The Rationale for Portfolios

As you prepare to leave Truman State University, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the faculty ask you to leave behind a portfolio that give us some “snapshots” of your learning and growth.  We ask you to reflect on your experiences here and to share that reflection with us through the process of selecting and organizing items for a Liberal Arts and Sciences portfolio.  The portfolio cover letters written by seniors have told us that the process of self-assessment and reflection was beneficial because it provided them with feelings of integration and closure.  Furthermore, the portfolio you submit benefits the University in many ways. 

Portfolio assessment provides a “thicker” description of the learning experiences of students and rounds out the data we acquire through standardized exams.  When they review portfolios, faculty can assess the nature and quality of the liberal arts and sciences experiences of graduating seniors.  Faculty members from across the disciplines gather in May and June to read items in every portfolio. Our goal is not to make judgments about individual students but to learn more about patterns of student learning experiences, growth, and achievement and to learn how seniors assess their time at Truman.

The quantitative and qualitative data we accumulate while reading student work provide information about the liberal arts and sciences curriculum, environment, and culture at Truman. Such data influence the continued evolution of the Liberal Studies Program. Individual faculty members who participate in portfolio readings report that they use the information to reflect on and refine their syllabi, courses, classroom practices, and advising. Faculty in several disciplines have worked together to add, revise or fine-tune core and major courses in light of the portfolio findings. The information has been used by groups of students, faculty, staff, and administrators to monitor the effectiveness of Truman and to set goals for continuous quality improvement.