Cathy Elliott: Creativity and feedback in assessment portfolios

Create. Share. Engage.

Dr Cathy Elliott is Vice Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences at University College London (UCL), UK. She's created a portfolio assignment for her students in political sciences that makes use of both formative and summative assessments, encouraging her students to be creative and bring in their own personalities. Feedback giving and receiving is an integral part of the portfolio work, and students students comment on each other's portfolios, learning through that process as well.
In this episode, Cathy shares her portfolio assignment format, what is working for her, and what she wants to try next time. She's created an incredible first portfolio assignment in Mahara with the support from learning designer Aurélie Soulier that engages students and helps them make the assessment their own.
Click through to the episode notes for the transcript.
Connect with Cathy

• Twitter
• UCL researcher profile

Resources

• Video showcasing Cathy's portfolio task and assessment criteria
• SRUC group portfolios
• Brief introduction to SmartEvidence

Subscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.
Production information
Production: Catalyst IT
Host: Kristina Hoeppner
Artwork: Evonne Cheung
Music: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Interest in using portfolios (00:02:13)

3. Supporting students through scaffolding (00:04:24)

4. Possibilities of the portfolio for students (00:06:12)

5. Culture of feedback giving and receiving (00:08:40)

6. From formative to summative assessment (00:12:47)

7. Potential changes in future (00:16:33)

8. Current limitations for Cathy (00:19:03)

9. Q&A: Three words to describe portfolio work (00:22:34)

10. Q&A: A tip for learning designers or instructors (00:22:58)

11. Q&A: A tip for learners (00:23:29)