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History 493
Portfolio Assessment
THE COURSE
This course is basically designed to do two things. First, it is designed to give students a chance, before they departs from HSU, to reflect on and assess their own travels through the HSU history department. By studying and reflecting upon the work they have produced here at HSU, they should gain some insight into the skills they learned here at HSU, the skills they wished they had learned here at HSU, and the experience they have had as a history major. This should be beneficial to students in helping them to further understand their chosen discipline and should also help as they start thinking about résumés, graduate school applications and the “real world” in general. Secondly, this assessment process will give the history department some feedback as to what skills students feel they received at HSU, what skills could be reinforced more, and any constructive suggestions students have as to how to make the HSU history department a stronger place in the future.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
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PORTFOLIO
The first requirement is for students to put together a portfolio of their written work here in the history department. This should be organized chronologically, and should be a way for both the student and the professor in charge of History 490 to assess the student's growth over time as a writer and historian. Students should try to include as many written assignments as possible, and as many different kinds of assignments as possible (take home tests, book reviews, comparative papers etc.). If possible, students can include professors’ written evaluations of thier oral presentations. Students should also definitely include the paper(s) that they wrote in History 210 (Introduction to History) and a brief synopsis of the topic they are pursuing in the senior seminar.
Points to remember about portfolio:
1. Include only writing assignments. We don’t want to see your multiple-choice exams
2. The assignments should be the original assignments that have been marked by the professor if at all possible. Do not use clean copies from your computer files.
3. Arrange the assignments chronologically and have them clearly marked as to the class for which they were written and the general nature of the task at hand.
EXIT INTERVIEW
Students are also required to meet with the professor at least once during the semester to discuss their experience in the history department. The professor and the student will go over the portfolio, talk about the skills the student feels he or she received or did not receive in the department, and discuss any suggestions you might have for improving the history major. This interview is required and is also confidential. At the end of the term, the professor submits a report to the department regarding the general feelings of history majors about the program, but there are no student names in this report and all comments and opinions included in the report will be anonymous.
Points to remember about exit interview:
1. The interview needs to be pre-scheduled at least one week in advance
2. The portfolio needs to be complete and submitted to the professor at least one week in advance of the interview. This is so the professor can read over it and be prepared to discuss it with the student.
3. Students should try to submit the portfolio and schedule the interview as early in the semester as possible. This will free up time later in the semester to finish the senior seminar paper.
LETTER TO DEPARTMENT
The final requirement is a letter (usually 2-3 pages) to the department where the student discusses how thier experience as a history major has corresponded with history departmental goals and standards. Sutdents should use the standards as a rough guide, but feel free to raise other issues as they see fit. Basically, this letter is an assessment of what students feel they got out of the major, as well as constructive suggestions as to what the department can do differently. The letter should be addressed to the department and turned in to the professor personally. It will end up in department files, so the student has the choice to leave their name off the final copy of the letter.
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