THE IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENTS: HOW PORTFOLIOS CAN IMPACT STUDENTS’ SELF-EFFICACY AND COMPREHENSION IN AN ONLINE GRAPHIC DESIGN COURSE By

The purpose for this study was to find an assessment that is currently being used and is a common assessment familiar to others within the Brick-and-mortar classroom and transform that assessment for use within the online learning environment. By using assessments, teachers can measure whether or not students are learning what it is they are teaching. (Methodology) The purpose of this qualitative, comparative case study was to study the relationships between creating portfolios and how this process impacted students within an online graphic design (digital Imaging) course. (Results) With this study, the intent was to lay the foundation for using portfolios in virtually any graphic design course and to be able to see the progress of students through their portfolios each week. Another intent of this study was to measure how a student’s perceived self-efficacy changed during the process of creating a portfolio. (Conclusions) The uses of portfolios are common within the work force when trying to obtain a position with the “fine arts, architecture, fashion design, graphic artists, orthodontists and plastic surgeons” (Angelo and Cross, 1993, p. 114). Drummond (2004) provided one of the first portfolio assessments within an online science course, which resulted in starting and completing this study for an undergraduate, online, graphic design course and opens the door for future use within other online courses within Higher Education. (Contains 8 tables)