he Purpose of the Writing Portfolio The portfolio should demonstrate what you know about academic research and writing. Toward that end, the choice...

he Purpose of the Writing Portfolio

The portfolio should demonstrate what you know about academic research and writing. Toward that end, the choice for portfolio organization belongs to you. Let's start there: with the rhetorical situation. You know the writer (you), the reader (me), and the purpose (to demonstrate your learning in this course). Let's use that rhetorical knowledge to invent strategies for organization. You might consider giving your portfolio a loose "thesis." For instance, consider the following two portfolio "theses":

This portfolio demonstrates both my facility with research and also my skills in critically synthesizing diverse sources to enter an academic conversation.

Or:

This portfolio illustrates my growth as an academic writer over the past eight units. Specifically, this portfolio shows how I have moved beyond offering my own opinion on a subject to using both my experiences and the expertise of others to provide a fuller picture of my argument.

After you have invented a working thesis for your portfolio as a whole, consider organization. Remember, I will read your portfolio in the order you choose. So, endeavor to structure the portfolio in a manner that supports your argument.

For example, the writer of the first portfolio will probably want to include a completed summary sheet from Unit Two to show her facility with research. On the other hand, the writer of the second portfolio may want to organize the portfolio in chronological order, beginning with a rough draft of each essay and showing its evolution through peer review, revision, and editing.

Remember that Reynolds and Davis argue in Portfolio Keeping that portfolio readers tend to make judgments early in the reading process: usually in the first three or four pages! So consider putting your best work early in the portfolio. You should also think about where your reflective essay is best placed: as the first piece, in order to serve as an introduction? As the final piece, to serve as an "afterword" to the portfolio? Separated into brief sections that explicate each essay and artifact, functioning as a sort of running commentary on the other pieces of the portfolio?

Finally, you must include some kind of table of contents in the portfolio, in order to give me a clear sense of what to expect as I read your work. For instance, a table of contents could look like the following:

George S. Park

Prof. McAfee

EN106

15 July 2014

Table of Contents

1. Reflective Essay: "Conversing with the Conversation" (p. 3)
2. "Lies I Told My Teachers: One Student's View of Education" (p. 7)
3. Artifacts related to "Lies I Told My Teachers": Close reading log, brainstorming list, rough draft #1, peer feedback (p. 12)
4. "How Pharmaceutical Companies Market Flu Medication") (p. 22)
5. Artifacts related to "How Pharmaceutical Companies Market Flu Medication": rough draft, instructor commentary, source summaries (p. 26)

Reflective Essay

The reflective essay should be an 800-1200 word essay that examines your writing in light of our core learning outcomes: Process, Focus, Development, Rhetorical Strategies, and Conventions. You may choose any number of approaches to this assignment. For instance, you can introduce your reader to any of the following:

• evidence of ways you understand your writing to have improved this term, either by identifying your habits and processes of writing or by examining specific examples from the essays included in your portfolio
• accounts of struggles or challenges this term, specific to academic writing
• consideration of the rhetorical contexts of academic writing, using the terminology you explored in Units One and Two
• descriptions of your next steps as an academic writer
• analysis of the similarities and differences between academic writing and the sort of popular discourse in magazines, newspapers, and popular web sites
• examples of particular paragraphs that you find to be strong or representative of your best work (in the body of the portfolio, you might put these passages in bold if you refer to them in the introduction)
• examples of particular paragraphs that you find to be weak or representative offrustrations you encountered related to writing or certain ideas
• meditations on the most important writing skills you will bring forward to your upcoming academic coursework
• descriptions of changed attitudes or levels of confidence related to your writing (for better or for worse)
• analysis of one or more particular learning outcomes and how it is represented in the portfolio at large

Because your reflective essay will be relatively limited in length, you will not have space to develop a response to all of the above issues. Remember that all good writing is focused, developed, and organized—so consider choosing just one or two of the prompts to write about. You also have leeway in terms of genre. If you prefer, you could format your reflective essay as:

• a letter to your instructor or a fellow student about academic writing
• a researched academic essay making an organized argument
• a rhetorical analysis or close reading of your own writing
• a running commentary on your polished final drafts and artifacts
• an autobiographical account of your journey as a writer
• some other structure of your own choosing

No matter how you choose to approach the reflective essay, it should be thoughtfully composed and carefully proofread. If you refer to outside sources, you must document your research using a standard academic format (e.g., MLA or APA).

