Online Portfolio Assessment
for
Technical Writing Programs

Outcomes of Online Writing Portfolio Assessment

In our writing assessment range, we determined that, on a scale of 2 to 12, 7 or above) is an acceptable score. All of the criteria reached that level (see below); thus we knew we had an effective faculty with a high level of performance and students who were learning the material.

Although there were no significant differences in the scores between adjacent semesters, there was a significant difference in the overall portfolio scores between the fall of 2004 and the fall of 2005. Students in the fall of 2004 scored lower (M=7.82, SD= 1.40) than in the fall of 2005 (M = 8.45, SD = 1.20, t(162) = -.250, p = .014). This improvement was likely due to our growing competence teaching the new curriculum, which, in turn, was reflected in the student outcomes. Thus, we succeeded in adding online skills to our technical communication curriculum, and we were able to monitor the change.

Moreover, we saw a rise in the correlation between course grade and the overall portfolio score (see below). Before we instituted this assessment, each instructor approached the material individually, created their own syllabus and worked independently of the other instructors. There were no meetings or discussion of goals or criteria for assessment. After we began this project and defined our criteria, both the teaching and the grading of the course became more consistent.