The concept of portfolio has its origins in art and architecture. Artists and architects use portfolios to assemble samples and evaluations of their work. The aim is to convince potential customers of their quality and competence. About two decades ago, portfolios were adopted by educationalists searching for instruments that would enable them to assess the quality of teaching in schools. Since then they have been used for other goals as well, resulting in various types of portfolios. Four common ones are distinguished below.  

Assessment portfolios

Portfolios used for assessment purposes only are usually organized around items such as the candidates’ products, evaluations, photographs and video-recordings. Assessments in which portfolios are used differ from other assessments because candidates are not tested but are asked to prove their competence. To be convincing they must include information such as employers’ or supervisors’ evaluations and certain key products. To guarantee that candidates provide assessors with all the necessary information, a list may be supplied containing items required for inclusion in the portfolio. Occasionally, students even receive directions about how to present these items.

Showcase portfolios

When persons compiling a portfolio are free to determine the content of their portfolios, they most often tend to display examples of their best work or evaluations of that work. Such portfolios are usually referred to as showcase portfolios and resemble those compiled by artists and architects. The owner of the portfolio sometimes uses captions to indicate the provenance of items and the reasons for their inclusion. A logical portfolio structure is one that emulates that of a curriculum vitae. Showcase portfolios may be used for a number of purposes, such as introducing one selves to potential employers, presenting to a review committee or sponsor, etc.

Development portfolios

A portfolio may also be designed as an instrument to keep track of and plan the owner’s development. In such a case it is referred to as a development portfolio. The term Personal Development Plan is also frequently used. The point of departure here could be a summary of what the owner should master in order to be certified. Such a portfolio might be formatted in a table with columns. The owner can then use rows to note work done on specific competences, the results of such work, and the planned nature and direction of further development. Obviously the use of development portfolios only makes sense where there is room for individual development. If for instance students all take the same courses, try to achieve the same goals and are tested in the same way, more efficient systems than a development portfolio are available for tracking and planning their development.

Reflective portfolios

When portfolios are used for the purposes of monitoring the owners’ development, it is important to know how he evaluates and analyses himself. Therefore it is crucial that portfolios used in this way contain written reflections by the owner. These reflections are usually organized around the competences the owner should master. Portfolio-owners are asked to reflect in their portfolio on how their accomplishments relate to their goals using for instance a Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities –Threats (SWOT) type of analyses.

Combinations

Portfolios are usually used for a combination of different purposes and combine characteristics of each of the typical portfolios described above. For example, when portfolios are used in a medical school or teacher training department, more is required than simply asking students to reflect on their development. Their reflections may be linked to a Personal Development Plan, enabling the supervisor to relate the reflections in question to a student’s particular phase of development. Furthermore, students are generally asked to underpin their analyses with various kinds of materials (evaluations, work sheets, products) with the aim of validating them and facilitating assessment. Assessment also ensures that students and coaches take working with a portfolio seriously.