326.3 Portfolio (10%, 10 points)
Your ENGL326 portfolio will consist of six elements. Begin by verifying that you can view a Shared Folder in Google Docs (the folder will be named 326.YourName.P3Portfolio; please do not alter this name). The folder is already shared with your professor. Make sure the following items appear in the shared folder, and name the files carefully as follows:
1. 326-FirstNameLastName-P1
2. 326-FirstNameLastName-P2
3. 326-FirstNameLastName-Worknet
4. 326-FirstNameLastName-SSRSelection1
5. 326-FirstNameLastName-SSRSelection2
6. 326-FirstNameLastName-P3
As you assemble items 1-5, you might apply minor revisions and double-check to see that this work is especially representative of the writing you have done this semester. For items 3-5, you do not necessarily need to select the strongest or most polished pieces, but you should includes pieces you want to discuss or explain, pieces you want to cite as evidence of what you have learned. Full, final drafts of P1 and P2 will appear in the portfolio along with one of your worknets (your choice) and two SSR Journal entries (again, your choice).
Notice that the only new piece in the portfolio is number six. Here, you will write a 1000-1500 word reflective essay that chronicles your experience in ENGL326 in direct relationship to the five course objectives. That is, you should reflect on the course and discuss as concretely as you can how each of the course goals is manifest in the activities and artifacts of the semester. Again, here are the course goals for you to review:
- Students will develop a working knowledge of the evolving, interdependent relationships among inquiry-driven research, disciplinary knowledge, claim making, and writing.
- Students will compose a series of texts as a process (inventing, drafting, revising, editing) that takes place over time, that requires thinking and rethinking ideas, and that addresses diverse audiences and rhetorical contexts.
- Students will gain experience with online databases, search engines, and library resources appropriate for academic research.
- Students will develop a critical facility for evaluating the quality of sources, print and online, according to recency, rigor, credibility, and authorship.
- Students will compose a substantial researched project in writing that reflects skillful, deliberative work with diverse sources and the systematic application of citation conventions.
In effect, this sixth and final item in the portfolio will offer an introduction and overview of the portfolio contents and function as a reflective essay that re-examines your writing and what you have learned in direct relationship to the stated objectives of ENGL326. You may also address what you believe to be areas in which this course could improve for future semesters, but this should not take precedent over the aspects of the reflective essay identified above.
Finally, you should two grade estimates at the end of the reflective essay. The first is a grade estimate for the portfolio overall. It should take into account the quality of your work, the lessons you have learned (and explained with direct evidence from the course), and the demonstrable linkages between your work and the course goals. The second is a grade estimate for the remaining credit available under Participation, Presence, and Leadership. For this second estimate, you should think about your opportunities to assume an active, vocal, and engaged part in ENGL326. This includes showing up to class on time, having read, and fully prepared for the class session. Make sure you identify two specific, concrete grades as your estimates in each of these two important areas.
Your portfolio is due no later than Monday, December 13, at 5 p.m. No late portfolios will be accepted. If you want an email confirmation from me acknowledging receipt of your work, please send me a request via email.
Contact Information
Derek N. Mueller, PhDAssociate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing
Director of Composition
Department of English
Virginia Tech
Office: 315 Shanks Hall
Spring 2020 Office Hours: T, 12-3
Phone: +1-734-985-0485
dmueller@vt.edu
http://derekmueller.net/rc/
