Midquarter portfolio due online at 10:45 a.m. sharp on Wednesday, Feb. 17;
final learning portfolio due online at 10:45 a.m. sharp on Monday, March 8

The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with a chance to reflect upon what you have learned, to critically analyze your work, and to practice the selection of and presentation of your work to an audience. It addresses the following course learning goal:

• Become better critical thinkers and writers, capable of posing, answering, and reposing a variety of complex questions.

You will submit your portfolio electronically, using the Catalyst CollectIt tool.  I use electronic portfolios for several reasons:

• They eliminate the use of paper, because I can read and comment on your portfolio's comments online;
• You do not have to worry about printer problems, which are much more common than other computer problems;
• You and I can work on portfolios from anywhere in the world where we have Internet access, without having to haul papers around;
• Your portfolio will remain archived, so you will have access to it when you need to complete your graduation portfolio in your senior capstone course;
• You can submit your portfolio without being on campus on the due date;
• Neither you nor I can lose your documents.

Note: It is very important that you follow these step-by-step instructions.  These instructions work!

Important:  All artifacts (documents that you upload into your portfolio) must be Microsoft Word documents (not Microsoft Works or Wordperfect).  If you use a Macintosh computer, you must add the suffix .doc to the names of all attached artifacts described below.

Be sure you submit only one artifact on each portfolio page.

Midquarter Portfolio

The guidelines for what to include are listed below. I strongly recommend downloading the learning portfolio items from the Catalyst CollectIt tool (see "Submitting the portfolio," below) so you can see what you will need to respond to.  That will give you time to think about and draft responses.

Submitting the portfolio: When you are ready to submit your portfolio, log onto the CollectIt tool at https://catalysttools.washington.edu/collectit/dropbox/davidgs/9102. You will need your UW Net ID to log on.

That should bring you to the main menu.

You do not need to click on the instructions, because that link will just take you to this page.

First, click on the "Notification" link at the top of the page.  Enter your full name and any valid e-mail address, and click on the "Save" button.

Then, one by one, you will add content to your electronic portfolio. Refer to the specific instructions below for each item.

A1: Essay.   (See http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS300AEssay.html for instructions on writing this paper.)  Name your Microsoft Word file " Lastname300Essay," using your last name in place of Lastname and omitting the quotation marks and using no spaces, like this:

Mahone300Essay

Please be sure to capitalize as shown in the example.

To submit this artifact, click on the "A1: Essay" phrase from the menu. Then use the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer and select it.  Then, click on "Comments," and, in the text box, type the date on which you are submitting that artifact.  Then click on the next assignment area. 

A2: Contribution Self-Assessment.  In a Microsoft Word document with a standard academic heading (see T20 in "Tips for Better Prose"), write two substantial paragraphs that explain:

(a) which of the participant profiles described in the course's contribution document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Partic.html> best fits you so far, and why you think so, matching specific elements of the descriptions to your own observations about your contributions so far; and

(b) which of the small group roles, described in that same document, you have already tried.

Name your Microsoft Word file " Lastname300SelfAssess," using your last name in place of Lastname and omitting the quotation marks and using no spaces, like this:

Mahone300SelfAssess

Please be sure to capitalize exactly as shown in the example.

To submit your contribution self-assessment, click on "A2: Contribution Self-Assessment" phrase from the menu.  Click on the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer and select it.  Then, click on "Comments," and, in the text box, type the date on which you are submitting that artifact.

Those two elements complete your midquarter portfolio.

It does not matter when you submit items into your portfolio.  You can submit them one at a time, or all at once.

Confirming your portfolio submission:

To confirm that your midquarter portfolio has been properly submitted, click on the individual element links again.  You should see a document attached on each page.  I recommend opening each of the artifacts to make sure they are what you expected.  Please do not ask me to confirm receipt.  I can't do anything other than this same process, so please just check for yourself.

Your midquarter learning portfolio is due online at 10:45 a.m. sharp on Wednesday, February 17. I will deduct ten percentage points from the score of final portfolios that did not have a complete, corresponding midquarter portfolio submitted, and you won't get comments on your midquarter work.

