Course Assessment: Final Portfolio
- Due No Due Date
- Points 80
- Submitting a website url
Overview
For this assessment you will create a final portfolio of your work in this course.
Read: What is a Portfolio?
A portfolio represents the body of work that you’ve completed in this course. It shows your progression and self-awareness as a reader, writer, thinker, and global citizen.
The portfolio has 2 parts:
- A reflective essay
- 4 Artifacts with memos
The portfolio comprises 10% of your grade and is a chance to examine your work in this class as a whole. Research by Seattle Pacific University’s John Medina and others scientists and educators who research the brain, tells us that one way to get information into our long-term memory (so we can use it again) is to repeat it and reflect on it. That is exactly what this portfolio will help you do
Assessment Instructions
Follow the instructions below to complete the assessment:
Prepare a Reflective Essay
The reflective essay is the most important part of the portfolio. It is your last essay for this course. It tells the story of your experience in the class, and gives you the chance to reflect on and evaluate your work. It tells about the improvements you’ve made and the challenges you’ve faced as you analyze specific assignments and how they have contributed to your learning.
The reflective essay should be at least two pages, double spaced in MLA format.
Here are some things to think about as you compose your reflective essay:
- Writing: What have you learned about the writing process? What are you still working to master in your writing? What challenged you as a writer this quarter? How have you grown?
- Reading: How do you see yourself as a reader now compared to how you saw things when the quarter began. What reading strategies/skills have you developed over the quarter? Please specifically address at least two texts that you read for the course. What aspects of the texts were most significant for you? What challenged you as a reader this quarter? How have you grown in your reading process and your attitude toward reading?
- Speaking and listening: Reflect on the in-class and the online discussions and formal and informal presentations you completed. How have you grown in this area? What are you still working to master? What is still challenging?
Address the Class Themes
- Environmental Science
- How can practicing the scientific method and the principles of scientific thinking help us better understand our world and improve the quality of our lives?
- How do we know the Earth is an interconnected system and why should we care?
- What did you learn about how energy conversions underlie all ecological processes? Why is this important?
- How do humans impact the natural environment and affect ecosystem stability? Why is this significant?
- What steps can be taken to improve environmental conditions and how can we participate in solutions to these issues?
- Which modules were most engaging for you? Explain.
- Current World Issues
- How do environmental issues relate to social and economic issues?
- Please specifically address at least two current world issues that we discussed that resonated the most for you. Why did you choose to write about them?
- How has your thinking changed about world issues?
- What are some actions you can take to help address the issues we discussed?
- What responsibility do the world’s wealthier nations have in solving problems faced by poorer nations?
- Critical Thinking and Research:
- What did you discover about how you learn best? Reflect on your own metacognitive processes. Think about your ability to analyze text, make connections, conduct research, and apply what you’ve learned.
- What assignments pushed your critical thinking skills the most this quarter?
- How has your perspective about yourself, your classmates, your community or society in general been impacted or changed since the beginning of the quarter?
- Participation:
- Evaluate your participation in class: attendance, attitude and effort. What was challenging? How did you address those challenges?
- Reflect on your participation in small group and large group work. Which activities did you enjoy participating in the most? How have you grown in the area of class participation? What would you like to continue to work on?
- Goals:
- What role does reading and writing play in my future career and academic goals?
- How can I use reading, writing, speaking and listening as tools for personal growth and empowerment?
- What important things will you take with you when you leave our class?
Keep in mind this is an essay, NOT merely a series of questions to answer.
Artifacts
Why do we need artifacts? - The point of including artifacts in your portfolio is to give further depth to the representation of your work, to say, “There’s more to my learning than just the reflective essay. Look at these…” You select artifacts that help us see more of your learning.
When selecting artifacts consider those that show:
- specific success in writing
- specific success in reading
- a specific struggle that you went through this quarter
- growth or improvement
- a change in your thinking
- something you are proud of
- something you wish you did better
- something you want to remember
- something you found useful
- something that resonated with you
Examples of Artifacts
- Your notes or annotations might show something about you as a thinker/reader.
- Journals or prewriting might show something about the way you put ideas together and reflect.
- A quiz might show something you’ve struggled with and improved.
- A reading log or response might show how you’ve learned to analyze a text.
Hopefully you get the idea. There’s no one correct use of the collected work from this class. The point is that you can talk about these pieces to give an idea about what you’ve done and learned this quarter.
Memos
Memos are a typed paragraph that describe your artifact.Your memo should:
- describe the artifact in a couple of sentences
- explain why you chose it
- and explain what it shows about you as a student/writer/learner/reader
Make sure to Review the rubric before submitting your portfolio to ensure you have met all of the criteria.
Submit your portfolio online in Canvas by linking to Google Docs. Clearly label your Google Docs as: Reflective Essay, Artifact Memo #1, Artifact #1, Artifact Memo #2, Artifact #2, Artifact Memo #3, Artifact #3, Artifact Memo #4 and Artifact #4.
Rubric
Find Rubric
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CCR Writing Anchor 4:Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. TASK
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CCR Writing Anchor 4:Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. ORGANIZATION/DEVELOPMENT
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CCR Writing Anchor 4:Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE
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CCR Language Anchor 1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
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CCR Anchor 2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
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Reflection: Reflects upon and analyzes learning throughout the course. Discusses all of the components and themes of the class outlined in the assignment sheet. Uses specific examples from student’s work and class assignments. Points out specific improvements as well as challenges.
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Artifacts: Memos explain each artifact and the reason for its inclusion, Artifacts meet the requirements. Artifacts represent the student beyond the material in the reflective essay.
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