Building your e

Family and Consumer Sciences

OBJECTIVE: To begin conceptualizing and developing your electronic portfolio

OVERVIEW: Every FCSC 1010 student will be expected to begin the development of

A web based electronic portfolio. This portfolio will be a student planning guide, a depository of student accomplishment, an advisor/student career development guide, a display of academic growth over the college experience, and a marketing/job seeking tool with potential employers.

Why use e-Portfolios? Electronic portfolios, through the use of sound, text, video/audio testimonies, voice-over explanations, and scanned images display evidence of performance in ways that are not possible with standard documentation and evaluation instruments. The web page is an inexpensive, flexible, and creative means of data storage

for use in a variety of ways with alternative technologies.

PORTFOLIO TEMPLATE: How the e-Portfolio web page is developed and what it includes is a personal preference. The following categories are provided as examples of development and documentation.

Home Page: The opening page delivers an initial reaction to your page and how you want to present yourself. It also serves as the entrance to your portfolio information.

This page-and the entire e-Portfolio-should be professional in nature since you are trying to document your skills and accomplishments.

Personal Information: This permits the reader to have a better understanding of who you are through your description of your unique qualities, attributes, special skills, unique experiences and short and long term goals.

Resume: Include a brief resume of two pages or less. Provide a link to a detailed resume if needed.

Professional Competencies: A self-assessment of each of the six FCS professional competencies should be included. A 4-part self-assessment:

  • detailed assessment statement - whether you are a novice (just beginning), skilled (able to do the basics), or proficient (able to do all specific skills well)
  • evidence to describe the reasoning for your assessment
  • goals for improving you skills by graduation - describe what level of skill (for each specific skill) you hope to reach by the time you graduate and why
  • actions you plan to take to reach your improvement goals - describe specifically what you plan to do to improve all specific skills.

Accomplishments related to the professional competency can also be included in this section.

Projects/Exhibits/Presentations: This section provides the student the opportunity to highlight important accomplishments. This could include results of service learning or intern projects; digital photos of creative endeavors, PowerPoint presentations given at professional meetings. Appropriate materials in this section would also include evidence of planning, organizing, leading, supervising, or evaluating.

 

Study Abroad/Field Trips/Extracurricular Activity: This section allows the student to document academic learning or leadership activities outside of the traditional classroom. Photo galleries, voice-over testimonials by supervisors, video clips of leadership or participation could be included here (as well as in other sections).

Reflection: Although reflective statements could be included throughout the portfolio, a reflection category allows the student to summarize his or her college learning and goals for the future. A philosophy of leadership and work ethic could also be included here; or, in a separate section as conditions warrant.

EVIDENCE OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES: What goes into a portfolio?

There are lots of possibilities. Look in the classroom, in the community or your home town. Look at course descriptions and see if there are outcomes that would fit into the portfolio. Look at your past, current, and future FCS course work for examples of accomplishments that fit the six core professional competencies. Look in your home town for opportunities to volunteer, mentor, serve, or join. Look at your previous life experiences for examples. A portfolio for this department should not be ALL the work you've done in your classes, or ALL the things that show your abilities. Your portfolio should consist of carefully chosen pieces that you feel represent what you know and what you can do. One piece of evidence might fit several competencies. It's important to thoughtfully explain your choices and how they show your competency level.

The following list is just some of the many other ways to gain evidence of competency in the six FCS professional competencies:

 

  • take college courses that focus on one of the six professional competencies such as international study courses or communication courses
  • attend professional development workshops and conferences
  • join and be active in campus organizations
  • join and be active in community organizations
  • join and be active in civic or service organizations
  • join and participate in Toastmasters
  • join student organizations, serve in a leadership role
  • volunteer-on campus and/or in the community
  • tutor or mentor other students or younger students
  • participate in undergraduate research projects
  • give a presentation of research at the Undergraduate Research Day
  • design an independent study project related to one of the six competencies
  • attend national FCS professional association meetings
  • serve on the planning committee for a sponsored event or conference
  • study abroad
  • write creatively-poems, short stories, essays
  • construct creative designs or exhibits
  • participate in consulting, practicum and intern opportunities

In addition, the FCS faculty brainstormed pieces of evidence that students might put into their portfolio during early coursework such as FCSC 1010, in the middle of their program, and at the end in FCSC 4010 that would fit the professional competencies.

Examples included:

Oral Communication - video clips of individual presentations, video clips of clinical/client interaction, video clips of teaching, self-assessment from FCSC 1010, online assessments of oral communication, participate in the undergraduate research day, give a presentation at a professional meeting.

Written Communication - press releases, papers, lab reports, flyers, brochures, final copy of work, abstracts of research papers/reports, write and submit a manuscript for a journal that exhibits undergraduate's work, and examples of creative writing.

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - reflective assessment papers in FCS courses, digital designs with critiques, sensory evaluations, textile evaluations, Problem Based Learning assignments.

Technological Competency and Informational Literacy - ePortfolio, PowerPoint presentations of assignments, examples of CAD projects, Spreadsheets, digital photographs of work, digital photographs of study tours or study abroad, participation in FCSC 1010.

Multicultural Literacy & Global Awareness - electronic presentation of research on a global issue, examples of international projects in FCS courses, examples of diversity assignments in FCS courses, evidence of bilingualism or study to become such, study tours, study abroad reports, projects in the department's D and G courses.

 

Professional Skills and Behavior - community or campus organization projects, student organization projects, internships, group projects, attendance at national or regional conferences, evidence of objective evaluation of own and work of others.

The professional competencies can be evaluated in many ways and the above example could fit many of the professional competencies. Students will no doubt come up with additional choices for demonstrating competency in the six FCS professional competencies and other components of the college learning experience.

CREATING A WEB SITE:

The UW Student Web Server provides web space for all full, part-time, and graduate students to create an online presence. This space is intended to be used by students to enhance their experience with the Internet and Internet technology and provide a means for more exposure using the Internet and web tools. Learn more at the University's Creating a Web Site web page to get help on creating your web site.

UW Information Technology's Academic Support Unit also provides support to students

in developing web pages.

ASU Student Services

UW uses FrontPage Extensions in the web page development process. All campus student labs have this Extension on the computers. Distance students will need to add this feature if using FrontPage to develop their web page. The following are tutorial sites for learning about FrontPage:

Front Page Tutorial #1

Front Page Tutorial #2

The UW College of Agriculture's Communication and Technology Office also has resource material on Front Page

http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/cessupport/frontpage.asp

The College of Business at UW uses e-Portfolios extensively. The following site provides additional information on developing and using web sites.

College of Business ePortfolio Site

VISUALIZING YOUR WEB PAGE: Visit student portfolios at Kalamazoo College to study different designs and layouts: what items are on the homepage, how they are organized, and how these pages are linked to pages that hold other items.

Kalamazoo College ePortfolio Examples

This previous FCSC 1010 students have also given permission to view her site:

Shawna Comer Website

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