About seven days after you submit the latest item in your midquarter portfolio, I will return your portfolio (follow the same link as the one you used to get to the Portfolio before), with my comments.  If you activated e-mail notification as instructed above, you theoretically will receive an e-mail message when your portfolio is ready for you to pick up although it seems that students do not always receive this message for some reason.  (I think the messages might go to some junk mail folders because they are misidentified as spam.)  I will read, comment on, and return midquarter portfolios in the order in which I receive them, so the earlier you submit your midquarter portfolio, the more time you will have for revisions.

If you want assistance, the best people to ask are the computer lab consultants (who are trained in the Catalyst tools), or me, or both.  The librarians in the Campus Library often can be very helpful with online work, but they have not been specifically trained to help with Catalyst tools, so the computer lab consultants are a better bet.  Click on this link for more information about the UWB Computing Helpdesk: <http://www.uwb.edu/infosys/helpdesk.html>. The librarians, of course, are invaluable if you want to find information.

Final Portfolio

• First, write a formal, reflective paper of about 800 words (no fewer than 600 and no more than 1000) that discusses, in an order that makes sense as the best way to present your thinking:
  • your reflections upon what you feel you have learned in this course, with a focus on your performance rather than on the course itself
  • how you think you learned what you learned
  • how you feel about the various aspects of your work, including, but not limited to, the degree to which you have made progress in the following areas:
    • critical reading
    • formal writing
    • small-group and full-class discussions
    • understanding of aspects of interdisciplinarity
  • what you feel you will carry into your future courses and into your lifelong learning
  • what your priorities are for continuing improvement and learning

As a formal piece of university writing, your reflective essay should be typed and double-spaced throughout, using a standard font (like Times New Roman) in 12-point size, and with margins of one inch all the way around each page. By "formal," I mean that I expect carefully considered and carefully written work, which should be formally formatted, including double spacing. This probably requires some writing and revision before you can produce a high-quality, final product to include in the portfolio. First-person ("I") statements are fine. Please re-read "Tips for Better Prose" at<http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Prose.html> after getting your main ideas down on paper but before submitting your final version of your reflective essay. Provide a meaningful but brief title for your paper (not "Reflective Essay" but rather a short hint of your paper's main point or thrust) and a standard academic heading (as described in T20 in "Tips for Better Prose").

Just before you submit your reflective paper online, do a final word count (in the Tools pull-down menu of Microsoft Word) to make sure you meet the 600- to 1000-word parameters. You do not need to type the number of words; I will be able to do my own word count of your paper.

Name your Microsoft Word file "Lastname300Reflective," using your last name in place of Lastname and omitting the quotation marks and using no spaces, like this:

Mahone300Reflective

Please be sure to capitalize exactly as shown in the example.

Submitting the portfolio: When you are ready to submit your portfolio, log onto the CollectIt tool at https://catalysttools.washington.edu/collectit/dropbox/davidgs/9102. You will need your UW Net ID to log on.

Then, one by one, you will add content to your electronic portfolio. Refer to the specific instructions below for each item.

B1: Final Essay.   (See http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS300AEssay.html for instructions on writing this paper.)  Name your Microsoft Word file "Lastname300EssayFinal," using your last name in place of Lastname and omitting the quotation marks and using no spaces, like this:

Mahone300EssayFinal

Please be sure to capitalize exactly as shown in the example.

To submit this artifact, click on the "B1: Final Essay" phrase from the menu. Then use the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer and select it.  Then, click on "Comments," and, in the text box, type the date on which you are submitting that artifact.  Then click on the next assignment area.

B2: Final Contribution Self-Assessment.  In a Microsoft Word document with a standard academic heading (see T20 in "Tips for Better Prose" ), write two substantial paragraphs that explain:

(a) which of the participant profiles described in the course's contribution document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Partic.html> best fits you so far, and why you think so, matching specific elements of the descriptions to your own observations about your contributions for the whole quarter; and

(b) which of the small group roles, described in that same document, you have tried this quarter.  Please note that I expect this short response to be carefully written and proofread.

It is fine if your self-assessment is essentially the same as the midquarter version.  Just make sure it is up-to-date.

Name your Microsoft Word file " Lastname300SelfAssessFinal," using your last name in place of Lastname and omitting the quotation marks and using no spaces, like this:

Mahone300SelfAssessFinal

Please be sure to capitalize exactly as shown in the example.

To submit this artifact, click on the "B2: Final Contribution Self-Assessment" phrase from the menu. Then use the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer and select it.  Then, click on "Comments," and, in the text box, type the date on which you are submitting that artifact.  Then click on the next assignment area.

