I arbetet undersöks portfolio, som är en metod som används i skolan för att eleverna skall bli medvetna om sitt eget lärande.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the process of implementing an alternative form of assessment in chemistry classrooms. The current reform of science education involves the implementation of varied forms of instruction; it stands to reason that assessment will evolve with the curriculum (Baxter, Shavelson, Goldman & Pine, 1992). In an era for which the exclusive use of multiple-choice and similar tests i.e., fill-in the-blank, matching, and true/false are inappropriate measures of student abilities (Hamm & Adams, 1991), portfolios can offer a suitable alternative assessment, as well as a means for evaluation (Paulson, Paulson & Meyer, 1991). This study was conducted in a small math, science and technology high school and focused on three individual teachers and twelve of their students. The research focused on how teachers defined portfolios and implemented this assessment tool in their classrooms and how students and teachers perceived the use and value of the process. This study employed qualitative methodology using individual interviews, document analyses, and classroom observations. Data sources included documents, transcripts of interviews and fieldnotes. The primary research questions were: How do the teachers define and implement portfolios? How do the teachers' definitions of portfolios change during implementation? What are the students' understandings of portfolios and how they are used and do the students' understandings change? What do teachers and students believe portfolios represent regarding the learning that occurs in the science classroom? and What do the data collected via this study demonstrate about portfolios as a valid means of assessing student progress? The teachers' and students' definitions addressed four of the six components of portfolios identified in the literature. Both groups recognized a defined use, evidence, student and teacher made decisions, and reflection as key portfolio elements. Each group failed to identify the components of a defined goal and teacher student conferences. Portfolios were viewed by the teachers and students as a valuable tool. This value was defined in terms of student self assessment and evaluation, teacher assessment and evaluation, college admission, goal setting, promotion of student organizational skills and recognition of student success. / Ph. D.

As the growth of online programs in higher education accelerated across the nation, concerns have been addressed regarding the quality of online programs. The evaluation of programs for quality assurance has become an important component of successful online programs (Kindgren, Nilsson, and Wiklund, 2012, Martinez, Liu, Watson, and Bichelmeyer, 2006). Deggs and Weaver (2009) stated that student perception is "essential to improving the quality of instruction in higher education" (p. 41). In the online program evaluation literature, majority of evaluation studies commonly collected students' perceptions of their learning outcomes and their learning experiences through survey questionnaires. Few studies had been conducted on using students' reflections in e-portfolios for program evaluation in higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore how students' reflections in their e-portfolio can be used as a mechanism for program evaluation. This study employed a qualitative content analysis method. Seventy students' reflections in their e-portfolios of an online master's program were collected. Three types of reflections in e-portfolios have been reviewed and analyzed: (1) students' reflections on their previous approaches to the five tasks of instructional design including design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation; (2) the students' reflections on their current approaches to these five instructional design tasks; and (3) the perceptions on their learning experiences in this online master's program. Two overarching themes emerged from the students' reflections including students' perceptions on their learning outcomes and their learning experiences in the program. The results of the study indicated that students' reflections in their e-portfolios provide another dimension of qualitative information for program evaluation with respect to students' perceptions, and this qualitative data can be used in conjunction with other methods of data collection to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of online programs. / Ph. D.

This thesis describes some of the practical issues faced by a portfolio manager in analyzing the risk associated with a portfolio of assets. The main tools used are the mean-variance optimization algorithm introduced by Markowitz and multi-factor models for risk decomposition. A sample portfolio designed to track the Russell 1000G stock index is constructed that minimizes tracking error while satisfying constraints on the exposure of the portfolio to particular factors (growth and market capitalization).

