All Honors College students must present, before graduation, a portfolio of the work they have done over their years in the College. The portfolio is an opportunity for students to showcase what they have learned and how they have met the College’s three areas of learning that represent the goals of the Honors curriculum.
We encourage students to begin their portfolios after their first year in Honors.
To complete your portfolio:
- Create a Portfolium.com account using your MyFIU email and enter basic information. https://portfolium.com/join
- Submit a piece of work (assignment) produced in an Honors course (regardless of year) or substantial Honors co-curricular activity that best exemplifies each of the three Honors College Learning Outcomes (scroll to the bottom of this page to view outcomes in detail). That is, you must submit one unique piece of your work for each of the areas (i.e., three separate items in the portfolio).
3. In addition, for each of the three pieces, you must write a one-to two-page reflection on each assignment (i.e. three separate reflections). When writing the reflection, consider the learning process involved in producing the work and its value. Questions you should answer in each reflection essay include (but are not limited to) the following:
• What makes this particular piece your best work? What does it say about you as a learner?
• What strategies did you use to learn the material in this assignment? Which were the most effective? Why?
• What problems did you encounter in producing this work? How did you solve them?
• What risks did you take in producing this work?
• What was the one most useful or meaningful thing you learned from producing this work?
• In what area of learning (from the three listed below) did you improve the most? What improvement(s) did you make?
• What did you learn that is NOT reflected in your submission?
• Describe something important you have learned about yourself from producing this work.
• Additional questions that relate to each learning area will be listed below. Please take those into consideration as well.
4. The Final Product
Your final portfolio will include the following:
1. Three unique assignments (or artifacts) you’ve done while in the Honors College that best exemplify each of the three Honors College Learning Outcomes.
2. A one- to two-page reflection on each of the submitted assignments.
All Honors College Portfolio documentation must be posted in portfolium.com.
Deadlines and uploading instructions are provided each semester.
Want to see a sample portfolio?
Click here or on the image.
Completion of the Honors Portfolio allows students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the Honors College Learning Outcomes.
Honors College Learning Outcomes
Research Skill
Honors College students will be able to demonstrate research and problem solving skills necessary in order to succeed in graduate or professional school and/or the workforce.
SLO* (a): Student can use the principles of academic research and problem solving.
SLO (b): Student will be able to conduct logical analysis and synthesis.
SLO (c): Student will be able to communicate results fluently orally and in writing.
Assignments (or artifacts) that might satisfactorily satisfy these SLOs include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A research project developed through the Honors College undergraduate research program and presented at the annual Honors College Research Conference.
- A substantial interdisciplinary research project in an Honors College seminar.
- A substantial research paper written for an Honors College seminar.
- An Honors thesis in the major.
Method of Documentation
The student’s primary method of documenting these research accomplishments will be to submit the paper or project, then comment on it in the reflection. The student should consider such questions as the following:
- Why and how did you get involved in the research activity?
- What did you learn from it?
- Where do you stand now as a researcher?
- In what areas do you need to improve your research skills?
- How important is research to your personal goals?
- In what ways do you project these skills will be useful to you in the future?
Interdisciplinarity and Connectivity
Honors College students will be able to recognize and apply multiple disciplinary approaches to analyzing and solving a problem.
SLO (a) Student can demonstrate the application of ideas, methods, and knowledge from multiple disciplines to a question or issue.
SLO (b) Student can recognize connections among things learned inside and outside the classroom.
The student’s portfolio artifact(s) should demonstrate a multi- disciplinary approach to analyzing and potentially solving a problem. That is, in analyzing an issue, event, or work of art, the student should be able to bring into the analysis insights from such fields as psychology, history, religious studies, the law, ethics, and so on.
Artifacts that might satisfactorily satisfy these SLOs include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A seminar-generated multi-, trans-, or interdisciplinary paper.
- A multi-disciplinary undergraduate research project.
- A team project incorporating several approaches, as long as the specific contribution of the student to the project is clearly identified.
Method of Documentation
The student’s primary method of documenting these accomplishments will be to submit the artifact and comment on it in the reflection. The student should consider such questions as the following:
- What are the benefits of the interdisciplinary method?
- What did you learn about and from this method?
- How will using multiple disciplines in looking at problem-solving benefit you in graduate school and/or your career?
- How can you overcome the disparity in the methods and approaches of individual disciplines?
Leadership and Community Engagement
Honors College students will demonstrate leadership skills.
SLO (a): Student can demonstrate an awareness and applications of ethical principles.
SLO (b): Assume leadership roles in the classroom, organization(s), and/or the larger community.
SLO (c): Show participation in activities that contribute to the common good.
Honors College students are expected to return the investment made in them by the Honors College and FIU by becoming productive, honorable, service-oriented citizens, community leaders, and achievers. This kind of leadership can be exercised in a number of places—for example, at the university, in the larger community, nationally, or in a worship center. The student need not be elected to office to be a legitimate leader—substantial community service, for example, also demonstrates leadership.
Artifacts that might satisfactorily satisfy these SLOs include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A substantial project completed in the first-year Honors leadership course or Honors seminar.
- Election to office in an Honors or FIU organization.
- Evidence of successful or substantial advocacy for a student or public issue.
- Receiving awards or recognition for service to others.
- Substantially and productively serving the larger community.
- Successfully founding a new organization or lasting activity.
Method of Documentation
The primary method of documenting these accomplishments will be to submit evidence of the activities performed and comment on them in the reflection paper. The student should consider such points as the following:
- Why and how you did you get involved in the activity?
- What did you learned from it?
- In what way do you consider that you exercised a leadership role?
- Did being in the Honors College enhance your ability to perform well in that role?
- Where do you stand now as a leader?
- In what areas do you need to improve your leadership skills?
- What kinds of things do you see yourself undertaking as a leader in the future?
- How important is leadership to your self-understanding?
* SLO stands for Student Learning Outcome. This is the goal that we hope to achieve by your having been exposed to the Honors curriculum.