The Use of Portfolio Advising with Recreation and Leisure Services Majors

Abstract

Portfolios have been used in other fields for some time as a way to document development of competence and knowledge. Recently, the field of recreation and leisure studies has promoted the use of portfolios, but there is little documentation of their use in the field. The purpose of this article is to share a process used to develop, implement, and evaluate the use of portfolio advising with students in a recreation and leisure services curriculum. Portfolios were used to increase reflection and self-assessment of learning on the part of students, to increase students' sense of self-responsibility for their professional development, to increase students' planning and organizational skills, and to document professional development outcomes. Overall, students felt that they were more organized, could plan better, and could use their portfolios in internship and job interviews to show evidence of their professional development. The portfolios were used less as a tool to reflect on their learning and their professional development process. Recommendations include structuring portfolios into assignments in courses across the curriculum to receive the full benefits from their use.