EFFECTS OF PORTFOLIO

ASSESSMENT ON
CRITICAL THINKING
AND ATTITUDE OF
PRESERVICE
MATHEMATICS
TEACHERS
Statement of the Problem
1. To what extent does portfolio
assessment affect preservice
mathematics teachers’
a. critical thinking; and
b. attitude toward mathematics?
2. Is the effect of using alternative
assessment moderated by the
level of mathematical abilities
of the students?
3. How do students perceived the
use of alternative assessment?
 Research Design

Pretest-posttest quasi-
experimental research
design.
The Participants of the Study
Second year mathematics
majors of Philippine
Normal University who
were enrolled in Math 7S
(Solid Geometry)
 The Research Instruments
 The Critical Thinking Test
The items in the test took on any of
the following forms:
• A problem wherein the question or a
fact in the problem was withheld. The
students examine the problem’s facts
and conditions and write their own
questions and solutions.
 Students create a similar or related
problem after they have solved a
problem.
 Students are asked to examine the
solution to a problem that contains a
conceptual or procedural error and they
answer a series of questions focused to
reveal the extent of their critical
thinking.
 Students are asked to create a problem
for which they must communicate an
explanation without actually solving the
problem.
CRITICAL THINKING TEST
 A liter of asphalt paint will cover 6 m2 of surface.

The paint is sold in cans of 5 L only. How many

cans are needed to paint a driveway 15 m long
and 3 m wide?
Jill tried to solve the problem this way:
A = lw
= (15)(3)
= 45 m2 = area of driveway
45 ÷ 6 = 7.5 cans are needed
Answer these questions about Jill’s work:
 Does Jill’s solution show that she understands

and uses the problem’s facts well? Explain why or

why not.
 Is Jill’s answer correct? Why or why not?
 The base of a right prism is an
isosceles triangle whose equal sides
are each 1 m. long and whose base
is 1.20 m.
The teacher forgot to write one
more fact. She also forgot to write
the question. Make up a useful fact
and a question to the problem.
Then solve the problem.
 Imagine a cube measuring 3 units
on an edge, and having its total
surface area painted blue. How
many times must you cut through
the cube to make cubes which
measure 1 unit on an edge? How
many cubes will have 3 blue faces?
• Draw a diagram to illustrate the
problem.
• After you have solved this problem,
create a similar or related problem.
Then, solve your own problem.
 Scoring Rubric for Critical
Thinking Test
Score Description

0 The student makes no attempt at critical thinking, as

indicated by a blank response or a negative comment.

1 The student attempts to answer the question, but

response is illogical or irrelevant

2 The student understands the question and addresses it

with pertinent comment, but the response is incomplete
or confused.
3 The student understands the question and addresses
most relevant aspects with correct and logical
observations or inferences; or the student addresses all
relevant aspects with minor flaws.
4 The student understands the question and addresses all
relevant aspects with completely correct logical
observations and inferences.
Questions for the Focus Group
Discussion
 How do you perceive the use of alternative
assessment in your Solid Geometry class?
How does portfolio assessment compare
with traditional assessment?
 Is portfolio assessment good or bad for
measuring student’s performance?
 What are the benefits of using portfolio
assessment in your class? Explain.
 What do you see as some disadvantages
of using alternative/portfolio assessment?
 As future teachers are you inclined to use
alternative assessment in your
mathematics class? Why?
 The Attitude Scale
.My favorite subject is 5 4 3 2 1
mathematics.
I am satisfied with getting 5 4 3 2 1
only passing marks/grades
in my mathematics
subjects.
 Design of the Portfolio
Assessment
A solution to open-ended problems and other free-response
items done as homework or seatwork showing originality and
unusual procedures
 Papers that show the student’s correction of errors and
misconceptions.
 A problem made by the student with a solution
 Draft, revised and final versions of student work on
complex mathematical problem including writing diagrams,
graphs, charts, or whatever is appropriate
 A group project report with comments about the
individual’s contribution
 Learning logs
 Self-reflections or journals
 A letter from the student explaining the selection of each
item
 Findings
 The experimental group performed
significantly higher in the critical
thinking test than that of the
control group.
 There was no significant difference
between the posttest mean scores
of the control and experimental in
the attitude scale.
 There was no significant interaction effect
of the method of assessment and level of
mathematical ability on critical thinking
and attitude of the students. Hence, in
terms of critical thinking and attitude in
mathematics; method of assessment was
not moderated by the level of
mathematical ability of the students. This
implies that regardless of mathematical
ability of the students, portfolio
assessment can enhance problem solving
performance and critical thinking.
 Majority of the students in the experimental
group perceived the use of portfolio assessment
useful in learning Solid Geometry.
 They liked being assessed by alternative methods
rather than the traditional paper and pencil test.
 There was a general agreement that the use of
alternative assessment made them remember the
concepts longer.
 They also expressed the idea that portfolio
assessment reduces their anxiety in taking the
test but promotes and stimulates students’
motivation to devote more time to study their
lessons and review important mathematical
concepts with deeper understanding.
 They added that alternative assessment
encouraged them to go beyond rote
memorization of facts and concepts.
 Students noted few disadvantages
of alternative assessment. One
disadvantage in the use of portfolio
assessment is the time constraint
involved in organizing the portfolio.
 Conclusions
 The use of portfolio assessment
produced better critical thinking
among the students than the
traditional assessment. It is an
effective tool in enhancing and
improving the critical thinking of
the students. It provides a better
motivation and mechanism for
learners to organize their
knowledge.
 Portfolio assessment can be used for any
ability group of students.
 Portfolio assessment is an effective
method of evaluating students
formatively. It can be used as a
diagnostic tool to discover students’
difficulties, weaknesses, misconceptions,
as well as strengths.
 The use of scoring rubrics to monitor skill
development is one promising feature of
alternative assessment. Scoring rubrics
can clarify for both
 Alternative assessment can develop
students’ ability to be more reflective
and metacognitive especially when they
are assessing their own works, collecting
the evidences in their portfolio, and
when they are setting their goals.
Putting their portfolios together required
them to review the concepts that they
have studied, thereby giving them
another opportunity for learning.
 Alternative assessments that ask
students to demonstrate both declarative
and procedural knowledge are valid in
assessing their growth. Hence, portfolio
assessment is a valid and reliable
method of assessment.
 Recommendations
 Mathematics teacher educators
should model the use of alternative
assessment in the methods and
content courses. If preservice
mathematics teachers are exposed
to alternative assessments as
students, they are more likely to
adopt these when they are already
teachers.
 Like any other change, portfolio
assessment should be implemented
by teachers with great care and
commitment so that its
effectiveness, reliability, and
validity as an assessment method
will be assured. It is important,
therefore, that teachers should be
given proper and formal training on
how to use portfolio assessment in
the class.
 To increase the reliability and
validity of portfolio assessment, its
content and artifacts must be
selected judiciously. Only those
evidences that will reflect students’
performance must be included.
 A study should be conducted in
other content and method courses
of preservice mathematics teachers
that will investigate other forms of
alternative assessment and their
effects on students’ conceptual
understanding.