BIS 490B (LN
8224)
Senior
Seminar:
Consumerism and
the American Novel
Autumn 2003
Learning Portfolio
Assignment
Due 5:45 p.m sharp on
Wednesday, Dec. 3
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.
First, gather all of your work that is to
be included in your course-end learning portfolio. The guidelines for
what to include are listed below. I strongly recommend downloading
the learning portfolio items from the Catalyst Portfolio tool (see
"Downloading and submitting the portfolio," below) so you can see
what you will need to respond to, so you have time to think about and
draft responses.
Then, 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 how consumerism
shapes American culture, and vice versa
- 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) 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).
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.
Needless to say, your work must be entirely
original. Using another person's ideas or words without proper
attribution, whether intentional or accidental, constitutes
plagiarism, and will result in a zero on this assignment. Please
re-read "Maintaining Academic Integrity" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Integrity.html>.
You will submit your portfolio
electronically, using the Catalyst Portfolio tool.
Downloading and submitting the
portfolio: When you are ready to submit your portfolio, log onto
the Portfolio tool at <http://portfolio.washington.edu/optin.cgi?owner=davidgs&id=1222>.
You will need your UW Net ID to log on.
Under "Choose a portfolio location," please
choose the default location and then click the "Continue" button.
After receiving a confirmation that your portfolio was installed, you
will see the main portfolio page. You do not need to click on the
instructions, because that link will just take you to this
page.
One by one, you will add content to your
electronic portfolio. Refer to the specific instructions below for
each item.
- Pre-course and
course-end questionnaires. Start
your portfolio with "Pre-Course and Course-End Questionnaires" by
clicking on that blue phrase. With those two questionnaires in
front of you, think about and then type your reflection upon those
questionnaires. With this item and all of the others, you can
click the "Save" button periodically to make sure you don't lose
your work, but when you are all finished, you must click on the
"Finished" button.
- Essay.
Your final version of your essay
is the next component of your learning portfolio. Your Word file
should be named exactly in this format: LastnameFirstinitialE. For
example, if you name were Mary Husky, your filename would be
"HuskyME" (but without quotation marks). Note that there is no
space between the last name and the first initial or between the
first initial and the "E" (which stands for Essay). Your file name
cannot have a space in it. To submit this artifact, click on the
blue "Essay" phrase from the main portfolio menu. Click on the
blue "Attach artifact" button. In the pull-down menu following
"Artifact type," choose "A file from your hard drive." Then use
the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer. In the
next box, name your artifact "Essay." Don't change the artifact
location (leave it "My Artifacts"). Then click the "Create
Artifact" button. When you get to the next screen, click on the
"Finished" button. That should take you back to the main portfolio
menu.
- Research
Paper. Your final version of
your research
paper is the next component of
your learning portfolio. Your Word file should be named exactly in
this format: LastnameFirstinitialR. For example, if you name were
Mary Husky, your filename would be "HuskyMR" (but without
quotation marks). Note that there is no space between the last
name and the first initial or between the first initial and the
"R" (which stands for Research paper). Your file name cannot have
a space in it. To submit this artifact, click on the blue
"Research Paper" phrase from the main portfolio menu. Click on the
blue "Attach artifact" button. In the pull-down menu following
"Artifact type," choose "A file from your hard drive." Then use
the "Browse" button and locate the file on your computer. In the
next box, name your artifact "Research Paper." Don't change the
artifact location (leave it "My Artifacts"). Then click the
"Create Artifact" button. When you get to the next screen, click
on the "Finished" button. That should take you back to the main
portfolio menu.
- Short reflection on
participation. In the space
provided for this item, please write one paragraph or two
paragraphs about your participation in BIS 490B. How do you feel
about your participation in small-group and in full-class
discussions? Which of the participant "profiles" described in the
Class Participation document at http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Partic.html
best fits you, and why do you think so? How many of the
small-group roles as described in that document did you try? If
you had to give yourself a letter grade--A, B, C, D, or F--for
overall participation, what would it be?
- Reflective
paper. Your reflective paper is
the next component of your learning portfolio. Your Word file
should be named exactly in this format:
LastnameFirstinitialReflect. For example, if you name were Mary
Husky, your filename would be "HuskyMReflect" (but without
quotation marks). Note that there is no space between the last
name and the first initial or between the first initial and the
"Reflect." Your file name cannot have a space in it. To submit
this artifact, click on the blue "Reflective Paper" phrase from
the main portfolio menu. Click on the blue "Attach artifact"
button. In the pull-down menu following "Artifact type," choose "A
file from your hard drive." Then use the "Browse" button and
locate the file on your computer. In the next box, name your
artifact "Reflective Paper." Don't change the artifact location
(leave it "My Artifacts"). Then click the "Create Artifact"
button. When you get to the next screen, click on the "Finished"
button. That should take you back to the main portfolio
menu.
When you have submitted all of the elements
of your portfolio, you need to click on the green "Submit" button
to submit the entire portfolio to me for review. When you click
on that button, you will see a list of the artifacts that you have
submitted. Click on the "Check ALL pages" button just below the list,
and then on the "Submit" button. You should get a pop-up confirmation
that your portfolio has been submitted. Then log out and close your
browser window to protect your UW Net ID.
Your learning portfolio is due in class
at 5:45 p.m. sharp on Wednesday, Dec. 3. 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 not accept any late portfolios for any
reason, so I strongly recommend finishing early to avoid any
unforeseen problems.
Basis for grading your learning
portfolio:
|
Completeness (responds
appropriately to the assignment in form and
content)
|
20 percent
|
|
Depth of response (quality of
detail and support; sophistication of ideas and
argument)
|
70 percent
|
|
Quality of writing (organization;
spelling, grammar, diction, punctuation)
|
10 percent
|
Based on the above criteria, I will assign
the following marks for your learning portfolio, which will
contribute to the determination of your final course grade as
explained on the syllabus at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS490BSyl.html>
under "Final Course Grade Scale."
|
Excellent (surpasses
expectations)
|
check-plus
|
|
Good (meets
expectations)
|
check
|
|
Unsatisfactory (does not meet
expectations)
|
check-minus
|
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.bothell.washington.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 October 29,
2003.
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