Testing Guide for Evaluation Portfolios

[#1]

Test Guide - Evaluation Portfolios (Institution-led Assessment)

This guide walks you through setting up and testing an Evaluation Portfolio—from instructor setup to learner submission and feedback.

Step 1: Portfolio Setup & Assignment

For Admins/Instructors

1. Create an Evaluation Portfolio

   • Navigate to Portfolios via the global navigation bar in Canvas.

   • Click Create Portfolio and select Create Evaluation Portfolio.

     • Note: If you don’t see the option, ensure you're enrolled in at least one course with an Educator role. Evaluation Portfolios require instructor-level permissions.

2. Assign the Portfolio to Courses

   • Select one or more Canvas courses.

   • Learners enrolled in these courses will be automatically added to the portfolio.

3. Define Portfolio Details

   • Enter a title and instructions for the portfolio.

   • Upload a cover image to provide context for learners.

4. Set Up Evidence Requirements

   • Choose required Canvas assignments from the linked courses.

   • Add custom evidence types, such as projects, extracurriculars, or work experience.

   • Write specific instructions for each requirement.

   • Tag each item with the skills it’s intended to demonstrate.

   • Organize the requirements into sections (e.g., by term, topic, or learning theme).

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Step 2: Learner Workflow & Submission

For Learners

1. Access the Evaluation Portfolio

   • Go to Portfolios from the global navigation bar in Canvas.

   • Open the assigned Evaluation Portfolio.

     • Note: Evaluation Portfolios include a progress bar on the dashboard and within the portfolio view to help track completion.

2. Review the Portfolio Structure

   • Explore the sections and review the evidence requirements assigned by your instructor.

3. Submit Evidence

   • Submit content that aligns with the assigned requirements. You can include:

     • Text entries (e.g., essays, summaries)

     • Uploaded media (images, audio, video, PDFs — max 25MB each)

     • Reflections on learning or growth

     • Collaborative work that highlights team contributions

4. Track Progress

   • Use visual indicators to monitor which items are in draft, submitted, or completed status.

   • Click Save as Draft to continue working privately.

   • Click Submit for Review to send evidence to your instructor for feedback.

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Step 3: Educator Review & Feedback

For Instructors

1. Access Assigned Portfolios

   • Open the assigned Evaluation Portfolio to view overall progress.

   • Review completion status for the group or individual learners.

     • Note: Only the educator who created the Evaluation Portfolio can review and manage portfolio evidence submissions.

       • However, if the Evaluation Portfolio includes linked Canvas assignments, those can be reviewed by other instructors depending on how the assignments were configured in the course.

2. Review and Provide Feedback

   • Open each submission to review evidence.

   • Leave direct feedback and identify areas for improvement.

   • Allow learners to revise and resubmit as needed.

3. Mark Evidence as Complete

   • Use the Complete status to confirm acceptable submissions.

   • Grade any linked Canvas assignments through SpeedGrader.

   • Once marked complete, any associated skills will be displayed in the learner’s portfolio.

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Step 4: Portfolio Completion & Export

For Learners

1. Respond to Feedback

   • Review instructor comments.

   • Revise and resubmit evidence as necessary.

2. Complete All Requirements

   • Ensure all required evidence has been submitted and approved.

3. Review Earned Skills

   • View any demonstrated skills in your portfolio.

4. Export or Share the Portfolio

   • Export your portfolio as a PDF or HTML file.

   • Share it via a public link or on professional platforms like LinkedIn.

[pat_graham]

Students cannot see the portfolio created after following the steps in the section:

Step 1: Portfolio Setup & Assignment
For Admins/Instructors

A portfolio does not automatically show up for a student.  Is this the same for all others in the EAP, or just us at the Cornell Beta site (https://cornell.beta.instructure.com/accounts/1/external_tools/12693?launch_type=global_navigation or https://cornell.beta.instructure.com/users/38/external_tools/12693)

Thank you,

Pat Graham

[alexjeancharles]

In "Step 2: Learner Workflow & Submission," my test learner cannot access "the assigned Evaluation Portfolio"
Once my test learner goes to the Portfolio from the global navigation bar, the assigned Evaluation Portfolio doesn't appear.

[dave_barber]

I am having the same issue as Pat.  I can follow the testing workflow for the instructor, but when I try to access the portfolio as a student through the assigned Canvas course I do not see any portfolios.  In fact the student view seems to contain all the same options as the instructor.  I wonder if, in our case at least, the issue is due to the fact that I can only test the student side when "masquerading"... you cannot access courses on our beta server when logged in as a student.

[Dalma_Schnell]

Hi @pat_graham, @alexjeancharles and @dave_barber,

Thanks for flagging this — I can help clarify what’s likely happening.

When testing the learner view, please make sure the following conditions are met:

• The test learner is enrolled in a Canvas course as a learner.

• The course is published and contains at least one assignment.

• The learner has accepted the course invitation.

