Learning Portfolio Project

      I.  Introduction
     II.  Description and Rationale of the Learning Portfolio
    III.  Guide for Portfolio Advisors
    IV.  Portfolio Implementation
     V.  Portfolio Components 
    VI.  Student Guide
   VII.  Submitting the Portfolio
  VIII.  Participants
    IX.  Timeline
     X.  Assessment
    XI.  Responsibilities of Committee and Advisor
   XII.  Rubrics

I.  Introduction

The Learning Portfolio Project will be a new requirement for the Department of Hispanic Studies’ majors. The portfolio is going to be piloted for two years (fall 2006-spring 2008). The department will not enforce this requirement until it is approved and it appears in the new catalogue. Students will be able to choose to voluntarily participate in this project or submit the current senior project paper. Once the portfolio goes into effect, students will receive two credits for the successful submission of the project. The major will consist of 38 credits, 36 for the major’s course work and two for the portfolio project.

In the past two decades institutions of higher learning have been using portfolios as the most effective tool for engaging students in their learning process and their development of an intellectual identity.

II.  Description and Rationale

The Hispanic Studies faculty value active and self-reflective learning. A Learning Portfolio is a purposeful collection of artifacts - a collection of student work during his/her major - that characterizes the learning experiences of the portfolio owner and can be helpful in assessing student achievements and development. This collection of work and reflections permits the reader of the portfolio to see change in student work and thinking over time. Artifacts may include items that were created by the student in the context of the learning experience during a two-year time. They may include written essays, semester abroad experience narratives, presentations, research, or artifacts that may otherwise represent the student's learning experience, such as a brochure, creative writing, translations, conferences, lectures or photos. Each item is accompanied by a reflection essay. An essential part of creating a Learning Portfolio is the process of thinking about the student’s academic and extracurricular work in order to understand more deeply his/her learning process. The set of artifacts contained in a portfolio together with reflections, show the student’s achievements in competency areas, and his/her engagement in self-reflection and self-evaluation. Portfolios give students ownership and responsibility for their own learning.

The purpose of the portfolio is to enhance the students’ engagement in their work towards the major, foster students’ reflection as they assemble the portfolio, and help students explore potential areas of further study, research and career choices. The portfolio will reflect knowledge that has been gained and skills that have been acquired. The creation of a portfolio involves a process as much as a product. The time and effort required in creating a portfolio calls upon skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of the student. The portfolio creates a stronger relationship among the processes of learning, assessment, and teaching.

The development of a portfolio encourages students to personally fulfill one aspect of the mission of the Colleges—that of becoming a reflective professional. In addition, there are specific objectives and benchmarks for student performance throughout the program, which require documentation. The portfolio serves the purpose of providing a logical and organized system of documentation for demonstrating achievement of these objectives.

Summary of Learning Portfolio

• The portfolio consists of an organized collection of students’ intellectual work and activities that reflects knowledge, understanding, interest, and accomplishments over a period of two years in the Hispanic Studies major.
• The portfolio provides a comprehensive view of students’ abilities and   progress; it helps to determine the students’ strengths and weaknesses in correlation with the goals and objectives of the Hispanic Studies major. The portfolio intends to provide majors with solid foundations and tools for their future careers. Portfolio creation is the responsibility of the student, with professor guidance and support.
• The portfolio features a wide range of student-initiated activities such as projects of all kinds, as well as faculty-directed activities such as formal writing, exams, conferences, presentations, etc. This will enable faculty to foster intellectual rigor among the majors, assess the quality of their work, and evaluate the major program in the Department of Hispanic Studies.
• The portfolio helps students to articulate and make connections among different subjects. It will enhance the learning experience through reflection on the student’s work and the making of informed decisions.

