The effects of a portfolio method of evaluation on the writing apprehension, locus of control, and teacher encouragement rating of community college composition students

This study sought to determine the effects of portfolio evaluation on the writing apprehension, locus of control, and student rating of teacher encouragement of first semester composition students in a rural Mississippi community college setting. Age, race, sex, and ACT English subscore were also examined in this context.;Four sections of English Composition I were the focus of this investigation. Portfolio-based evaluation was used in two sections and the traditional method of evaluation was used in the remaining two sections. All sections received identical instruction. Students were pretested and posttested with the Daly and Miller Measure of Writing Apprehension and the Trice Academic Locus of Control Scale. At the end of the semester, students completed the Witte, Daly, Faigley, and Koch Instrument for Evaluating Course and Teacher Effectiveness, which includes Factor 5: Encouragement.;Analysis of covariance, independent t-test, and multiple stepwise regression procedures were used to analyze the data. No significant difference was found in the writing apprehension nor in the student rating of teacher encouragement between the two groups. A significant difference was found in the locus of control between the two groups. Locus of control, student rating of teacher encouragement, and English ACT subscore were predictors of writing apprehension; writing apprehension and race were predictors of locus of control. Writing apprehension was a predictor of student rating of teacher encouragement.;This study concluded that portfolio evaluation did not appreciably decrease writing apprehension; in fact, for some students, postponement of evaluation may actually increase writing apprehension. In addition, students in portfolio-based classes, where the teacher engages in coaching/mentoring behaviors, do not perceive their teacher to be more encouraging than do students in traditional classes. However, portfolio evaluation does appear to empower students by increasing their internal locus of control orientation. A significant relationship was found to exist between writing apprehension and locus of control.