Grading for Process: Using the Portfolio to Emphasize Process in Technical Communication

Grades have been a part of the writing classroom for over a century. While using standardized grades has been useful, this system has failed to perform in composition classrooms—especially regarding the writing process. Composition pedagogy scholars like Peter Elbow, Richard Veit, Paul Thomas, and more have found assigning grades to a writing product to be limiting in emphasizing the importance of the writing process while learning to write. While many pedagogy scholars have proposed grading alternatives that emphasize process, I argue that a modified portfolio approach most fully mitigates the loss of emphasis on process. Many educators and scholars have used portfolio grading in their courses (like Peter Elbow and Kathleen Jones) but applying a fresh approach to this practice can help revitalize it for the technical communication classroom. Applying a modified portfolio grading system to a technical communication course can help students understand the importance of the writing process overall.