The Learning Portfolio responds to the following Hispanic Studies Program objectives:            

• Understanding an intricate contemporary culture and exploring the literature, language, and traditions that give it life
• Promoting interdisciplinary study and preparing students for a wide variety of careers
• Understanding and refining Spanish essential grammatical structures, speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills
• Understanding the relationship between language and culture, with an inclusive perspective on the target culture
• Encouraging intellectual discussion beyond the language’s practical usefulness

Class assignments and syllabi should be designed having these goals and objectives in mind, and students’ portfolios should reflect the attainment of these goals.

Note: For more detail on the Hispanic Studies program, its major goals and objectives, and to view a Power point presentation of the Portfolio, please visit:
http://www.csbsju.edu/hispanicstudies/

Portfolio Effects on Students

• Enhances the students’ engagement in their work towards the major
• Fosters students’ reflection on their work as they assemble the portfolio
• Helps students explore potential areas of further study and research
• Creates opportunities for a more interdisciplinary approach to the study of Hispanic literatures, Hispanic cultures, and Spanish linguistics
• Provides a forum for further creative and analytical expression
• Creates opportunities for students to make connections between disparate readings, projects, and course contents
• Encourages student self-assessment and monitoring of their progress
• Fosters communication between student-faculty members and student-fellow students
• Enhances student learning through the process of revising and evaluating the final product
• Makes students more conscious about their goals vis-à-vis the goals for the major
• The student becomes aware of the coherence of a particular learning experience behind his/her major.
• The student acquires more responsibility for his/her own learning.
• Expands student’s resume
• Provides a life-long learning experience
• Promotes academic ethos

III.  Guide for Portfolio Advisors

Goals must be established in order to determine what the portfolio will be used to measure. Therefore, before implementing portfolios, you must decide on the particular purposes of the course you are teaching in relation to the overall purposes of the Hispanic Studies Program.

Establishing clearly articulated purposes may be the single most difficult aspect of implementing portfolios. To do so, we should ask the following: What do I want my students to know and be able to do and to learn as a result of this course? What we believe is most important for our students to know and be able to do should be represented in the goals we established for each course.

The next question should be: How do the requirements of the course enable students to demonstrate that they have met the goals of a particular course? Or at the program level: How do the requirements of our major enable our students to demonstrate that they have accomplished the goals of our program (included in this guide are some rubrics that will help with the portfolio assessment).

Once the goals or purposes of the portfolio have been established, we need to determine how students can demonstrate that they have accomplished these goals.

IV.  Portfolio Implementation

How long will it take majors to build the portfolio? Under the guidance of an advisor, assembling the portfolios in the pilot program will take place over a period of two years, upon the student’s declaration of his/her major in Spanish. Students will be required to use portfolios upon successful completion of the pilot project and publication of this requirement in the current catalogue. Given the need to pilot the portfolio we are stimulating the participation with the two extra credits. The pilot program will be in effect for two years, fall 2006 to fall 2008. We expect to evaluate the pilot portfolio by the end of fall 2008 and implement the portfolio as a requirement by spring 2008. Participants will volunteer in the program until the portfolio becomes a requirement. Once the portfolio becomes a requirement for graduation, student participation will be mandatory. In order to install the new portfolio culture, individual professors could require a portfolio project in their particular class (but not for graduation). The two year project is voluntary.

V.  Portfolio Components

Consistent with the concept of process, flexibility, and change, and to encourage a rich influx of ideas and critical thinking, students are expected to modify (add, remove, edit) documents from their portfolios numerous times before they graduate.

Components of the portfolio include commentary, self-assessment, and carefully chosen samples of work completed during the student’s college experience. The primary focus of the portfolio is the student’s academic work, but, in consultation with the instructor, the student may possibly include some material he or she has created in a work setting or community organization. Content of individual portfolios will vary, but these guidelines should help the student create an effective representation of his or her learning. Faculty hope the portfolio process gives students a meaningful way to reflect on and further integrate their learning experiences. In turn, we look forward to learning from their work.

Majors are required to comply with the following SIX academic endeavors:

1.       Entrance Proficiency Exam and Graduation (Exit) Proficiency Exam. (Spanish) Language students are expected to take an entrance proficiency exam upon acceptance to the major and an exit proficiency exam during their last semester. These exams are not in-house exams, but acquired from a nation-wide testing program that follows ACTFL (American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages) proficiency guidelines.

