning experience that a student completes as part of her degree program." The Overview of the Diagnostic Digital Portfolio goes on to note that

in most cases, the digital portfolio will not include the actual performance, but the feedback and self-assessments a student does as part of that key performance. However, there will be a description of each key performance so she will be reminded of the context and nature of the performance. (Alverno College my italics)

While the Alverno system is setup to measure learning over time and to provide feedback about more than a single subject, it relies heavily upon instructor feedback about student performance and student self-assessment. The students play an important role in selecting the pieces to be included in their portfolio. The Alverno system considers a variety of "key performances" judged by different faculty members and internship supervisors. Students' self-reflection and self-assessment combine with feedback from faculty to complete the electronic portfolio.

Like, the portfolios at Kalamazoo College, the Alverno Digital Portfolios work on an institutional level and represent communication skills writ large as well as writing skills. Their design demonstrates their agenda of tarketing the long-term develop of student abilities rather than a micro-level examination of a particular skill set at a given moment in time.