Biology Portfolio Assessment

Return to Jill McCue’s e-portfolio

Last Updated: July 23, 2002

Assessment Analysis

Mini-project #2

ESP 490ASA

Jill McCue

This assignment has been quite rewarding for my students and me. The portfolios and reflections that my students have prepared for each of our four completed chapters were viewed and evaluated by the parents of both students. This is the first time that I have been able to have any contact with these Spanish-speaking families in two years!

The change that I implemented involved teaching my Biology students to select five pieces from each chapter that represented the following categories: most proud of, most enjoyed, most difficult, learned most from and most connected to other learning or class. A paragraph reflecting on why they chose this piece and how it relates to their learning is required for each selection. This five-paragraph reflection is typed in the computer lab and evaluated using the rubric that I created. The portfolio selections, reflections, rubric, parent and student response sheets and Illinois State Standards for Science are all kept in a separate binder than other Biology work. The students took their portfolios home for their parents to view because neither family could attend parent conferences. The parents both responded on the parent response sheet included in the binder and the students evaluated the portfolio system. Our Bi-lingual Department secretary was more than happy to translate my questionnaire into Spanish for the parents and the parent’s responses into English for the students and me. I began my analysis by revisiting the KWL chart that I had made to write the proposal for the project. I completed the Learned column and found that all of the information I wanted to know I now know excluding the question about semester exams, which will take place in January. All of the information that I have learned during this project has been positive.

Know	Want to Learn	Learned
1. The students only keep up the Biology notebooks because they are required to have one. Students do not reflect upon progress or learning during the semester until it is time for semester exams. Students enjoy using the computer lab and are proud of the quality of work they produce using computers. The parents of my students are not seeing any of the Biology work except an occasional high grade on a test that a student tells me he showed his mom. My students need practice at expressing thoughts through writing. My students need to organize, analyze and evaluate their own work to develop a better understanding of how they learn. Memorization of facts for exams is forgotten soon after the test. Students cram for exams.	Will the students be more interested in maintaining the notebook knowing that they need the pieces to select from for their portfolio? Will the students be capable of reflecting on their learning and writing reflective statements? Will the students do better on this reflective/summary type of exam than on traditional tests? Will the students be willing to use study hall time to work in the computer lab on scanning and word processing of portfolio? How much time do I need to set aside for the computer scanning/typing of the semester portfolio? Will the parents see the portfolios? Will the parents respond to the opinion/evaluation form I will send home with the portfolio? Will the students be enthusiastic about sharing/communicating with their families? Will the students be deterred from expressing their thoughts knowing that their written language is being evaluated? Will the students retain the Biology content as well as if they were taking a “standard” exam? 11. Will the students have to study as much as they would for a comprehensive mult. choice, T/F, matching exam?	Students have paid to copy replacement worksheets and lab sheets when they have misplaced them because they want to use them as a selection. Chapter 2 reflections were much better written and more descriptive than Chapter 1. The reflection depth and metacognition content have continued to improve. Although semester exams have not been given yet, improvement in overall grades has been noted. Portfolio reflection grades have greatly improved as students see value of rubric and standards. Students ask to use the computer lab during study hall and/or to complete the typing of their reflections. Neither of these students have a computer at home, yet they want the quality and professionalism achieved by a computer. I allowed one day for each of the reflections that needed to be typed. This required 4 days in the lab before parent conferences. The students did not completely finish and used their own time to complete them. I expect to allow a day per chapter for reflection work. The scanning of portfolio selections will be quite time-consuming as the lab only has 1 scanner. Both sets of parents viewed their student’s portfolio and reflections. Both sets of parents responded on the parent questionnaire I included in the portfolio. This represents the first time that either parent has written or talked to me about a class and their student’s ability. Both parents responded on the Spanish side of the paper in Spanish so the Bilingual Department has been invaluable! The students appeared to be excited about sharing their work. On the questionnaire that the boys filled out they both responded that they would like to continue sharing work each quarter and that the portfolio and reflections are an effective way for the teacher to share work with the parents. Both students returned the “viewed” portfolios after a 4-day weekend and were excited for me to have the Spanish translated so they could see what their parents said. The computers take some of the apprehension away from writing. The students use spell and grammar check. I also had them be editors for each other. When they were finished typing they switched seats and proofread their partners. No changes were made unless both students felt it was correct. For the last 2 chapters I have given oral game show type quizzes the day following the portfolio selection and reflection work. Without “studying” the students have received points equal to an “A” and “C”. These grades represent higher grades than were recorded for the standard chapter tests given after Chapters 1 and 2. It seems from the oral unexpected quizzes that the repeated browsing through the portfolio has increased learning. The students are doing less “studying” because they are repeatedly seeing the portfolio selections when they work on the reflections.