Entrance proficiency exam results/scores will provide an opportunity for students to reflect on certain aspects of their performance, such as:
a.        Possible reasons for low or fair performance in specific language skills (receptive and productive)
b.        Useful strategies to improve
c.        Identification of specific areas of difficulty they find in the acquisition of some skills, followed by clear questions or request for advice from faculty, etc.

Exit proficiency exam results/ scores will allow students to do a more holistic analysis of their performance as they will be able to compare and contrast results/scores with those of the entrance proficiency exam. The results of the entrance and exit proficiency exams will not deter the student from acceptance into the major or from graduation.

2.        Senior-Year Reflective Essay (minimum of seven pages). Students will write a reflective essay, as an epilogue to the portfolio in the last semester of the senior year. This essay will be an oral presentation at the portfolio ceremony; students should synthesize their personal experience of the Hispanic Studies major, including the following:
a.        Their academic strengths and weaknesses
b.        Major advances in knowledge of specific content areas related directly or indirectly to their major
c.        Their rationale for the selection of portfolio documents and a critique of the documents themselves
d.        Student’s perception of the achievement of life-long learning skills

3.        Academic Writing Samples. Hispanic Studies majors will present at least four papers at the 300 level, three of them from different courses, three different content areas (literature, culture, or linguistics) and three different professors. Examples of portfolio papers can be viewed at both Clemens and Alcuin libraries.

Diversity of content will provide students with ample opportunities to carry out analytical work on texts of different nature, themes and genre. Students could also write a reflective paper on their internships, world cultures experience, experiential learning, service learning or any other cultural experience related to the Hispanic world and culture. Students may include additional academic writing samples from Spanish 212.

Each paper must include a one-page reflection/self assessment about the writing of the research project. Note: prospective majors should start collecting artifacts in Spanish 311.

4.        General reflective essays. Majors are expected to write a reflective essay for each artifact—a product they choose to include in the portfolio collection. Periodically the students should examine their work based on established criteria (goals and objectives of the particular class). The reflection should be contextualized, making connections between a particular goal and the goals of the major, between academics, life, and their future projects. Students should critically reflect, process, and give meaning to their work. In their reflection papers students should identify the most important elements of what has been learned from that particular product (see guide for reflective essays).

The reflective essay should capture the students’ attitudes toward their learning experience and also the ability to synthesize important concepts and information from each artifact being reflected upon.

After turning papers in for a grade in the corresponding course, students will re-read each paper at least once during the following term and will write at least one reflection/self-assessment on each one of them. Each item that the student includes should be accompanied by a statement of justification, indicating why it was chosen.  

5.        Extracurricular writing. Spanish majors will write a minimum of seven pages while involved in any of the following activities:
a.      during a study abroad program
b.      while traveling in a Spanish-speaking country
c.      during an experiential learning activity
d.      while in a world cultures course or experience
e.      during an advanced course outside CSBSJU, conferences related to the Hispanic world, community service, internship, or service learning experience. The writing piece should chronicle events, readings, insights, or any other activity that complements the Spanish curriculum.

6.        Creative Writing or personal choice of artifacts (OPTIONAL).
Samples of work the student may have done related to or inspired by studies undertaken for the major or interdisciplinary in nature may be included, e.g., poetry, lyrics, creative writing, translation, fiction, art, history, environmental issues, political and social issues related to the Hispanic world, photos, contests, etc.

VI.  Student Guide for Portfolio

The final portfolio should include the following items (most of them already described above in the portfolio component part. Please refer to it for a precise description of content):

Students’ Guidelines for Reflective Essays

Upon inclusion of any artifact in your portfolio, write a paper that looks back on the experience of this undertaking (reflective essay). Consult with your advisor so that you complete this reflection in time.

