Evaluation and portfolio guidelines,
a variation on Dr. Jim Stroh's theme
Your portfolio is your summary of your learning in this program. You
should be able to refer to it years hence and get a clear recollection
of the most important aspects of your learning this quarter. A stranger
(for example, a grad school admissions officer or a potential employer)
should be able to browse your portfolio and, from your presentation of
your material, get a clear picture of the most important aspects of your
learning.You can show it to your kids when they study science in 2020,
or show it to incoming students trying to figure out how to do their portfolios
next year. Look at peers' portfolios for ideas about your own, and have
a willing stranger (or friend) read yours for clarity and meaningfulness.
PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES:
Two common approaches are developmental and representational portfolios.
In a representational portfolio, you might emphasize select pieces
of work that fairly represent the overall quality of your work this quarter.
These pieces would be independently tabbed, and would be explicitly referenced
in your cover paragraph for the appropriate section. Their significance
in the context of that section and of the overall program would be made
clear to the reader. In a developmental portfolio, you might contrast
weaker earlier work with stronger later work to show how your understanding
has grown. For example, you might rework incomplete homework and demonstrate
by your discussion of the work how your understanding has progressed beyond
that shown in your initial work. Concreteness strengthens your portfolio
and helps your reader focus. If you say you have an especially good grasp
of Kepler's 3d law, for example, illustrate your conceptual understanding
with a relevant case from your own experience, and explain it in your own
words.
PORTFOLIO MECHANICS:
Your portfolio should include all your written work this quarter. Put your
work in a 3-ring binder, in a logical order:
Include two copies of your self-evaluation - one to leave in your portfolio,
and one to give your prof at the eval conference.
You also need a table of contents and a cover page summarizing what's included,
and why.
You should tab and label each section of your portfolio, and write a cover
paragraph for each section.
Organize sections in a way that makes sense to you, and makes it easy
for the reader to understand (for example, homework, prep notes, quizzes,
exams, and research project). What should your reader focus on? Each cover
paragraph (say, for the homework section) may be similar to part of your
self-evaluation, and should also call attention to specific works that
clearly illustrate your good work. Mark these important pieces of work
by tabbing them independently and by discussing them in your cover paragraph.
SELF-EVALUATIONS:
Your self-evaluation should synthesize your learning experiences in this
program, and show your progress with one or two concrete examples. Edit
your self-eval to focus on concise insights about your growth and learning.
Instead of merely claiming to understand a topic, choose a concrete example
to demonstrate your understanding concisely and vividly.
Keep one copy of your self-eval in your portfolio, and give one to your
prof. It's up to you whether this should be part of your permanent record
at Evergreen.
Say you've written your self-eval in the first person:
"I started this program rusty in math, and improved to the point where
I could derive and clearly explain force balance in hydrostatic equilibrium:
gas pressure out is balanced by the inward gravitation force. I used this
in my project on fusion energy to show that magnetic confinement fusion
is feasible at fields on the order of tens of kilogauss. This was especially
exciting to me because I want to go into space on a fusion powered rocket."
Your next step is to rewrite your self-eval in the third person.
How would you fairly expect your prof to describe your work and growth
in Astronomy this quarter? Write that eval. Emphasize the positive (fairly)
and keep using concrete examples to demonstrate (not merely claim) your
understanding concisely and vividly.
"Alesia's math skills greatly improved this quarter, to the point where
she can derive force balance in hydrostatic equilibrium. This enabled her
to effectively demonstrate her clear conceptual understanding of the situation
when gas pressure out is balanced by the inward gravitation force. She
used this in her project on fusion energy to show that magnetic confinement
fusion is feasible at fields on the order of tens of kilogauss. Alesia's
easy mastery of these important new skills helps to prepare her well for
her goal of going into space on a fusion powered rocket."
Please spell-check and have peers and APEL proofread your self-eval.
After you have discussed your eval with your research team, edit
it appropriately. Then have each team member sign your eval. Bring
this third-person self-eval to Zita (hardcopy and on disk, as a Microsoft
Word document) and she will edit it with you, during your final eval conference.
This will become the official "faculty evaluation of student" that goes
into your permanent record at Evergreen.
FACULTY/PROGRAM EVALUATIONS BY STUDENTS
Please write an evaluation for each of your faculty. If you'd like to comment
on other support people and resources, that feedback is welcome too. Please
share these evaluations with your prof at your eval conference, or give
them to the program secretaries, if you prefer.
Constructive suggestions about what works and what could change will help
us decide how to guide future programs. Anonymous evals carry little weight.
Refer to APEL's guidelines on writing faculty evals.
Return to: Energies
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maintained by E.J. Zita
edited on 27.May.98