Tips For Faculty
Thank you for your assistance with the Liberal Arts Portfolio.
Without your help, the portfolio project could never be a success. This document
is intended to help you help the students get as much as they can from their
portfolio experience.
Portfolios are now only accepted online, via our web page.
Interesting or troubling artifacts may be submitted physically to our office, on
CD, or via e-mail. As the portfolio is evolving, we have different sites for
students in different parts of their Truman experience. Links on the left side
of this screen will take you to the appropriate web page.
If you are teaching a senior seminar, a course with an
embdedded portfolio experience, or want to check on your advisees, you can go to
the following pages to see their progress.
http://assessment.truman.edu/portfoliofaculty_new/
For students graduating before December 2010:
http://assessment.truman.edu/portfoliofaculty_seniors2010/
For students between those two intervals:
TBA
The portfolio website (http://assessment.truman.edu/components/portfolio
) includes everything the students need to complete the portfolio and for you to
help with that. It even has summary data from the last several years. Please let
me know of other things that you would like to see included there.
Do not hesitate to refer your students to me if they have
questions or concerns. Thank you for all you do in helping make the Portfolio
Project a useful part of our campus culture!
Suggestions for Capstone Instructors:
What follows is a list of suggestions that have helped faculty
in the past. Many of these suggestions come from the faculty members who read
the portfolios, and who on occasion have been perplexed by some inappropriate
submission or by something the student wrote on a cover sheet implying a
misunderstanding. My purpose is only to guide you and definitely not to increase
the burden you already have. I realize that capstone class sizes and curricula
vary widely amongst the disciplines. Do only what you feel that you can or
should.
1.
Encourage students to work on the portfolio
throughout the semester. This is the most important request I have for you. One
of the main differences between students who are happy after completing the
portfolio and those who are angry is that the latter have waited until the last
minute to work on their portfolio. Some have told us that they understand the
promise of the portfolio in giving them the opportunity to reflect on their
intellectual and personal growth, but because they were rushed, they had no time
for introspection and reflection. You might try assigning one category of the
portfolio every week during the first half of the semester.
Since documents will be submitted electronically, students
need not wait to send all items at the same time. Sending documents periodically
throughout the semester will likely help students avoid the “procrastination
bug”.
Over time, more submissions will be embedded in courses, so we
hope that more students will have already started their portfolio before they
participate in their capstone experience. Still, some will always fall through
the cracks.
2.
If possible, read each prompt in class, encourage a
brief discussion, and solicit questions. Refer questions you can't answer to the
portfolio director or to a colleague who has participated in the May portfolio
readings. The prompts have been carefully constructed and revised over the years
to minimize the submissions of certain kinds of inappropriate works.
3.
Make your own due date for the final portfolio
earlier in the semester than we require. This goes along with point 1 above. If
a student has to prepare their (ungraded) portfolio at the same time they're
trying to write final term papers and prepare for final exams, they invariably
and understandably make it their lowest priority. They do a shoddy job and reap
none of the intended benefits of reflection and self‑assessment.
This is a constant theme mentioned by students in their cover letters.
Additionally, students in your course who will be graduating
at the end of the semester must have the portfolio completed in order to obtain
the necessary signature on the graduation clearance form. Typically, we need at
least a week to process the portfolio before they can get the signature on the
form, and the form must be completed four weeks prior to graduation. It is
important that these students are aware of the need for timely submission of
their portfolio to ensure a smooth graduation process.
4.
When we read portfolios, we are evaluating the
University and its programs, not the students. Students need not feel inadequate
if they don't have a good submission for a particular category. They should
submit the best example they can find. If they are not especially satisfied with
it, they can tell us on the completed prompt. The conclusion we draw is that the
university has not provided an adequate opportunity for the student to produce
an appropriate work. We do not conclude that the student is inadequate in any
way.
5. Students should be encouraged to submit an item for each category, i.e., a complete portfolio, even if they are not completely satisfied with the entry. (See point 4 above.)
6.
Students may, if it is appropriate, use the same
work for two or more of the portfolio categories. It is certainly possible that
a work submitted for one category is an excellent example of other types of
thinking or inquiry.
7.
Students should be encouraged to put some thought
(and time) into the explanations and self-assessments they write when completing
the prompts. What students write here is also evaluated.
Deadlines:
To ensure smooth graduation, you want to have
your portfolio completed on time.
Spring
Graduation
- Second Friday in April
Summer Graduation
- Friday after the July 4th
holiday
Fall Graduation
- Second Friday in November
Portfolios received late are handled in
the order in which they are received. If you are having a problem that may
require a late submission, please e-mail the portfolio office at
ss17@truman.edu
so that we can help you handle the difficulties.