Final Drafts

The purpose of this portfolio is to show what you know about academic research and writing. Toward that end, you must include your two best essays from this class. But that's not all: I expect to see further revisions of your essay. Even an "A" paper can be improved!

In making decisions about what to include, think about our definitions of academic writing and the level of quality expected in this writing course.

Artifacts

Related to the two other primary pieces of your portfolio — the reflective essay and the final draft essays — your portfolio must also include artifacts that reflect your writing process for each final draft essay. These artifacts can include related discussion posts, brainstorming documents, outlines, email conversations, peer responses, instructor comments, or rough drafts. The purpose of including these artifacts is to give me a full picture of your writing process, which is part of the assessment criteria for the portfolio.

Writing Portfolio

Our attention in Unit Seven shifts to preparation for the final portfolio, which is due at the end of this unit. Your portfolio should be submitted no later than 11:59pm CST on Sunday. The portfolio counts as 20% of your overall grade in the course.

This portfolio also serves as the core assessment measure for EN106 at Park University. Let's consider that term for a moment. At Park, a "core assessment" is a required assignment that is common across all sections of a course, both online and face-to-face. This assignment is meant to serve as a tool for instructors to evaluate student learning across sections, terms, campus centers, and modalities. In other words, the portfolio is your opportunity to show off what you have learned in this course, and an opportunity for Park faculty to learn more about how our teaching works. Ideally, we use the lessons from your core assessments to inform changes to curriculum. As you prepare the portfolio, think about using it to make an argument: to use a metaphor from the law, you should make a case for what you have learned this term in EN106.

Drawing upon the categories offered by Reynolds and Davis in Portfolio Keeping, your EN106 portfolio is a "best works portfolio"—that is, your portfolio should be a collection of your strongest, most polished academic writing. It will contain three primary pieces: a reflective essay, your two best essays from this class, and artifacts from your writing process.

For most students, the two essays will be the same two essays you improved through revision in Unit Four and Unit Six.

The next Canvas page will describe in more detail my expectations for your portfolio, and some of the possibilities for how you might organize it.

Final Portfolio Guidelines

Required Components: As described above, the required components for your portfolio are:

• A reflective essay (about 4 full pages, double-spaced)
• Your two best essays from this class, each with further revision
• Artifacts of your writing process

Length: Your reflective essay must be between 800-1200 words. Your two best essays should be as long as they need to be fully achieve their rhetorical purposes.

Style/Format: The revised essays essays should be formatted in a standard scholarly format. (Most students follow MLA or APA guidelines, which are outlined in Easy Writer.) No matter what format you follow, be sure to do the following:

• Use 12 point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced.
• Use 1-inch margins top, bottom, and sides.
• Although no cover page is needed, you should include your name, my name, the course number/title, and date at the upper left-hand corner of the manuscript.

File format: Please submit your portfolio as a single file attachment in a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. These formats are available in most word processors, including Google Docs and Open Office, and will ensure that your instructor is able to comment on your work.

Works Cited/References: Those essays that refer to outside sources must include a page of Works Cited, References, or whatever bibliography is required by the guidelines you choose. 

Deadline: Submit the portfolio as a single file to Submit Assignment no later than Midnight CST on Sundayat the end of this unit.

Use of essays for future courses: Please understand that your portfolio may be used— anonymously—as a sample for future EN106 students and instructors unless you expressly request that it not be used. Your work will only be used for educational purposes.

Assessment Standards: Your portfolio will be evaluated as a whole according to the following assessment standards. Please note that while these standards are similar to those used to grade your essays throughout the course, they are not identical. Please read through these assessment criteria and ensure that your portfolio demonstrates each outcome. In general terms, significant weakness in any one of these areas reduces the grade of your portfolio by a letter grade. However, serious weakness in one area can lead to the loss of two or three letter grades or to a failing grade. We can also discuss these grading criteria in the Instructor's Office.

Competency

Exceeds Expectation

(A)

Meets Expectation

(~B-C)

Does Not Meet

Expectation

(~C-D)

No Evidence

(F)

Process:

Apply writing processes, collaborative strategies, and effective academic research practices to participate in academic discourse.

Student demonstrates clear evidence of using process and social/collaborative practices to draft, revise, edit, and proof-read.

Student shows some evidence of using process and collaboration to write.

Student does not demonstrate the use of process or collaboration.

No portfolio submitted.

Focus:

Maintain a controlling idea/thesis for a variety of academic genres.