Background: Self-assessment is widely used across the health professions for a variety of purposes, including appraisal, CPD and revalidation. Despite numerous reported short-comings, the use of self-assessment is increasing, frequently on the requirements of regulatory bodies. Traditionally it has been a paper exercise, but in recent years self-assessment has appeared in electronic portfolios – a medium often used to collate assessments and other educational requirements. This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of self-assessment, in particular delivered via an e-portfolio, to determine if it: ? Improves the accuracy of perception of learning needs ? Promotes appropriate change in learner activity ? Improves clinical practice Methods: This thesis is comprised of two systematic reviews and a case study. The first of two systematic reviews examines the evidence for effectiveness of self-assessment in the three research questions. The second evaluates the effectiveness of portfolios as a medium for postgraduate healthcare education. Both reviews are notable in that they employ systematic review methodology on non-clinical questions and amalgamate quantitative and qualitative data. The final research component is an exploratory case study that tests the questions against a large data set (an entire training year of Scottish Foundation doctors) collated by the NHS ePortfolio. The case study provided the opportunity to separate groups of self-assessors identified by the literature, and compare the groups’ self-scores against those of their supervisors and peers in the first and final post rotations; additionally, the groups’ behaviour was matched against the literature for related educational activities recorded by the ePortfolio such as personal development planning. The case study also allowed the medium of e-portfolios to be itself evaluated in practice as an educational infrastructure. Through the comprehensive and iterative examination of the large dataset it became apparent that quantitative analysis was of limited value and qualitative analysis of elicited the richness on the data in context. Results: With both reviews, the original research questions were unable to be fully answered due to the paucity of evidence of sufficient quality; however, both did discover relevant related evidence. The self-assessment review found competent practitioners are the best able to self-assess whilst the least competent are the least able to self-assess. Peer assessment was found to be more accurate than self and better aligns with faculty/supervisor assessment. Feedback and benchmarking can improve self-assessment accuracy, especially for the most competent, and video can be seen to enhance this. There is no conclusive evidence that gender or culture effect self-assessment ability. Practical skills are better self-assessed than knowledge-based or “soft” skills. The portfolio review found summative assessment reliability improved with multiple raters and discussion between the raters. Evidence on whether portfolio use aided reflection was mixed, possibly because it was dependent on individual conditions. The engagement and support of supervisors is key to portfolios being used properly, and there is some evidence portfolio learners are less passive then non-users. The time required to effectively use a portfolio is rarely considered. Although many of the literature’s findings were born out by the case study, the data also revealed (often by omission) many flaws in the use of self-assessment and related activities, many of which can be ascribed to the training year examined Much of the qualitative examination of text corresponded with the wider literature with low self-raters being over-critical of their often superior skills and high self-raters being over confident. However, there was some dissonance with the literature in the final component in that supervisor scoring conflicted with expectations whilst there text comments continued to match the literature. Conclusions: Assessment in post-graduate health care is high stakes and resource-intensive. Self-assessment, and its use within an electronic portfolio, is demonstrated to have enormous potential if properly implemented.

I detta arbete görs en jämförelse av tre förskolors dokumentationsarbete, förmedling av dokumentationen till barnens föräldrar och huruvida internet används som hjälpmedel för denna förmedling. De tre förskolorna skiljer sig åt i sina pedagogiska utgångspunkter, där den ena är en Reggio Emilia-inspirerad förskola, den andra en montessoriförskola och den tredje arbetar uttalat med portfoliometodik för sitt dokumentationsarbete. Undersökningen görs med hjälp av observationer och intervjuer. Resultatet av studien är att förskolorna använder sig av liknande dokumentationsmetoder men med vissa skillnader som kan återkopplas till förskolornas pedagogiska inriktningar. Montessoriförskolan är den som skiljer sig mest genom att till exempel inte ha sitt arbete med portfolio tillgängligt för barn och föräldrar under förskoleperioden, medan den Reggio Emilia-inspirerade förskolan och förskolan med portfoliometodik liknar varandra i sina valda former av synliggörandet av dokumenterat material. Endast förskolan med portfolioprofil använder sig av internet i sin dokumentationsförmedlingsprocess.

In this thesis we will evaluate the effectiveness of using daily return percentiles and power means as momentum indicators for quantitative portfolio selection. The statistical significance of momentum strategies has been well-established, but in this thesis we will select the portfolio size and holding period based on current (2012) trading costs and capital gains tax laws for an individual in the United States to ensure the viability of using these strategies. We conclude that the harmonic mean of daily returns is a superior momentum indicator for portfolio construction over the 1970-2011 backtest period.

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<p>Actively managed mutual funds underperform the index and investors are recommended to invest in index funds since they give higher returns (Dagens Industri Debatt, 2010). In this thesis it is investigated if partly indexated portfolios with randomly selected stocks beat the benchmark index and thus are a valid option of portfolio construction for the individual investor. For this purpose sixteen portfolios are constructed partly by an index and partly by randomly selected stocks from the Swedish stock market in the time period of 2007.01.01 to 2010.01.01. Risk and return measures are used in order to analyse if the portfolios beat the benchmark index. The results are also compared to an index mutual fund in order to validate the results further.</p><p>The results suggest that partly indexated portfolios with randomly selected stocks are able to outperform both the benchmark index and the comparing index mutual fund. When dividends were included in the portfolios all of the sixteen portfolios had beaten the benchmark index. The two stock portfolio is a valid alternative when investing in mutual funds since it has superior returns with only marginally higher risk than the benchmark index.</p>