Digital Portfolio

The portfolio and self-assessment essay are in many ways the most important documents that you will create for this class. Assembling the portfolio will help you to see your progress as a writer over the course of the semester, and the self-assessment essay will give you the chance to evaluate that work based on your own criteria as well as the course learning objectives.

The portfolio should include, at a minimum, the self-assessment essay, revised and edited versions of your technical description, memo, lab report and proposal, and any additional documents (or portions of documents) you composed over the semester that help you demonstrate the extent to which you have met the course learning objectives and developed your understanding of writing and argument.

For instance, in addition to providing polished versions of your essays, you might want to include drafts of essays, examples from homework, peer reviews, etc. Or, you may want to include copies of your annotations of course texts or copies of the notes you took while reading to demonstrate that you have developed strategies for critical reading. To demonstrate that your drafting process has changed, you might want to include a draft from an early and a late assignment that illustrate changes in your drafting process. In order to better orient readers of your portfolio, you will also need to compose introductions to (or abstracts for) many of the documents you showcase, including your major essays (you do not have to write an abstract for the memo). Use this same approach for all of the course learning objectives. Be mindful that the documents you choose to include in your portfolio should be referenced in your self-assessment essay, which is further explained here. You will describe the documents, and their significance, in your essay. Thus, you will need to be very choosy in selecting which documents best represent your learning and development as a writer and be ready to refer to and analyze them in the self-assessment essay.

The portfolio will be housed on WordPress and hosted by the CUNY Academic Commons. You can make your portfolio private or public at any time. Your portfolio will be read by me, some members of the class, and other CCNY faculty and administrators. While the arrangement of the portfolio is up to you, it should be easy to navigate. As with any website, you want to be able to find what you are looking for without any interference. Be creative and be warned that a good portfolio is a lot of work.

Due Date: 5/25