We assess all of our curriculum objectives using the senior portfolio. The portfolio is part of the coursework for ENGL 44091 Colloquium in Rhetoric and Writing, which is offered each semester and is a required course.
Fall or spring graduates submit their portfolios for assessment one month before their graduation date. Summer graduates submit their portfolios at the same time as the spring graduates.
Students are required to submit at least seven pieces of writing they have completed during their time in the major. Six of the pieces usually come from required courses, although we allow substitutions when necessary; the seventh piece is a reflective essay that critically discusses the student鈥檚 perspective on his or her own learning. Students may submit additional pieces from elective courses if they feel these pieces will help to demonstrate their progress on our learning objectives.
In developing the portfolio, each student is required to associate one or more documents with each of the rubric categories that we use for evaluation. This requirement ensures that students are submitting materials that meet our assessment goals. The rubric categories are:
- Reflective Essay
- Content Development
- Research and Documentation
- Organization Skills
- Voice and Style
- Effective Copy editing
- Professional Formatting
Portfolio documents are also holistically evaluated on their range of writing ability, an eighth category, although students do not associate specific documents with this category.