Format

When writing these essays in a word processor:

• Use only the Times New Roman font (or similar, if your computer does not have this font) with a size of 12 points.
• Double-space your typing.
• Leave one-inch margins all around.
• At the top left corner of the first page, place your name, the course and section number, and the date you have submitted the essay.
• Begin the essay with the title of your paper centered.
• Have the word processing program automatically number each page (except the first one) in the top right-hand corner.
• Use the Word Count function of Word to measure the size of your paper and place this word count at the end of your report.
• Essay must be at least 1000 words in length.

Describe

• Content of essay
• Title
• For what course was it written
• Date of assignment
• Why did you select this artifact (piece of work)? Give at least two or three reasons.
• What goals are you addressing?
• How many times have you re-written or edited the chosen artifact (essay)? You should provide an explanation of how you have improved the analysis in the assessment part. You should refer to specific assignments, drafts, and peer critiques as necessary.
• Explain what skills you possess and/or learned in order to be able to complete the assignment.

VII.          Submitting the Portfolio

• The portfolio is due the first week of February for spring graduates and first week of October for fall graduates. Exact due dates for portfolio entries, entrance and exit examinations will be emailed to students and posted each semester in the Hispanic Studies web page: http://www.csbsju.edu/hispanicstudies/
• The semester preceding graduation and the semester of graduation, students should register for Span 399 in order to get one credit for portfolio for each of these semesters. (This course number will change once the PP becomes a requirement for all majors.)

It is the students’ responsibility to include all required entries in the portfolio. Missing entries will delay graduation. Incomplete or late portfolios will not be accepted after the final deadline for submission.

VIII.        Participants

a.      Portfolio Assessment Committee—will provide general guidance and oversight to the advisors
b.     Majors—students expected to graduate spring 2008 and beyond
c.      Advisors—responsible for two to four students each

The assessment committee is composed of the Hispanic Studies chair and two other faculty members, the advisor, and a tenured or tenure-track professor that wishes to participate. The chair will be responsible for the overall coordinating of group activities for the portfolio process.

Students participating in the pilot portfolio will start collecting artifacts as soon as they declare the major. They can also add material from previous years in Spanish classes 212, 300 and above to the portfolio.

IX. Timeline

September, 2006
·         Selection of Assessment Committee, Advisors, and Majors for the Portfolio Project (PP). The process of assembling the portfolio begins as pilot project.
·         Students take the Entrance Exam

Spring 2007
·         Students planning to graduate spring of 2008 or later meet with their respective advisor at least twice per semester to discus the portfolio in process.

The meetings should be devoted to:
a.      comparing the portfolio-in-progress against a list of the recommended artifacts and documents that should go into the PP
b.     the students' planning of their work
c.      reading and discussion of the documents already in file
d.     identification of  problem areas if applicable
e.      recommendations to the student

Consistent, open dialogue will help the students express and channel their academic interests and will gauge their enthusiasm. Students may start selecting from formal and informal texts they have already written or will write for their courses.

• For those students pursuing language study overseas, or doing independent work (overseas experiences/ internships/experiential learning), such meetings will be substituted with a comparable number of extensive emails with their advisors and the Assessment Committee.

The program director overseas will also participate in working with the student on the portfolio.

• The Assessment Committee meets with the Advisors near the end of each semester to assess the work done by majors and to provide a forum for discussion among the advisors.

Spring 2008
The first group of PP majors prepares for graduation:

• Majors take the Graduation Exit Exam
• The PP advisors will have a series of meetings with seniors who plan to graduate in May 2009. During these meetings the students will revise documents, give the finishing touches to their portfolios, and share their documents and reflections with their fellow majors.
• Majors submit the complete portfolio at the due date published in the Hispanic Studies homepage, in classes, and by e-mail.
• Majors present the finished portfolio for the closing ceremony, which will be a showcase of the portfolios of graduating students. At the portfolio ceremony students will give an oral presentation of their Senior Year Reflective Essay. This ceremony keeps the celebratory reading spirit of the current Senior Project requirement. Date of celebration will be announced.

