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New portfolio system for Social Science Department
By Montgomery Mahaffey
Whalesong Staff
Slackers and flakes beware! If you’ve
just been accepted into the Social Science program here at UAS,
be sure to note the changes in your program’s portfolio. The
new portfolio system devised by Dr. Virginia Mulle, Associate Professor
of Sociology and Chair of the Social Science Department, leaves
no stone unturned.
Instead of just one class where the emphasis is on
writing skills (this is still the portfolio requirement for other
BLA degrees), this portfolio system assesses a student’s level
of skill in the areas of the University’s six competencies:
communication, quantitative skills, information literacy, computer
usage, professional behavior, and critical thinking – as well
as the seventh competency unique to the social sciences – diversity.
It may sound bizarre to try and measure diversity; much less competence
in it, but Dr. Mulle explained that their objective was to get Social
Science students to think about diversity as a concept and to enhance
their education accordingly.
“If a student has already had enriching life experiences
outside of the classroom, we’re more than happy to include
that in the portfolio,” explained Dr. Shelly Theno, Assitant
Professor of Psychology.. “Just write a paper about the experience.”
Two portfolio review classes will be required. It’s
set up so that a student takes the first review in the spring of
their freshman year and the second in the spring of their junior
year. Although required, the classes won’t be graded.
“This is not a do or die thing,” said Mulle.
“It’s a progress. The first portfolio review (freshman
year) is one credit and it’s for the purposes of introducing
them to the various disciplines of Social Sciences – anthropology,
sociology, and psychology – as well as preparing them to pull
their final portfolio (junior year) together.”
“It’s for the purposes of outcome assessment
consistent with accreditation expectations,” explained Dr.
Theno. “We hope to see improvement in-between their freshman
and their junior years.”
Under this system, students are responsible for documenting
their own learning curve in the competencies, to show their improvement
in all the areas from the beginning of their college career to the
end. Collegiate baggage just got heavier though.
“You have to keep everything,” said Dr. Theno.
“Keep hard copies, save it to disk. You need everything you
did in school for your final portfolio class as a junior. And talking
to your advisor is critical for this.”
There will be much administrative support available.
The students will meet initially with an assessment coordinator
to talk about the portfolio requirements, and continue with regular
consultations with their advisor to assist them in tracking the
courses they need to fulfill which competency requirements.
Both Dr. Theno and Dr. Mulle stressed that the new
system is still a work in progress with glitches that still to be
worked out – the main one is figuring out how to fit in transfer
students from other universities that didn’t take the freshman
portfolio class. Yet both professors are excited about it and confident
it will work strongly in students’ favor.
“At the end of this, they will have a product
to take out into the working world and to show employers what they’ve
learned,” said Dr. Mulle.
Email Montgomery Mahaffey at jsmmm6@uas.alaska.edu
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