There are specific parameters for the kind of answers you can include in your learning portfolio:
2 of your answers must be for “ANALYSIS” questions.
These are short-answer style written responses that are meant to demonstrate your comprehension of course material and ability to apply to something external. Each of these answers should be around 500 words in length.
1 of your answers must be for a “RESEARCH” question. This is a long-answer or essay style written response that is meant to demonstrate your comprehension of course material, ability to do outside research, and ability to justify a given position. An answer to a RESEARCH question should be around 1000 words in length.
What you submit, therefore, is a portfolio that demonstrates 2 examples of your ability to apply class content to analyze something new and 1 example that demonstrates your ability to reason about class content using outside research.
You may be thinking that you have not done an assignment quite like this before. However, although your other classes might not have asked for “learning portfolios,” this assignment is simply combining things you have definitely done: reports, short essays, and written answers on midterms and exams. If it helps, you can think of this assignment as a collection of those things, graded in similar ways. Details on how these will be graded appear at the end of this document.
Stylistic Considerations
Formatting should be 12pt font, Times New Roman, double-spaced text. Although you can include a title page, all that is required is that your name, student number, and your TA’s name appear somewhere on the first page.
The answers in your learning portfolio all require citations. Please just use in-text citations with the author’s last name and page number when citing things in your answer
The “standard” for ANALYSIS questions is met by these three, equally-important criteria:
Reasoning and argumentation are cogent and non-contradictory
Connection to original reading and/or object of analysis is present
Evidence of correct comprehension of topic and other class material is competently demonstrated through specific references (e.g., citations, exact terminology, etc.)
The “standard” for RESEARCH questions is met by similar criteria:
Reasoning and argumentation are cogent and non-contradictory
Connection to course reading(s) and/or object of analysis is present
Evidence of correct comprehension of topic and other class material is competently demonstrated through specific references (e.g., citations, exact terminology, etc.)
Outside research is shown to be suitable, relevant, and appropriate, with at least one academic source confirming the points raised in the answer
The “standard” for STYLE is met through these criteria:
Paraphrasing is present, with direct quotations only used as necessary
Space is used competently and judiciously (i.e., the assignment does not contain sentences that, if removed, would not detract from the overall point)
Full sentences and paragraphs — as well as mechanics of writing (i.e., syntax and word choice) — communicate facts and ideas without causing difficulty for the reader
Formal elements of assignment are present (e.g., double-spacing)