X.  Assessment

Portfolio assessment

Portfolio assessment is a superior indicator of student progress. It includes documented learning and supporting pieces. Portfolio assessment is the evaluation of a collected, organized, annotated body of work, produced over time by a student; it demonstrates progress toward specific goals and objectives. The portfolio will not be used for evaluation of the student’s course of study during the major. Nonetheless, the assessment of the collected work during this period will give us an integral understanding of the student’s progress and accomplishments. An assessment portfolio shows not only the best work of which the student is capable, but the progress the student has made to reach that level of achievement. An assessment portfolio is evaluated on specific criteria (see appendix/RUBRICS).

The portfolio does not affect student’s eligibility for graduation unless the student fails to assemble the portfolio and comply with the Student Guidelines (see below). The progress of the portfolio will be monitored in a coherent and timely manner through regular meetings with the advisor. All course work included in the portfolio will carry a regular evaluation from that particular class. The measures or standards for this evaluation are specified in each particular class. Each class has it own goals and objectives deriving from the major’s general goals. In contrast to the specific class, graded and evaluated, the portfolio examines the entire evidence of achievement of goals and objectives collected during the last two years of the major. A well-kept portfolio mirrors the comprehension and performance of a student. It is an assessment and diagnostic tool of students’ integrative learning in the major and a reflection of their progress, products and achievement.

If the portfolio is unsatisfactory, the student needs to rework the areas lacking in proficiency or submit the required artifacts (products collected in the portfolio).

The portfolio is granted a total of two credits, one during the junior year and one at graduation. These credits do not replace any class credit. The number of credits of the major will be increased from 36 to 38 credits.

Assessment of Pilot Portfolio Project (PP)

The portfolios will be evaluated jointly by the Assessment Committee and the advisors.

The evaluation will consist of a written assessment report by the Assessment Committee and the advisors based on a common guideline for portfolio assessment (see appendix/RUBRICS). This guideline is primarily focused on:

• completeness of work (inclusion of the required items) and neat, professional presentation of portfolio
• appropriateness of selected artifacts
• evidence of sustained work on the portfolio over the 4 semesters of the PP
• demonstration of academic and intellectual growth
• coherence (based on the reflections that accompany each piece and the introductory essay)
• evidence of critical thinking

Upon receipt of the assessment report by the Assessment Committee and the advisor, the major will, if needed:
a.         Write a response/reaction to the report by the Assessment Committee and the advisor.
b.         Review/Edit some of the artifacts or the complete portfolio and present a revised version including a short introduction.

Why use portfolio assessment?

• Students’ progress is measured over a period of time in various learning contexts.
• It is by nature incorporated fully into instruction.
• It will assist faculty in curriculum and instructional decisions.
• Hispanic Studies curriculum can be validated or improved based on information generated from portfolios.
• It identifies the major’s learning goals and the evidence in meeting these goals.
• Portfolio assessment is more formative than summative; it shows final product, but focuses on student progress.
• Planning for and evaluating portfolios reveals any weaknesses in instructional practices.
• Portfolios offer the teacher and student an in-depth knowledge of the student as a learner.
• It offers a coherent picture of a student’s individual achievement and his/her academic development.

Students Self-Assessment on Reflective Essays

• What kind of progress has been made with the essay that accompanies this reflective paper?
• How does the assignment reflect that progress?
• What could you have done differently in the selected essay to help you meet your personal/intellectual goals and those of the program?
• What was particularly important to you while you were completing this piece of work?
• What things did you struggle with while you were doing this work?
• What were some of the reactions you received from those who looked at this piece of work?
• How is this piece of work the same as or different from other projects you have done?
• What do you see as the strengths of the artifact you selected?
• What areas would you need to continue to work on?
• How have your grown intellectually during the course for which you have written this assignment?
• Which of the Hispanic Studies goals did you show growth in?
• What areas of personal/intellectual growth would you like to focus on your next assignment?
• What kinds of skills or critical thinking do you exhibit in your “best,” “worst,” and “most improved” work?  When discussing your “worst” work, the goal is not self-deprecation, but an evaluation of skills.

