Student Portfolios

Requirements for the Portfolio

The portfolio is a tool that you will use throughout your college career to assess your mastery of the Biology Department Learning Outcomes. The portfolio is designed to give you the opportunity to synthesize key themes in biology and reflect on your academic and professional development.  

• Bring the Advising Checklist to your advising meeting every semester. Bring the Course Alignment Worksheet with you for review with your advisor.
• All students should schedule at least one visit at the Career Center before BIOL 380. Documentation of this visit will be recorded on the Advising Checklist. In addition, you will turn in a document that you developed with the help of the Career Center or a reflective summary of your Career Center experience.  
• Develop a cover letter and resumé for a job or for a graduate school that you would pursue following graduation.  
• Complete the Course Alignment Worksheet (given in BIOL 180 and checked during advising meetings). For each Learning Outcome, describe your level of mastery for each course. This is a working document, so use the electronic copy to type in your notes every semester. This information will be used to write your reflective essays during BIOL 380.
• Attend at least five (5) biology-related lectures/talks and integrate what you learned into the reflective essays. For Biology Education students, at least two of the lectures must be biology-education/STEM-education related. Document attendance at the lectures in the Course Alignment Worksheet.
• Write five (5) reflective essays, one for each Knowledge Outcome.
  • Synthesize the appropriate Knowledge Outcome and integrate the appropriate Skill and Communication outcomes for each essay. Cite evidence from your coursework, research, internships, and guest lectures for each outcome.  Evidence cannot be used more than twice. Evidence includes (but is not limited to):  lab activities, research, presentations, guest lectures/conference talks. Be sure to describe the evidence with a significant amount of detail (so always save your work every semester!).  
  • Articulate the development of your knowledge and connections between courses in your program. Reflect upon how your degree program prepared you for your future career as a biologist.  
• Provide three (3) pieces of evidence that represent your best work in your biological discipline. Choose evidence that could be showcased during an interview.  For each piece of evidence, write a 200-word summary describing why you picked the evidence and how it contributed to your growth as a biologist.