portfolio eval guidelines

Spring 2001

Portfolio and evaluation
guidelines *DRAFT*

Astronomy
& Cosmologies

Astronomy
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Please read these guidelines completely to prepare for evaluation week. They are designed in a step-by-step process to help you assemble a reflective portfolio you can be proud of.

Introduction	1. prep sheet	portfolio strategies
2. assemble your rough portfolio	3. cover paragraphs	4. your self-eval
5. evals of classmates	6. evals of faculty	Program description and Covenant
evaluation schedule	what happens in eval conferences	Advising resources

Your portfolio is your summary of your learning in this program. It should include all your required work this quarter, organized and annotated in a way that is easy to read. It should include thoughtful self-reflection on the process and content of your learning. You should be able to refer to your portfolio years from now 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 friends trying to figure out how to do their portfolios next year, or show it to your kids when they're in college. Look at peers' portfolios for ideas about your own, and have your triad partners review yours. It should be CLEAR and MEANINGFUL. Use concrete examples - don't just claim you know something - show that you know it.

1. Prep sheet: Click here to preview a set of questions designed to get you in the mode of self-evaluation. After you've thought carefully about them and reviewed your work, go to InQsit and fill out the "astroEval" survey.

Then proceed to step 2. (In fact, you have probably already gotten a start on assembling your portfolio, in the process of reviewing your work to answer the questions in 1.)

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. Tab these pieces independently, and explicitly reference them in your cover paragraph for that section. Make clear to the reader their significance in the context of that section and of the overall program.

In a developmental portfolio, you might contrast weaker earlier work with stronger later work to show how your understanding has grown. For example, you could rewrite a weak paper and then write a brief discussion of how you improved your initial work.

Concreteness strengthens your portfolio and helps your reader focus. If you say you have an especially good understanding of the use of myths for maintenance of sociopolitical power, or of the existence and nature of dark matter, for example, illustrate your conceptual understanding with a concrete case from your own work, and explain it in your own words.

2. Assembling your portfolio:

Your portfolio should include all your required work this quarter. Ordinarily that does not include rough notes. Put your work in a 3-ring binder in a logical order:

Make a table of contents and a cover page summarizing what's included, and why.
Tab and label each section of your portfolio.
Include two copies of your self-evaluation (at the end of the quarter) - one to leave in your portfolio, and one to give your prof at the eval conference.
Include the evals you wrote for your triad partners and the evals they wrote for you.

For example, a typical portfolio for this program would include sections such as:

Evaluations (include extra copies for your prof to keep)
Program description and schedule
Seminar preparation and responses
Workshops (Kepler's laws, spectra, etc.)

Web-X postings
Homework
observing journal and field trip notebook
Research project

If you have a better idea about an electronic format for your portfolio, for programs with extensive online assignments, ask your professor about it. Perhaps you'd like to make a web page portfolio!

3. Cover paragraphs:

Write a paragraph to introduce each section

What should your reader focus on? Tell us, and help us find the most important parts.

Once you have completed these steps, it will be easier to write your self-evaluation. In fact, you can probably use some of the material from your cover paragraphs directly in your self eval. Go back and look over your cover paragraphs, and underline the sentences that you'd like to include or revise for your self eval.

4. Then draft your SELF-EVALUATION: (turn this in with your portfolio)

For first year students, this is the first chapter of you intellectual history at Evergreen. 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.

If you need help getting started, use the cover paragraph that introduces each section of your portfolio, since you've already summarized your work there.

Then edit your self-eval down to one page.

Keep one copy of your self-eval in your portfolio, and give one to your prof.

Spell-check and proofread carefully! You want your self eval to represent you fairly and well. Have peers and APEL proofread your self-eval. After you have discussed your eval with your class teammates, edit it appropriately.

Don't hesitate to rewrite your self-eval even after you have turned in a draft with your portfolio. Bring an extra copy of the polished redraft to your eval conference for your prof.

5. Evaluations of your class teammates or triad members: (turn these in with your portfolio)

Did they come to every prep meeting?

Did they come prepared, having read everything and taken notes?

Were they reliable contributors to your group work, for example, articulating and posting 2 key points and 2significant questions about each week's readings and workshops?

Did they give you thoughtful feedback on your seminar responses and essays?

Did you work together effectively to prepare for seminar, improve your writing, do workshops, and deepen your understanding of the program material?

6. Also write an eval of each FACULTY member in your program.

Faculty members can contribute to your learning experience in lectures, workshops, conversations, seminars, and more. How did your profs contribute to your learning? Comment on your own personal experiences with each faculty member, not on your perceptions of your classmates' perceptions.

Give your faculty evals to a program secretary (Jill or Ruth, Lab II Rm 2250) on the day of your eval conference. Write an evaluation of your seminar faculty member every quarter. Write an evaluation of any faculty members that will not be in the program next quarter. Write evals of all your faculty if you are leaving the program. All faculty members welcome your evals, even if you were never in their seminar group. How did they help you in workshops, in seminar, with observing? You might want to refer to the expectations in the program covenant.

Faculty members will not read your faculty evals until all their evals of students are turned in to the secretaries, unless you ask them to.

APEL's guidelines

What happens in eval conferences?

If you turned in your portfolio and evals on time, Dr. Zita will have read them and used them, together with her records, to write a draft evaluation of your work. In your conference, tell Zita about your best learning in the program, and discuss your academic plans and goals. Zita will read your self-eval and give you feedback on it. She will never require you change your self-eval, nor will she sign it - this is your formal representation of your learning. You will give Zita a brief tour of your portfolio, using your cover paragraphs and tabs to hit the high points. Zita will give you a copy of the eval she drafted of your work, and you will have an opportunity to discuss it. She may or may not make changes based on the conference, and will then take some time after you leave to finish it up. She'll give the eval to the program secretaries by the end of the week, and they could take months to return it to Zita on the official form for her signature, depending on how busy they are. (So if if you're anxiously waiting for your formal eval, ask Ruth or Jill about its status. Their phone number is 360-867-6102.)

Maintained by: E.J. Zita