Note: The required elements of assessment are separated in this reflective essay guide, but you may integrate them. For example, you may explain the portfolio items within a discussion of your learning. No matter how you address each element, your essay needs to proceed in a logically, organized manner.

Suggested Guidelines for Student’s Senior Reflective Essay

In preparing this essay, think about your background, your expectations as a Hispanic Studies major; compare your expectations with the goals of the major. Try to include relevant facts about your background, your strengths and weaknesses in the language, literature, and culture areas of the program. Develop the self-reflective essay using specific examples of texts, authors, and theories. Remember that any written artifact you are composing requires a coherent narrative.

Give an account of your background in Spanish, American, and other cultures and literatures. Mention the authors and the literary and cultural works that you studied; state why they are meaningful to you academically and personally. You don't have to be comprehensive; write down whatever you can remember. State your progress in Spanish language, cultures and literatures. State your experiences with studying world cultures and foreign languages. Were you changed because of these experiences?

Take a look at the goals in the Hispanic Studies major. Do you believe that reading, analyzing, writing, and thinking critically serves an important function in our society? What does it mean to be proficient in a foreign language, culture or literature? What is the importance of writing Spanish in a variety of situations? What is the importance of symbolical or metaphorical thinking? What kind of critical reflection did you engage in daily with your work in the major? What are the key ideas in your major that have shaped or reshaped your thinking over the past two years? What are the key ideas that you suspect will continue to shape your life and thought in the future? What are some of the fundamental concepts and beliefs that inform your intellectual growth, your sensibility, or the values you have developed up to this point?

As you think about what sorts of things to say in your reflective essay, think of the many aspects of your educational experience inside and outside the classroom. Besides your courses, you should narrate about your participation in an overseas program, experiential learning, internship or any other experience in another country or in parts of the USA where you experienced a different culture.

You should also focus on your short-term and long-term planning for the future, which might include preparations for attending graduate school or preparations for a possible career—or really anything that demonstrates your thinking about the next stages of your life. How do you think the course of study as a Spanish major will help you attain your goals?

Your senior reflective essay does not reflect a finished product. It just shows the intellectual growth and maturity at this point in your career. The processes you describe in your reflective essays will also apply to your professional life.

Note: These guidelines for the senior reflective essay were taken and slightly adapted from “Guidelines to writing the reflective essay,” Bridgewater College, personal development portfolio, 2005.

XI.  Responsibilities of Committee and Advisor[1]

• Meet with the student-major at least twice a semester until the last semester before graduation to discuss progress on the portfolio and to provide the necessary guidance and support.
• Attend all PP meetings scheduled each semester.
• In the last semester before graduation, work more extensively with each major to help him/her finalize the portfolio.
• Co-lead informational meeting for portfolios every fall semester.
• Participate in the evaluation of all of the PP portfolios—the actual documents, the PP celebratory readings, and the examination of student performance in light of departmental goals for the major.
• Keep records of portfolio over the 2-3 year period: documents, reflections related to teaching, scholarship, and service (ideal, but optional) and/or keep notes and reflections on the PP, and contribute actively to the development of the students’ PP.

XII.  Rubrics

Rubrics are a key aspect for portfolio assessment. These rubrics each consist of a series of statements (called elements) against which the student work is rated. We will discuss these rubrics for general use in the Hispanic Studies Program.

