Third Term Portfolio Assignment – Electronic Version
Your third term portfolio is a statement of what you have accomplished during your first year at Portland State. This portfolio will be read by your professor and may be read by your mentor, a faculty committee engaged in program assessment, or members of the Portland State community conducting research about what students learn in their first year here at Portland State.
Your assignment for this portfolio is to reflect on the Freshman Inquiry goals and present evidence of your progress towards each goal. For each goal you will choose at least one work sample that best reflects how you have worked to fulfill the spirit of that goal through your work. Your professor may also require you to include other work samples, but be sure to clearly indicate which work sample best reflects your progress towards the given goal.
Ø Design a cover page that expresses where you feel you are right now in your development as a student. Your cover should be a visual statement that introduces the portfolio and yourself as the author.
Ø Include a table of contents listing everything you have included in your portfolio, in the order which you have included it. The table of contents may be on your cover page, or be accessed by linking from the cover page. The table of contents may of may not be annotated, depending on your instructor's instructions.
Ø Include a 750-1000 word essay, written especially for this portfolio, summing up what you have accomplished this year and what impact Freshman Inquiry has had on you. The essay should be an excellent example of your writing. Assess your place in the world, and state your hopes for the future. Provide a listing and link for this essay in your table of contents.
Ø Address the four University Studies goals one by one. Link each goal to a description of the goal (www.ous.pdx.edu/fresh_spec.html), then state, in one or two well developed paragraphs, whether you feel that you have progressed towards this goal over the past year.
Ø Each goal should be linked to at least two representative examples of your work from your Freshman Inquiry course that illustrates your learning for that goal. You may include formula assignments, informal or in-class assignments; journal entries, class notes, and anything else suggested or approved by your professor. Always be sure to include your best work.
Ø For each assignment that you include as evidence of a goal, write a short explanation illustrating why you think this assignment best illustrates this particular goal.
Ø Provide evidence of the progress that you have made over the course of the year. First, identify an academic skill, or ability you feel significantly improved during the year. Discuss how this capacity developed over the course of the year. Illustrate with examples from your work.
Ø While you are free to select from any of the assignments in your course for this portfolio, there are specific types of assignments that every portfolio must include. They are:
o a research paper
o at least one other example of your best written work
o a sample of work that demonstrates your quantitative literacy
o a sample of work that demonstrates your ability to communicate orally
o one or more samples of work that demonstrate your ability to use different computer programs. (For example, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Netscape Communicator, etc.)
Ø Last, include any additional material that your professor has asked for.
Ø When constructing your portfolio, give careful attention to both its creative and professional presentation. Thoughtfully consider the color combinations you choose, the function and relationship of the images have chosen to your written materials, the way you have structured your links, and the quality of your writing as you reflect upon your learning.