Portfolio Assignment in a GEP-ED class
Shannon Kathryn Orr
Hi everyone,
Given the uncertainty of the coming semester I have decided to mix up my class a bit and have the students put together a portfolio of work based on a research topic of their own choosing. I was wondering if anyone has done a similar assignment in a class and would be willing to share their ideas or syllabus. As of now the portfolio will include the following, students will choose a certain number of items to turn in:
- Annotated bibliography (required of all students)
- 3 page statistical analysis paper
- Infographic (using Canva.com)
- 5 social media posts (Using Canva.com)
- Policy memo
And that’s all I have so far! So the idea is that a student who wants to study invasive species might do an annotated bibliography on the invasive species and global trade, and then write a 3 page paper using some basic statistics to show how certain factors impact invasive species prevention, and then put together an infographic showing how many invasive species there are/where/solution, and then 5 social media posts that how things individuals can do to address the problem, and then a policy memo to a government agency advocating for a solution. So they end up with a portfolio of work that is pretty varied, but they also have gotten the chance to really dig into a topic of their own interest. And if we end up moving all online, I can more easily adapt the class because each component is so short. And it would be fairly easy to do things like teach infographic via Zoom.
But I would like to give them more options of things that they could do for the portfolio. Any ideas???
As always you can email me directly and I will compile responses and share to the list.
Many thanks,
Shannon
--
Shannon K. Orr, Ph.D.
Professor/Graduate Coordinator
Political Science Department
118 Williams Hall
Bowling Green State University
Shannon Kathryn Orr
Thank you to everyone who shared their ideas for creating a portfolio assignment for an undergraduate class. I’ve shared the ideas below!
Shannon
Have you considered an interview component - having them interview either someone with expertise on their issue, or interview a friend/family member for a more public-perception kind of angle? Students seem to have hugely enjoyed interview assignments that I have done previously in my policy classes (even when interviewing was brand new to them). This seems like it would fit in nicely with the other assignments you've included.
Possibly other kinds of assignments that might be more creative - a short animated film, podcast, graphic novel, childrens' book...
did this approach for an environmental communication course last spring. So, the options were more communications-focused, but some might still be of interest to your students! Here's what they completed for the portfolio:
-An op-ed piece about the topic for a specific news outlet
-A public presentation (some chose to make a presentation for school children, others for a town council meeting, etc). These were about 10 minutes long and I encouraged activities/multimedia/demonstrations. Luckily we were still in-person for these.
-A press release that could lead to a news story
-A recorded public testimony that would be delivered to a policymaking body (they played the role of a scientific expert) (This was supposed to be in-class, but I ended up having them video record their testimony and also submit the written testimony)
-I also had them package their portfolio into a website that also included information about themselves (this could easily be included in a resume or shared while job-searching)
It worked out well, and having the students find multiple ways to communicate about the same topic (to different audiences) was very effective. Good luck!
I’d add some ideas from the top of my head:
· Actor analysis, i.e. a mini-network analysis of the actors which are active in this field. Mapping of actors should include both governmental and non-governmental actors. Can be done qualitatively or via twitter analysis. Giphy is a great (free) tool for visualizing networks.
· Framing analysis: identify 3 newspaper publications (alternatively: Youtube interviews, social media posts) on your topic and analyze the framing of the problem, the attribution of responsibility and implied solutions within each frame.
· The creation of one or two ideas for a possible research design (research question, possible theoretical approach, possible methods) à explain & justify research design in a few bullet points.
· Expert interview: Identify an expert for your topic and conduct a mini-expert interview with her/him concerning a research question of your interest (interview can of course be done via Zoom).
I have been really impressed by my students´ digital skills (much better than my own!), so I wonder whether you might give them the option of making videos instead of - or as well as - blogs? This would diversify the portfolio even more. Every year I get my students to prepare an awareness raising campaign about climate change - some write articles, others build Instagram pages, and a few groups always make videos, and the quality is always excellent. This year our entire semester was by Zoom, and they presented their projects by Zoom in the final class.
That's a terrific idea!
I tried out a new assignment for my third-year undergraduate non-state environmental governance course last semester, which asked students to create their own additional class for the course. They had to pick
a topic that fit into the course themes, but that we didn't already cover (they could choose to add breadth to the class in terms of theory or empirics, or add depth to an existing topic/theme), and then develop a plan for a short lecture. I had them submit:
1) two assigned scholarly readings; 2) summaries of each of the readings; 3) a slide deck with 6-10 slides; 4) written lecture notes to accompany the slides; and 5) a description of the key takeaway ideas they'd want their classmates to have (from the readings
and lecture). I didn't have them actually present the lecture, so it was all electronically submitted.
I've attached the course syllabus and the class design assignment details.
I had one student who needed physical accommodations to reduce written assignment work, and had them record their lecture orally, rather than provide written lecture notes. That worked quite well, although I don't know if it would be a good general strategy, since it was time consuming to listen to.
I did find that I assigned this too early in the term (it was a midterm project, while their research essay was a final course project), and it would have been better placed at the end of the term. But I also think some of the elements could fit well into a research portfolio! I had some really excellent and creative submissions from students, and found it allowed some students to explore their interests in ways that different from the usual term paper format that I've usually assigned.
From:
Shannon Kathryn Orr <sk...@bgsu.edu>
Date: Monday, July 6, 2020 at 1:59 PM
To: "gep...@googlegroups.com" <gep...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Portfolio Assignment in a GEP-ED class
Hi everyone,
Given the uncertainty of the coming semester I have decided to mix up my class a bit and have the students put together a portfolio of work based on a research topic of their own choosing. I was wondering if anyone has done a similar assignment in a class and would be willing to share their ideas or syllabus. As of now the portfolio will include the following, students will choose a certain number of items to turn in:
- Annotated bibliography (required of all students)
- 3 page statistical analysis paper
- Infographic (using Canva.com)
- 5 social media posts (Using Canva.com)
- Policy memo