Portfolio Assessment Record Sheet

Student’s Name: ____________________________ 
Entrance to the major:   _______Semester              Year___________
Spanish Advisor: ___________________________   
Expected graduation:    _______ Semester             Year___________

Rubric for Portfolio assessment

Evaluation Scale:
A – Exemplary (exemplary) = honors: 24-27 points
P – Proficient (competent/developing) = pass: 9-23 points
Fail – Partially proficient (incomplete/does not meet requirements): needs to be resubmitted: fewer than 9 points

ELEMENTS OR CRITERIA	Accomplished	Competent	Developing	Incomplete/ Does not meet Requirements	POINTS
Completeness of Portfolio	9 points   Inclusion of all required artifacts	6 points   Inclusion of most required artifact	3 points   Inclusion of a few required artifacts	0 points Lacks inclusion of most required artifacts
Selection of Artifacts	All artifacts and work samples are clearly and directly related to the purpose of the portfolio	Most artifacts and work samples are related to the purpose of the portfolio	Few artifacts and work samples are related to the purpose of the portfolio	Most artifacts and work samples are unrelated to the purpose of the portfolio
Presentation	Excellent organization and coherence	Good organization and coherence	Somewhat disorganized, but coherent	Lacks organization and coherence
Content	Rich content elaborated and varied	Adequate content	Acceptable, but repetitive	Deficient, undeveloped
Time line	Submitted all artifacts and final portfolio on time	Late submission of some artifacts, but timely submission of final portfolio	Late submission of most artifacts, but   timely submission of portfolio	Failed to submit most of the artifacts or the final portfolio
ELEMENTS OR CRITERIA	Accomplished	Competent	Developing	Incomplete/ Does not meet Requirements	POINTS
Senior year Reflective Essay	9 points The essay: shows strong intellectual and academic growth. Demonstrates major advancement in knowledge of specific content or skills. Demonstrates excellent critical thinking and the ability to evaluate progress.   Excellent additional elaboration of conclusions or results.	6 points The essay: shows adequate intellectual and academic growth. Demonstrates some advancement in knowledge of specific content or skills. Demonstrates strong critical thinking and the ability to evaluate progress. Successful additional elaboration of conclusions or results.	3 points The essay: shows weak intellectual and academic growth. Demonstrates scarce advancement in knowledge of specific content or skills Demonstrates adequate critical thinking and the ability to evaluate progress. Adequate additional elaboration of conclusions or results.	0 points The essay: does not show intellectual or academic growth. There is no evidence of advancement in knowledge of specific content or skills. Does not demonstrate critical thinking or ability to evaluate progress.                                 Inadequate elaboration of conclusions or results.
ELEMENTS OR CRITERIA	Accomplished	Competent	Developing	Incomplete/ Does not meet Requirements	POINTS
Reflective Essays	9 points All reflections Include goals for continued learning; articulate with the essay being critiqued; reflections connect back to the goals of the major; address the learning experience; show evidence of critical thinking; show connections with other content areas.	6 points Most reflections Include goals for continued learning; articulate with the essay being critiqued; reflections connect back to the goals of the major; address the learning experience; show evidence of critical thinking; show connections with other content areas.	3 points A few reflections Include goals for continued learning; articulate with the essay being critiqued; reflections connect back to the goals of the major; address the learning experience; show evidence of critical thinking; show connections with content areas.	0 points No reflections Include goals for continued learning; articulate with the essay being critiqued; reflections connect back to the goals of the major; address the learning experience; show evidence of critical thinking; show connections with other content areas.

NOTE: Academic writing, extracurricular writing and personal choice of artifacts will have been evaluated by the course instructor in each class or by the portfolio advisor before they become part of the portfolio.

Rubrics adapted from Gary Greenberg, John C. Ittelson, Kathleen Paris and Kathleen Blake Yancey, (2003)  Educause Information Resources Library, document ID # NLI0301 and here.

Works and online Web sources:

Barton, James & Angelo Collins. Portfolio Assessment: A Handbook for Educators. Dale Seymour Publications, 1977

Wickersham, Leah & Chambers, Sharon. Portfolios: Using Technology to Enhance and Assess Student Learning. Education: Summer 2006. Vol. 126, Issue 4, pp 738-746

Lorenzo, G. & Ittelson, J. (2005). An overview of e-portfolios. Educause Learning Initiative, ELI

Paper, 1-28. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI30

01.pdf

Ruhland, S. & Brewer, J. (2001). Implementing an assessment plan to document student learning in a two-year technical college. Journal of Vocational Education Research, 25(2), 141-171.

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