Portfolio practices in higher education in Norway in an international perspective: macro‐, meso‐ and micro‐level influences

摘要

The point of departure for this article is the ‘chameleon’ aspect of portfolios and the diversity of portfolio models and practices in higher education on the international arena today. Our aim is to investigate the contextual character of this diversity by using Norwegian higher education as an example and to show how macro‐level influences, particularly the Bologna related Quality Reform, have shaped the overall development of portfolio practices. We contextualise and discuss the sudden expansion of learning and assessment portfolios in Norway after 2002. Our data are primarily a nationwide survey of portfolio practices, supplemented by findings in a research evaluation of the reform and previously published case studies. The majority of portfolios in Norwegian higher education can be classified as ‘disciplinary‐based course work portfolios’ and they typically serve a combination of learning and assessment purposes. But within this category we found systematic differences between different educational areas where the main dividing line seems to be between professional and non‐professional education. The underlying research perspective is sociocultural and this directs our attention to contexts, cultures and traditions that shape portfolio development and practices rather than to individual differences (micro level).View full textDownload full textKeywordsassessment, portfolio, higher education, sociocultural perspective, BolognaRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602930903197891