• The same Canvas course is included in the assigned Evaluation Portfolio.

Also, on all instances, masquerading works well for viewing learner accounts, as long as the above setup is correct.

[FayeB]

Please can I check whether this solved the problem for you @pat_graham @dave_barber @alexjeancharles as I am having the problem reported above, and I have met all of the requirements listed in @Dalma_Schnell's post.

Thanks

[DSimounet]

Hi @Dalma_Schnell! I am having an issue creating an evaluation portfolio. I was added to a published course with a published assignment as an instructor. When I get to the "assign the Portfolio to courses" step the tool is telling me that there are no courses to display.

[Dalma_Schnell]

Hi @FayeB, thanks so much for raising this! Could you please share some screenshots and details of the issue you’re seeing? We’re happy to look into it and help troubleshoot.

[Dalma_Schnell]

Hi @DSimounet,

Just marking this for myself that this has been solved as per our conversation.

For others’ awareness, some of our early adopters who used the tool before the Feature Preview launch required us to reconfigure the LTI tool due to changes introduced with the launch.

[FayeB]

@Dalma_Schnell when I raised this with Canvas support, the issue was that the test students we were using also had teacher role on other Canvas courses. Currently, only students who are solely students can access the portfolios.

For us in HE this may be an issue. For instance, some of our teaching staff (who are instructors on courses) are also students (as our staff are encouraged to also study courses within the university as part of CPD). 

[dorgant]

I just set up the Portfolio in a sub-account this week for testing. I've set up an evluaiton portfilo within a course I've placed in said sub-account and assiged it to the course. I can see that it's assigned to my test student account in the course. This is what I see as the instructor:

 

 this is what I see with my test student account:

 

[brendaa]

We are also having problems with students viewing the Evaluation Portfolios. These look like a nice feature, but they don't work for students. We have set a couple up tied to courses that are published, have assignments, etc. The test student is only a student in classes (although in the past they were Teachers in a few classes, we have removed them from those classes). The test student is enrolled as a student in the classes for which we are testing EPs. Teachers can create Evaluation Portfolios for these classes, but when the Test Student goes to Evaluation Portfolios they get errors and it can't search for Evaluation Portfolios. 

The limitation on only having a student role is very bad for higher education as someone else pointed out. People often have multiple roles throughout Canvas. In this case the test student only has 1 role, so why can't they access the evaluation portfolio? This has been a reported problem for several months. Is there an ETA for fixing it?

[brendaa]

I tried again to create and have a student fill out an Evaluation Portfolio as this is the primary use we have for portfolios. It does not work. I created a new class which I published, added a published assignment and two students. One student is a traditional student who has no role other than student and the other is our fake test student who only has a role as student (I removed it from any Teacher roles). I then created a new Evaluation Portfolio, linked to the new class. Neither student can access it. Instead, they both get "unable to access portfolio previews" and also get the "Access Forbidden" error. The real student is able to create a showcase portfolio. 
I'm going to create a support ticket, but is anyone else still having this issue? I was surprised to see that Instructure is rolling this out 11/15 since it seems buggy and has some obvious problems.

Problems we've identified (beyond evaluation portfolios not working for students):

• Only the original faculty creator of the portfolio can view the portfolio or submissions. We need anyone in the Teacher role to be able to view the portfolio and subsequent submissions. Evaluations are often done by multiple faculty.
• Students can't view at all right now, but the documentation indicates that you can't "add" students after publishing the evaluation portfolio. That doesn't really make any sense at all, since students add/drop classes for a while and faculty will want to prepare these evaluation portfolios before the class starts. 
• Evaluation portfolios need to cross semesters as students often have multiple semesters to complete a portfolio. If the course "concludes" at the end of the term, is the portfolio still available to them?
• No edits are allowed after publishing. That is unrealistic. Faculty should be able to edit the portfolio.

[jspartz1]

I have been testing this process and have also run into similar but slightly different issues.  I have five test students enrolled in a single course with the evaluation portfolio connected to monitor progress on four assignments in the course.  Three of the five students can not directly see the portfolio when accessing the portfolio site page.  Likely because they are not just assigned as a student in all Canvas courses, like others have reported.  Yes, this will be a problem.  

One of the students has completed 3 of the 4 tasks in the course that are also linked to the portfolio.  When this specific student accesses the portfolio, they see 3 out of the 4 requirements are completed and graded.  When the teacher accesses the portfolio, they do not see any progress documented from any of the students enrolled (all but one have completed one or more tasks).  It is not clear to us why this disconnect with monitoring the progress is happening.  

[AndrewDwyer]

not sure if I'm posting this in the right area

So the three items:

• Project
• Extra Curricular
• Professional Experience

are all just the same. Can anyone explain the differences ?

they all appear to have the same areas for the learner which is

• Evidence Details Area
• Reflection Details Area
• Attachment
• Links
• Collaborators

regards

Andrew