Please note:  The grade you receive in this part of your portfolio is your contribution grade.  The contribution self-assessment itself is not what I am grading in this section.  The self-assessment is graded as a (small) part of the portfolio grade.

B3: Research Proposal.   (See http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS300AProposal.html for instructions on writing this paper.)  Name your Microsoft Word file " Lastname300ProposalFinal," using your last name in place of Lastname and omitting the quotation marks and using no spaces, like this:

Mahone300ProposalFinal

Please be sure to capitalize exactly as shown in the example.

To submit this artifact, click on the "B3: Research Proposal" phrase from the menu. Then use the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer and select it.  Then, click on "Comments," and, in the text box, type the date on which you are submitting that artifact.  Then click on the next assignment area.

B4: Reflective Paper. Your reflective paper is the final component of your learning portfolio. Name your Microsoft Word file "Lastname300Reflective," using your last name in place of Lastname and omitting the quotation marks and using no spaces, like this:

Mahone300Reflective

Please be sure to capitalize exactly as shown in the example.

To submit this artifact, click on the "B4: Reflective Paper" phrase from the menu. Then use the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer and select it.  Then, click on "Comments," and, in the text box, type the date on which you are submitting that artifact.  Then click on the next assignment area.

It does not matter when you submit items into your portfolio.  You can submit them one at a time, or all at once.

Your final learning portfolio is due online at 10:45 a.m. sharp on Monday, March 8. Because I have provided the maximum amount of time to complete this assignment, because I need to return graded portfolios before grades are due, and because I need to ensure an equal amount of time to be fair to everyone in class, I will accept late portfolios submitted after 10:45 a.m. on March 8 but no later than 10:45 a.m. sharp on March 10, with twenty percentage points deducted from the learning portfolio score and from the score on any late artifact that gets graded.  However, I will be an absolute stickler for that grace period.  Let me be clear:  A portfolio submitted at 10:46 a.m. on March 10 is not one minute late, but rather is twenty-four hours and one minute late, and I will not accept it.  I will accept no portfolios after 10:45 a.m. sharp on March 10 for any reason, which probably will result in a 0.0 for the course, so I strongly recommend finishing early to avoid any unforeseen problems .  Try not to count on the twenty-four hour grace period.  Think of the deadline as 10:45 a.m. on Monday, March 8. Catalyst will be the official timekeeper for your portfolio, so give yourself some cushion in case your watch or clock are not set to exactly the same time as Catalyst.

To confirm that your final portfolio has been properly submitted, click on the individual element links again.  You should see a document attached on each page.  I recommend opening each of the artifacts to make sure they are what you expected.  Please do not ask me to confirm receipt.  I can't do anything other than this same process, so please just check for yourself.

Basis for grading your learning portfolio:

• Note that the score on the learning portfolio is entirely independent of your score on the individual artifacts. The essay and research proposal will be graded separately and the grade and comments will be returned to you as part of the returned learning portfolio.
• If you activated e-mail notification as instructed above, you will receive an e-mail message when your portfolio is ready for you to pick up, although students sometimes do not receive this message.  (I think the message sometimes goes to a junk mail folder.)
• I will read, grade, and return final portfolios in the order in which I receive them, so the earlier you submit your final portfolio, the earlier you will get your grades.  My goal is to return each portfolio within ten days of its submission.  Please do not e-mail me to ask when your portfolio will be returned.  That really slows me down as I am trying to read hundreds of pages of documents in the portfolios.  Just count on picking it up (at the same link, above, that you used to submit the portfolio) ten calendar days after submitting it.  (Portfolios submitted during the grace period might take longer than ten calendar days.)
• Let me emphasize that I expect your best effort in this and every exercise. My expectations are high because your ability to produce outstanding work is high.
• Some additional advice:

• Save your work often (maybe every ten minutes) so you do not lose everything when your computer freezes.
• Visit the Writing Center (see <http://www.uwb.edu/writingcenter/>).
• I do not have time to read rough drafts, but I am very glad to discuss your portfolio or its components as you work on them. You would be wise to visit me during office hours (see syllabus) to make sure you are on the right track, and to get advice about any particular difficulties you might be encountering.
• Re-read this assignment sheet just before assembling the final portfolio to make sure it meets all of the requirements.

This page last updated January 31, 2010.

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