Portfolio‐based assessments in medical education: are they valid and reliable for summative purposes?

Portfolios are widely used in all stages of education from elementary school through to vocational and professional programmes. Inevitably, this high prevalence results in varying definitions and differences in their use. Their predominant use in medical education has been for formative assessment, often as a vehicle for encouraging a component of reflection. More recently, the use of portfolios has been advocated for summative purposes, (e.g. in undergraduate education), and for revalidation of doctors.

[1]  Gordon Page,et al.  Guidelines for assessing clinical competence , 1994 .

[2]  M. Friedman Ben David,et al.  AMEE Medical Education Guide No. 24: Portfolios as a method of student assessment , 2001, Medical teacher.

[3]  C. V. D. Vleuten,et al.  The assessment of professional competence: Developments, research and practical implications , 1996 .

[4]  C. V. D. van der Vleuten,et al.  The assessment of professional competence: Developments, research and practical implications. , 1996, Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice.

[5]  J. Pitts,et al.  Educational portfolios in the assessment of general practice trainers: reliability of assessors , 1999, Medical education.

[6]  R. Harden,et al.  Portfolios as a method of student assessment , 2001 .

[7]  D. Newble,et al.  How can we test clinical reasoning? , 1995, The Lancet.

[8]  Maggie Challis,et al.  AMEE Medical Education Guide No.11 (revised): Portfolio-based learning and assessment in medical education , 1999 .

[9]  Daniel Koretz,et al.  Large‐scale Portfolio Assessments in the US: evidence pertaining to the quality of measurement , 1998 .

[10]  M. Zuckerman,et al.  Affect Traits in Differential Diagnosis of Anxiety, Depressive, and Schizophrenic Disorders using the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised , 1998, Assessment.

[11]  Joan L. Herman,et al.  Portfolio Research: A Slim Collection. , 1994 .

[12]  M.H. Davis,et al.  Portfolio assessment in medical students' final examinations , 2001, Medical teacher.