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The process of portfolio assessment requires that students demonstrate knowledge equivalent to a particular course. It is the student’s responsibility to identify course(s) for which he or she would like to document identification of appropriate courses. Portfolio Assessment is not “an easy way to earn credits,” but rather a rigorous process that enables students, through careful reflection and documentation, to prove learning equivalent to a Penn State course.

Students will present themselves to us at very different levels of understanding of the portfolio process. Some will believe that their undocumented experiences justify portfolio review and credit, and they are ill-prepared, and perhaps unable, to provide the required documentation.

To minimize frustration for the student or the faculty, it will be to the benefit of all involved to fully understand the criteria for portfolio assessment, including an understanding of the standards to which students will be held as they document their learning. Emphasis cannot be made too strongly that it is not the experience itself that justifies credit, but rather the learning that occurs from the experience. How learning is documented and proven is the crux of portfolio assessment!

All students are required to compete and submit an “Initial Application for a Review of Prior Experiential Learning.” As part of this application, students are required to submit the following:

  • Brief Description of Experience
  • Brief Description of Learning (relates to course syllabus, if available)
  • List of Possible Documentation

This application will serve as an official notice to faculty that the student intends to pursue portfolio assessment. Approvals are required on the application to indicate that the student has provided sufficient descriptions of intended documentation to justify the development of a full portfolio. These approvals do not guarantee that credit will be awarded, but rather that the student has presented sufficient documentation to develop a portfolio.

The development of a portfolio is a rigorous process that requires students to document learning—theoretical and practical— equivalent to a particular Penn State course.

Students must be in an Altoona pre-major or major and have completed a minimum of three Penn State credits.

Procedure:

  • Student identifies the specific Penn State course for which equivalency is requested.
  • Student obtains approval to develop a portfolio using the “Initial Application for a Review of Prior Experiential Learning.” Approval indicates that the student’s intended documentation appears to justify the development of a portfolio; it does not guarantee that credit will be awarded.
  • Student submits complete portfolio within ten weeks of approval of “Initial Application for Review” but not later than the fifth week of the semester prior to the semester of intended graduation. Portfolios will not be accepted during the semester of intended graduation.
  • Student pays the nonrefundable portfolio fee ($390 per portfolio) at the Bursar’s Office and receives a receipt for payment.
  • Student submits the online “Credit by Portfolio Assessment Application” with attached portfolio documents and receipt of payment.
  • The application will be sent to the campus PLA contact, who will then route the form to the appropriate faculty reviewer. After review and in consultation with an appropriate program coordinator, the portfolio will be sent to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
  • Student will be notified of approval or lack thereof within 8 weeks of faculty receipt of the portfolio. Adhering to this timeline will allow students to meet their intended timeline for graduation, particularly if a portfolio is not approved for credit.
  • When approved, the portfolio is submitted to the campus PLA contact by the VCAA for submission to the University Admissions Office for posting on the student’s record.

Students are allowed a maximum of two opportunities to prove learning—(1) through the original portfolio submission and (2) one additional submission if additional information or revisions are requested by faculty upon the first review.

Portfolio Standards:

  • Does the portfolio document learning, not just experience?
  • Is the learning at the appropriate level?
  • Is there a balance between theoretical learning and practical application?
  • Is the learning equivalent to a Penn State course?
  • Is there sufficient evidence that this learning does not duplicate credit already awarded?

Portfolios may differ, but the items listed below are usually a part of any portfolio.

  1. Credit by Portfolio Assessment Application
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Resume and/or Autobiography/Educational Goal Statement
    1. This section provides an important overview by introducing the student to the faculty member through a chronology of life experiences relevant to the portfolio submission.
    2. The goals statement is generally 300-400 words in length.
  4. Detailed Description of the Experience(s)
    1. The portfolio can include knowledge or skills gained from a wide variety of sources. Some of the more common sources for portfolio assessment are:
      • Full or part-time jobs
      • Independent reading or study
      • Training programs or in-service courses
      • Volunteer work
      • Cultural and artistic pursuits
      • Hobbies and recreational activities
      • Community activities
      • Military service
      • Travel study
      • Organizational memberships
  5. Description of the Learning
    1. The description of the experience and learning may be blended into one essay. This section is generally eight to twenty pages in length. Students are expected to review relevant course textbooks and to refer to a course syllabus in demonstrating learning equivalent to the content of the course. Through observation and reflection, students are expected to demonstrate, when appropriate, conceptual, and theoretical knowledge derived from their experiences.
  6. Documentation (Direct and Indirect)
  7. Annotated Bibliography

Suggested Documentation:

  • Letters from employers
  • Licenses and certificates
  • Newspaper articles
  • Audio or Video recordings
  • Resumes
  • Photographs
  • Products of student’s work
  • Proposals
  • Job descriptions and/or classifications
  • Official forms or records such as promotions or performance evaluations

Direct Evidence: Documentation of student’s actual learning in a particular subject area

Examples include:

  • Samples of student’s work (poems, plays, artwork, reports of projects, recordings of music you have performed)
  • Official verifications that show student’s mastery of the subject, licenses, and certificates

Indirect Evidence: Documentation which verifies and confirms student’s accomplishments

Examples include:

  • Letters written on student’s behalf
  • Newspaper articles, press releases
  • Programs of student’s performance(s)

Letters can be used to corroborate any type of activity and are usually one of the more common forms of documentation. Since letters occupy an important role in the documentation process, use the guidelines listed below. It is the responsibility of the student to make clear to the author that the letter is to be one of verification and not one of recommendation.

Guidelines:

  • The author must indicate knowledge of the student and the learning for which the student wishes to receive prior learning credit.
  • The letter should be written on the official letterhead of the company or organization with which the author is or was associated, if available.
  • The content of the letter should focus on the duties, responsibilities, tasks, and/or activities which were a part of the learning experience that is under consideration. The letter should say who, what, when, why, where, and for how long.
  • The author of the letter should clearly state the nature of the relationship between author and student. Family members, friends, and ministers are not good sources as they may be biased and may not have firsthand knowledge of the learning.

An annotated bibliography of books and periodicals and a listing of people and other resources should be included in each portfolio.

Included below is part of the bibliography of an adult student who included in his portfolio a tape describing his learning experiences in music as a percussionist.

  1. Podemski, Banjamin. Podemski’s Standard Snare Drum Method, Melville, New York: Belwin Mills, 1940.
    “This book was the most technical book, musically speaking, that I went through. It contained a complete musical vocabulary and exercises that had examples which employed the musical terms. It taught note values and note groupings. This book was the most important book in terms of my sight-reading development. The information contained in the book still applies today and is used to instruct drum students. I use this book as a reference whenever I don’t recognize terms in church music. I have used this book as a warm-up tool prior to playing for pit orchestras for stage shoes. It helps me to get my mind ready for reading the kinds of charts used in this shows.”
  2. Jones, Steve. Drummer in the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Interviewed: December 19, 1992.
    Steve Jones was interviewed as a personal resource on December 19, 1992, after the Christmas concert. Mr. Jones described his own training. He listened to a two-minute tape of my playing and invited me to practice with a group of Birmingham musicians. He commented on my sense of rhythm, tempo, wrist action, etc. He also agreed to a series of twelve advanced lessons beginning on January 13, 1993. An evaluation of my progress is enclosed along with a tape of my playing before and after the lessons.