Technical and Professional Communication
The Portfolio
As discussed elsewhere on this syllaweb, this class is graded on a basic 1000 point scale, 20% of which will be based on your Personal Portfolio.
Throughout the semester, you have (presumably) been collecting and saving, presenting, your various contributions to this class. If you have been conscientious in tending
to all other assignments throughout the semester, most of the portfolio will essentially take care of itself. However, this is also an opportunity for you to engage revision; if you are, for instance, displeased with your work on several Monday Reports, you might re-write them for the portfolio. This would not affect the Monday Report portion of your grade, but would influence the 20% you earn on the portfolio itself.
You can approach the portfolio in any number of ways. First and foremost, you must
decide what medium you will be using to do so. You have two options.
- You can hand in a papertext portfolio with printouts of all relevant material;
- You can build a website with links to all relevant material.
I would prefer that you not mix the media, though if you can defend your choice to do so, it is permissible. Note: You do not have the option of sending your portfolio via electronic mail. We've been using that medium all semester; now let's see how well your work translates to a different platform. More importantly, these two
options are more reliable than electronic mail -- and to some extent (though less
so with the WWW, as Chauss discussed) you will be able to control presentation of the product.
There are only a few things which you must include in the portfolio:
- A written proposal/defense of your grade. This should be written in memo format, and present a specific argument. Use references to specific work; quote comments from classmates or from me (you have been receiving written feedback all semester!) -- remember, it's can be better to argue using other people's words than your own,depending on which rhetorical stance you are employing.
- Final copies of major assignments. Primarily, this means the Resume/Cover Letter and the Written Instructions. You do not have to include Monday Reports, with the exception of the last two (both of which are part of the portfolio assignment).
There are a number of things which you can include in your portfolio; the
following is a partial list, and I would welcome suggestions on what we can add to it.
Copies of your Monday Reports -- if you re-write any of them, they should be clearly labeled as having been done so!
A self-assessment of your final project; you will have been writing comments to all other presenters for the third-to-final Monday report; you might use what you receive from your classmates as fodder for constructing this.
A number-crunching presentation of points earned; you will have receivedfeedback on about two-thirds of the class points (remember, this portfolio itself is 20%) and can use that as data for arguing for a grade. On the other hand, you might wish to stay far away from number-crunching; this is an equally legitimate approach!
A written discussion of the listserve/listproc and/or newsgroup to which you
have belonged this semester. (Yes, I realize this aspect of the class rather fell
to the wayside throughout the semester, particularly as everyone selected their
group topics and these seemed less than appropriate for most. But here is an
opportunity to incorporate that back into your argument for grade.)
Copies of all your classmates' comments regarding your resume and cover letter; drafts and rewrites of the documents, to show progress or changes; be sure to point these out specifically!
Copies of your written responses to your classmates' work (as assigned) on the
individual oral presentations and other areas of class.
Copies of memos and other writing assignments, to include, but not limited to (listed in no particular order):
- the February 20 response to that week's Monday Reports;
- the Midterm;
- group work memos as assigned (three to date);
- cuttings from your contributions to the class MOO work (log available online);
- your contribution to the class intellectual property statement;
- the January 21 memo to Greg Siering;
- a description of the advertisement your group discussed for rhetorical appeals
(this was never a formal writing assignment, but was worked on in class; if possible, include a copy of the ad!);
- the improvised April 1 (class cancelled, no April Fool's joke) writing assignments;
What else can be, might be, should be included on this list?
Of course, 30% of your grade is based on
Attendance
and
Participation;
that is, you can earn up to 300 points in this category.
In fact, you have started with 300 points, and if you
met all deadlines, attended all classes, and participated at an appropriate level,
you have retained them.
That said, nobody in this class met every single deadline and was in
every single class (though some of you were close!) ... you can present and
argument for this part of your grade, or let it go entirely -- that is up to you.
If you decide to make an argument, keep these things in mind:
- There is a static point amount attached to absences and late assignments.
There is no way around that -- but, as throughout the semester, your explanations
are welcome and encouraged. If there were documentable health or family problems
that you have not already passed along to me, this is you last chance to do so.
- The midterm and final are opportunities to add points in this particular area; make sure you include those points here, if anywhere.
- Extra Credit points earned are also added in this area; I can cross-check your
points here against my records so you can make sure you are getting all that
you deserve. Please remember, Extra Credit points can alter your grade by as much a a full letter with the exception of moving from "F" to "D" -- no amount of extra credit can make the difference between failing and passing.
- Participation can mean both in the face-to-face classroom and
on the class discussion list. While activity on the class list has been minimal at best, if you have contributed above and beyond the required stuff, point it out. Your participation in the face-to-face environment might bear some discussion in writing, if you believe you have been active to a significant degree. And this can also include your participation in group work, though (as above) in these cases it might be best to use words offered by colleagues.
- I am open to creative presentations regarding this part of the portfolio!
What's the Point?
At some point, you will be expected to engage a project like this to argue
for professional recognition -- getting hired, promoted, tenured, a raise,
retained, something of that nature.
Believe it or not, almost all of the skills you have been practicing in this
class relate precisely to this kind of task. For instance:
- In presenting a potentially large quantity of material, you don't want
your reader to get lost -- and should probably provide clear instructions for
wading through the portfolio.
- You are, for all intents and purposes, writing a report and presenting
data -- which requires an accurate and accessible interface (cf.
both Chauss' webtext and Porush's checklists).
- You are, essentially, making an argument for compensation. Use of the
rhetorical appeals -- to character, to emotion, to logic -- should all be
considered and used appropriately (or discarded if inappropriate), depending on
your understanding of your audience.
- In seeking recompense, you are staking out what you present as, in some
way, your intellectual property.
- In utilizing -- perhaps even soliciting -- support materials from your
co-workers, you are engaging collaboration and peer critique.
- You are engaging multimedia formats -- primarily both papertext
and hypertext.
The tone and presentation of this portfolio is entirely up to you; I encourage
you foremost to be consistent in that tone and presentation.
A final word:
Please make it easy for me to know whose portfolio I'm reading. This not
only means clearly labeling the portfolio itself, but its internal contents.
It means utilizing technological advances like staples and paper clips, and
perhaps noting on each section or paper your name or initials or student
number. If the portfolios were to come apart -- for instance, if I fell down
the stairs while carrying them -- would it be easy for me to reconstruct yours?
Of course, if you are building a "webfolio" (another nasty neologism), this
is not a problem -- but there are other issues to
concern you.
Best of luck. Questions?