ABSTRACT
The
study surveyed the level of the use of Portfolios as a method of
assessment in Selected Courses of the Faculty of Environmental Design,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The study investigated the types of
Portfolio use by lecturers and students; it also examined the lecturers‟
and students‟ understanding of the concept of Portfolio Assessment as
well as determines the problems of using portfolios as a method of
assessment. This is with the ultimate goal of establishing the need for
Portfolio model in enhancing learning. Portfolios are being use but they
do not provide rubric, self-reflection and portfolio model sheets. Lack
of defined assessment scheme has been the gap the study bridges. The
study used five research objectives. One thousand and one hundred
(1,100) students and lecturers form population, while two hundred and
ninety-three (293) served as sample size of the study. The selection was
done by the use of Stratified Random Sampling technique. Experts were
involved in order to scrutinize the research instruments in terms of
construct and content validity. The study used Alpha Cronbach
reliability Coefficient to ascertain the reliability of the research
instrument that yield 0.951 which was obtained for student‟s
questionnaire and 0.981 for lecturers‟ questionnaire. These results
therefore confirmed that the instruments were reliable for collection of
data. The responses were based on lecturers‟ and students‟
understanding of the concept of Portfolio Assessment, types and
variations of portfolio assessment and problems of using portfolio
assessment. The findings of the study showed that portfolios were mostly
used as a folder. The findings indicated that both lecturers and
students did not understand the concept of portfolio assessment which
comprises rubric, guidelines; self-reflection and portfolio model
sheets. The finding of the study on lecturers‟ knowledge of using
portfolio assessment revealed that majority of them disagreed that
portfolios are supposed to be used with rubric, reflection and portfolio
model. The finding of the study also identified time consumption, large
class or crowdedness as problems of using assessment portfolios.
Provides multiple ways of assessing students‟ learning overtime and
multiple opportunities for observation and assessment are the benefits
of portfolio assessment among others.