In previous years that I have taught Biology I have required the students to keep a science notebook that contained all of the work for the year in a time organized format. Students rarely revisited past chapters unless it was time for a comprehensive exam. This project provided me with the impetus to change this “notebook” system and to provide the students with reflective writing practice. After the students were taught how the rubric would be used to evaluate their reflections and how the State Science Standards could be used in their reflections I have seen a great change in the quality of their reflection writing. I have observed the students in the computer lab referring to the evaluation rubric as they compose their answers. Below are examples from Chapter 1 and Chapter 4/5 from both students. I am copying their exact writing and grammar.

Student 1, Chapter 1 – “I enjoyed the measuring workshop because it was easy. The reason I enjoyed measuring because we were using the rulers and it was easy to use and Mrs. McCue taught me how to measure for the workshop, only on the paper. (This was a drawing of a floor plan and the students had to measure the drawing and use the scale to figure the actual measurements. This student received a perfect grade on this assignment.)

Student 1, Chapter 4 – “I enjoyed the R & R worksheet because it was kind of conflict for me. It was kind of conflict because I had to find out the answers to the question, and I had to look back in the book to find the answers. Most of the questions were hard for me so I asked for help. That’s why I enjoyed it. (This assignment involves answering comprehension questions from the reading. The student received a 6.7 out of 10 on his work and it was two days late so it went down to a 4.7 or failing. Because it was late and only partially finished, I asked if he had any questions. We had a discussion about the three worm phyla and all of their interesting traits.)

Student 2, Chapter 1 – “The most proud of is my chapter 1 test because I got an “A” in test. The test was easy for me and I know that I will have a good grade. I studied a lot and kept up with my work to learn.” (This student received a 95% on this chapter test, which consisted of multiple choice and fill in the blank questions.)

Student 2, Chapter 4/5 – “Te paper I chose the most proud of was Animal Kingdom quiz on chapter 4 and 5. I got an 88% that a B+ and it was good. The day before I study hard for the test and I feel I am ready for it. The next day, I went in the class and all of suddenly, my pain came from my head and I feel like I can’t focus easily. So I took the test and still have pain. Later about 5 or 10 minutes, my pain was gone and I just feel fine. When I looked at the question, I forget the answer and I think for a while and got the answer.” (This test included some fill in the blanks with a word list but the majority was open-ended short answers and lists of animals and traits in the phyla we learned.)

Although the grammar and sentence structure is still not high school level, I do find that the students are more comfortable with writing what they mean about the selection rather than just stating that they got a good grade or that it was easy. When asked they are able to identify what type of pieces they usually select for the five categories. This week as they prepared their reflections for Chapter 5 one student noticed that he “used to pick papers that only had good grades, but now I have pieces that are not always high grades but they are my most learned or most proud.” I congratulated him for the insight and took the moment to discuss how revisiting their portfolio assists me in knowing how much they have grown and it can also show them and their parents what they have achieved. It was a true “teaching” moment. It is evident that their writing has improved and they are writing for a purpose. Illinois State Standards for English 1.C.4a, 1.C.4c, 1.C.4d and 3.A.4 have been introduced and the skills are emerging.

It was more difficult to assess whether the portfolio selections and reflections were having an effect on my students’ studying and retention of Biology. I knew that I was instructing in line with the Illinois State Standards for Science I had selected in the curriculum map: 11.A.4a, 11.A.4b, 11.A.4c, 11.A.4e, 11.A.4f and 12.A.4b. However, I was less sure if the students were revisiting their portfolios frequently enough to help in retention of the material from earlier chapters. This is why I began the pop quizzes done in a game show fashion. For the last two chapters I have taken a day, unannounced to the students, and told them we were playing a review game for points. Each time I have asked 25 open-ended questions that would require retention and recall of the learned information. The students have performed as well on these impromptu “quizzes” as they did on the first two announced tests. It is my theory that the frequent viewing of the portfolios and reflections when preparing the next chapter’s has given the students better retention of the material.

