Getting Started
The Beginning: Self-Assessment.
During your first semester your First Year Seminar is designed to help you make a successful transition to college. You will have the opportunity to think about who you are and what you want to get out of your college experience. You will learn about the Pine Manor College's requirements regarding learning outcomes and the various resources available to help you be successful in addressing these outcomes.
Addressing the Outcomes: Collecting and documenting Portfolio Artifacts
Each of the college’s learning outcomes has certain criteria that must be met during your years as a student here. With your advisor, you will learn what these criteria are and the various ways to address them. During your first four semesters, you will collect examples of your work (called artifacts) inside and outside of the classroom, which help you address the outcomes. These may include written assignments and exams, art projects, lab reports, videotapes of performances or sports events, community services reports, minutes from SGA meetings, or articles written for the student newspaper - just to mention a few. For each of these artifacts, it is valuable to write a brief description of what the artifact is and how it relates to your learning with regard to one or more of the learning outcomes.
At the end of each semester, you’ll review your growing portfolio collection with your advisor, and use this review to help you make choices regarding courses and co-curricular activities for the next semester.
Preparation for your Portfolio Presentation.
As you begin your fourth semester, you will need to start getting ready for your Portfolio Presentation. Ordinarily, your presentation must be completed before the end of the first week in April. Faculty leaders and fellow students will help you prepare for your presentation. The steps you will need to take are as follows:
Completing your Portfolio
Have you addressed each outcome? Successful completion of your Portfolio as a Sophomore requires that you satisfactorily address each of the four Outcomes required of all students, plus two from the list of options. (Each Outcome in this handbook includes a grid identifying the criteria used in its evaluation.)
Have you included an Introduction? You should write a brief Introduction to the Portfolio that provides some insight into how you plan to take the next steps forward into your major.
Review your portfolio contents and select those artifacts that you feel do the best job of addressing each outcome. It is also valuable to prepare a table of contents and an introductory statement that summarizes how each outcome has been addressed. These pieces, together with your artifacts and reflections make up your final portfolio.
For each artifact that you choose, develop a reflection which explains how you see the artifact reflecting progress you’ve made in addressing a particular outcome. Your reflection may be written, oral (if on audiotape or videotape), or part of a Web Page. (Note that you may use the same artifact to address more than one outcome and more than one artifact to address one outcome.)
In this Handbook you will find a number of questions that can guide your thinking as your complete your reflections.
Your completed portfolio must be submitted to the Portfolio Review Committee by the due date established for that semester.
Preparing for your Presentation
Select two outcomes to discuss at your presentation, one representing an area in which you feel you have made significant progress and one which you feel represents an area that is still particularly challenging to you.
Schedule a time for your presentation with the members of your Review Committee.
Rehearse your presentation, which should take about 15-20 minutes.
The Sophomore Presentation itself may take a variety of forms from a formal presentation in a classroom setting or computer lab to a more casual roundtable discussion format. Upon completion of your presentation, you should be prepared to answer questions the panel will have for you about your learning in general and your plans for your last two years at Pine Manor. The panel will report back to you with their evaluation of your portfolio and presentation.
Senior Portfolio
Upon completion of your sophomore portfolio, you will become more involved in your major. You will also be part of a junior/senior mentoring group which will help you continue to engage in learning that builds your skills and knowledge with regard to the outcomes as you pursue your major and other interests in more depth.
During your senior year, you will compile and present a Senior Portfolio. Although most of your focus is likely to be on work you have done in your major, you will also reflect upon your accomplishments with regard to the learning outcomes over your last two years and your entire college experience. Specific guidelines and requirements will be provided by the faculty of your major.