MED Exit Portfolio/Comprehensive Exam Requirements

Students will develop an electronic exit portfolio that they will submit in lieu of a comprehensive exam.  The Plan B portfolio should be divided into the sections listed below, with each section clearly labeled. An overarching theme/strand/connection regarding the student’s understanding of teaching and learning should be developed and sustained clearly in each of the 5-7 exhibits, 5-7 abstracts/commentaries, and in the synthesis paper described below.  Click Here to download a PDF document containing this information.

Contents of the Portfolio:

1.  Title page with name and date
2.  Student’s resume/vita formatted according to guidelines of the university’s Career Planning and Placement Office.
3.  Program of study (numbers and names of all courses taken, semester taken, and final grades if available)
4.  A 10-page synthesis paper that does the following:

• Identifies and describes significant learning based on 5-7 exhibits of projects, written work assignments, or other activities from coursework that helped to shape or fulfill the student’s sense of self as teacher and personal and professional objectives in the program. A research project or curriculum project must be one of these activities.
• Describes professional objectives for the future.

5.  A one page abstract/commentary for each of the 5-7 exhibits described above.

Rubric for Portfolio (Written Exam)

Satisfactory/Pass will be awarded to portfolios that

• are turned in on time
• include the minimum components
• meet minimum expectations for each component
• in which an overarching theme/strand/connection regarding the students’ understanding of teaching and learning is evident for the most part but not clearly articulated and sustained across the portfolio as a whole.

Unsatisfactory/Fail will be awarded to portfolios that

• are turned in after the specified due date
• are turned in on time but do not include the minimum components (cover page, resume, program of study, 5-7 exhibits with a one-page abstract/commentary for each, and 10-page synthesis paper that explores how those experiences contribute to the student’s view of self as teacher)
• the minimum components do not meet minimum expectations (e.g., the synthesis paper is under 10 pages long or does not provide a synthesis, the commentaries are less than a page long or do not indicate reflection on learning, the resume does not conform to the guidelines recommended by the university’s Career Planning and Placement Office.)
• connections are not evident across the portfolio as a whole; that is, an Unsatisfactory portfolio might include 5-7 reflective abstracts/commentaries on the exhibits, but they appear to be discrete and do not serve to contribute to an overarching theme/strand/connection regarding the student’s understanding of teaching and learning.

Rubric for Presentation (Oral Exam)

Satisfactory/Pass will be awarded to oral presentations that

• are presented on time
• include the minimum components
• meet minimum expectations for each component
• in which one of the components may be vaguely explained or supported. For example, future goals for continued learning may not be well articulated or considered, answers to professors’ questions may not reflect a deep understanding of literacy education theory and/or research, or theoretical connections made across the program of study may be sketchy in one or two areas.

Unsatisfactory/Fail will be awarded to presentations that

• are not presented at the agreed upon time and date
• are presented but do not include the minimum components (reflection upon theoretical connections made across the program of study, articulation of future goals for continued learning, evidence of understanding of theory and research in literacy education)