My plans for the future are to continue the portfolio selections and reflections and I want to encourage the students to begin using the wording in Illinois State Standards when they write their reflections. I still plan to have the students scan in their selections so that a Biology 1-2 portfolio CD can be burned for each of them. For the semester exam I am going to combine a Summary Reflection for all of the chapters we will have covered with a written exam in the “game show” format of the impromptu quizzes. I want the students to have adequate time to prepare and write their summaries so I will select a few key questions from each chapter that I feel are essential to the science of Biology. I am still considering having the students prepare PowerPoint presentations for the second semester exam. I feel this would be a great teaching tool for the use of technology and a way to truly showcase their portfolios. The students and parents want the portfolios to be shared at the end of each quarter. It is my goal to continue sending them home and to see if it is possible for the parents to attend a viewing of the PowerPoint presentations at the end of the year.

This project has not changed the way I teach Biology. However, it has changed the way I plan the timing of each chapter and how I evaluate the students. Previously when I taught this course the chapter was completed when the students took the test. Now the portfolio selection and reflection time and computer time follows the end of a chapter. This added time to review and absorb material might be a factor in the increased retention. Because I do not rush into the next chapter I am expecting a little more of these students once we begin the next chapter so that we are able to cover the information in the curriculum. It is fortunate that these students are able to handle this type of scheduling. This group of students is still being graded on daily homework and quizzes, however, the portfolios add points to their grades that I have not dealt with in the past. The grades are higher this year than they have been in the past. With different students it is impossible to correlate this with the new assessment, but giving students more opportunities and different ways to perform should improve grades if they are participating. Biology was being taught and learned before, however, the students seem to be retaining the material more effortlessly this year. Although assisting the students develop the analytical and metacognitive skills necessary for the reflections has been rewarding, I feel that the greatest satisfaction with this assessment project came from connecting the students, parents and myself. The parents have the opportunity to see their child’s work and to discuss it with him, and the students have had to develop a communication mode in which they can discuss the portfolio with their parents. I hope the students continue to improve in their reflection writing and that the parents continue to discuss this with their child.

I have included the rubric I use to grade the students’ reflections and the student and parent response sheet to the first quarter’s portfolio.

Rubric for Portfolio Reflections

Five selections are required for each chapter. You place post it notes on the pieces that fit these categories. 1) Most proud of 2) Learned the most from 3) Most difficult 4) Enjoyed the most 5) Most connected to another class or other learning. Each selection/reflection can be given from 0 – 4 points, which is multiplied by five selections for a total of up to 20 points per reflection.

Grading scale: 18 – 20 points = A

16 + 17 points = B

14 + 15 points = C

12 + 13 points = D

11 + below = E

Points	0	1	2	3	4
Reelections include (For every 5 grammatical or spelling errors 1 point will be deducted from the total points.)	No selection was made and no reflection written.	Post it note placed on selection and a sentence naming the selection was written.	Post it note placed on selection and reflection includes a reason why the piece was selected	Post it note placed on selection and reflection includes at least 2 reasons why the piece was selected and a sentence relating learning activity or learning style to the piece.	Post it note placed on selection and reflection includes at least 2 reasons why the piece was selected and 2 sentences relating learning activity or learning style to the piece. A previous knowledge/new knowledge connection is evident in the writing.

Student Responses to Biology Portfolio

1st Quarter – 2001-2002

1. What impressed me the most about my portfolio and reflections was___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

2. What I found most interesting about the selections and reflections was___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

3. My strengths shown in this portfolio are _________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

4. Something I feel I need to improve upon is______________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Circle the best response.

5. My parent and I (discussed/did not discuss) the portfolio.
6. My parent and I (communicate/do not communicate) about my Biology work.
7. I (would like to show my parents/would not like to show my parents) more of my work each quarter.
8. This portfolio and reflections (help me understand/does not help me understand) my learning.
9. I (notice/did not notice) improvement in my abilities since my last science class.
10. The portfolio and reflections (are/are not) an effective way for the teacher to share my work with my parents.

Student signature: ______________________________________________________

Please write any comments or questions you have about Biology this quarter.

Parent Responses to Biology Portfolio

1st Quarter – 2001-2002

11. What impressed me the most about my student’s portfolio and reflections was___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

12. What I found most interesting about the selections and reflections was___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

13. My student’s strengths shown in this portfolio are _________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

14. Something I feel my student needs to improve upon is______________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Circle the best response.

15. My student and I (discussed/did not discuss) the portfolio.
16. My student and I (communicate/do not communicate) about his Biology work.
17. I (would like to see/do not need to see) more of my student’s work each quarter.
18. The portfolio and reflections (help me understand/does not help me understand) my student’s learning.
19. I (notice/did not notice) improvement in my student’s abilities since I last saw his work.
20. The portfolio and reflections (are/are not) an effective way for the teacher to share student work with the parents.

Parent signature: _______________________________________________________

Please write any comments or questions you have about your student’s learning in Biology.

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