The focus, or thesis, of each student essay is not only clear but insightful, memorable, and fully supported.

Student's writing consistently has a clear focus, though it may not always be unique or insightful.

Student essays are either unfocused or feature commonplace or generic theses.

No portfolio submitted.

Development: Apply strategies for developing academic arguments across the disciplines, including conducting research and incorporating culturally diverse perspectives.

Student essays demonstrate successful and deliberate development strategies, especially in the use of research and culturally diverse perspectives, such that each essay seems fully argued and complete.

Student essays demonstrate some use of development strategies but show room for further development in research, argument, or incorporating diverse perspectives.

Student essays are unsupported, needlessly repetitive, unclear, or otherwise underdeveloped.

No portfolio submitted.

Rhetorical Strategies: Consider the rhetorical situations faced by academic writers to respond appropriately in both writing and research.

Student consistently displays an awareness of audience, context, and genre, and responds creatively and appropriately.

Student shows some awareness of rhetorical situations and responds appropriately.

Student shows little awareness of rhetorical situations.

No portfolio submitted.

Conventions:

Use common formats and conventions (e.g., research, structure, documentation, tone, mechanics) for various genres of academic discourse.

Student essays make meaningful use of standard formats and conventions in structure, tone, documentation, and mechanics. Although a few mechanical errors may be present, they do not impede understanding.

Student essays are relatively standard in terms of format, documentation, and mechanics. Errors may be present, but do not impede understanding.

Student essays use inappropriate tone or structure, contain mechanical errors that impede understanding, or show serious deficiencies in terms of documentation (e.g., no Works Cited or References page).

No portfolio submitted.

Rubric

EN 106: First Year Writing Seminar II: Academic Research and Writing

EN 106: First Year Writing Seminar II: Academic Research and Writing

CriteriaRatingsPts 

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

LE Thinking 1: Sources and Evidence (Critical Thinking)

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

4.0 pts

Accomplished (Capstone)

3.0 pts

Competent (Second Milestone)

2.0 pts

Developing (First Milestone)

1.0 pts

Beginning (Benchmark)

0.0 pts

Not Applicable

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

LE Thinking 2: Access the needed information (Critical Thinking)

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

4.0 pts

Accomplished (Capstone)

3.0 pts

Competent (Second Milestone)

2.0 pts

Developing (First Milestone)

1.0 pts

Beginning (Benchmark)

0.0 pts

Not Applicable

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

LE Thinking 3: Evidence and Reasoning (Critical Thinking)

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

4.0 pts

Accomplished (Capstone)

3.0 pts

Competent (Second Milestone)

2.0 pts

Developing (First Milestone)

1.0 pts

Beginning (Benchmark)

0.0 pts

Not Applicable

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

LE Comm 1: Explanation of Issues (Communication)

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

4.0 pts

Accomplished (Capstone)

3.0 pts

Competent (Second Milestone)

2.0 pts

Developing (First Milestone)

1.0 pts

Beginning (Benchmark)

0.0 pts

Not Applicable

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

LE Comm 2: Organization (Communication)

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

4.0 pts

Accomplished (Capstone)

3.0 pts

Competent (Second Milestone)

2.0 pts

Developing (First Milestone)

1.0 pts

Beginning (Benchmark)

0.0 pts

Not Applicable

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

LE Comm 3: Conclusions (Communication)

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

4.0 pts

Accomplished (Capstone)

3.0 pts

Competent (Second Milestone)

2.0 pts

Developing (First Milestone)

1.0 pts

Beginning (Benchmark)

0.0 pts

Not Applicable

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

EN106.CLO.01

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

3.0 pts

Exceeds Expectations

2.0 pts

Meets Expectations

1.0 pts

Does Not Meet Expectations

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

EN106.CLO.02

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

3.0 pts

Exceeds Expectations

2.0 pts

Meets Expectations

1.0 pts

Does Not Meet Expectations

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

EN106.CLO.03

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

3.0 pts

Exceeds Expectations

2.0 pts

Meets Expectations

1.0 pts

Does Not Meet Expectations

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

EN106.CLO.04

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

3.0 pts

Exceeds Expectations

2.0 pts

Meets Expectations

1.0 pts

Does Not Meet Expectations

--

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

EN106.CLO.05

view longer description

threshold: 3.0 pts

3.0 pts

Exceeds Expectations

2.0 pts

Meets Expectations

1.0 pts

Does Not Meet Expectations

--

Total Points: 0.0