Portfolio Assessment

Portfolio assessment is a flexible, efficient way of earning college credits for what you have learned outside the classroom. Like all programs offered by Barton County Community College (BCCC), portfolio assessment operates on the belief that college-level learning, no matter how it is gained, warrants credit. Therefore, nearly any area of learning can be converted into college credits as long you can prove your expertise in it.

A portfolio is a compilation of data assembled in an approved format to demonstrate college-level knowledge for an award of credit. Often compiled like a notebook, each portfolio generally represents one course. The portfolio you submit to BCCC will serve as proof of your expertise and the value it has in the academic world. It can include knowledge or skills gained from a wide variety of sources, but these are some of the more common ones used for portfolio assessment:

* full or part-time jobs

* independent reading and study

* training programs or in-service courses

* volunteer work

* cultural and artistic pursuits

* hobbies and recreational pastimes

* community or religious activities

* military service

* travel study

* organization memberships

1. Enroll in the Portfolio Development Class, BSTC 1715 Business Experience, 3 credit hours

2. You and your advisor will take inventory of your knowledge and skills.

Review your job history, hobbies, areas of study or special training, volunteer work and other activities noted above. Then make a list of all the areas of knowledge and skill you have acquired as a result of these experiences.

3. Choose the areas for which you want to seek college credit.

Evaluate each area of your prior learning to determine which ones to select for portfolio assessment. Your decision about each subject area should be based on two factors: whether you can prove that your knowledge is equivalent to a college-level course and whether you need college credits in that subject.

4. Find course descriptions to match your learning.

For each subject you have chosen, review the BCCC college catalog to locate a description that best reflects your knowledge (this catalog is available on the BCCC WEB site www.barton.cc.ks.us/bccc/coursedescriptions/coursedescriptions.html if you want to research courses before you enroll). If you cannot identify an appropriate course in the catalog, search through catalogs from regionally accredited colleges. The catalog entries you select must represent courses taught in semester hours (not quarter hours) at regionally accredited colleges or universities. Please note that if you select a course description from another institution's catalog, there is no guarantee that it will be assigned the same or a similar number by BCCC.

5. Provide evidence of your knowledge.

Assemble a package of material that documents your knowledge of the subject. This may include samples of your work, a resume, notes taken in training courses, transcripts, an annotated bibliography, letters of verification from employers or others who have first-hand knowledge of your abilities, or any other material that offers proof. If solid evidence is lacking, you may request an examination. Exams are available on a limited basis and may be oral or written, depending on the subject matter or requirements of the faculty advisor.

6. Describe what you know and how you learned it.

Write a narrative that outlines your learning, explains how your knowledge was acquired and introduces the materials you are providing as evidence. This statement, which may be anywhere from three to ten pages in length depending on the type of course involved, is your forum for persuading the faculty advisor that you have accumulated enough knowledge to warrant credit for the subject. Portfolio advisors encourage students to submit a rough draft of the narrative, prior to final submission, so they can review it and provide useful advice.

7. Put it all together.

After you have selected a course description, written an appropriate narrative and collected sufficient evidence to prove your knowledge to the assessment team and faculty advisor, your portfolio is complete and ready for packaging. Each subject must be packaged in a separate folder or binder

The Portfolio Cover Sheet should be placed at the front of your portfolio, followed by the narrative and, finally, your evidence. A table of contents is required. If you are uncertain as to whether your courses are closely linked enough to be packaged together, check with a faculty advisor.

All information in your portfolio should be typewritten and double spaced. Each page should be numbered. The materials in your portfolio should be arranged in the following sequence:

*Portfolio Cover Sheet (see sample)

*Table of Contents listing all items included in the portfolio

*Narrative written clearly and grammatically correct

*Evidence organized in the sequence in which it is mentioned in the narrative and preferably numbered or otherwise labeled.

8. Submit the portfolio.

Your portfolio should then be mailed to the Experiential Learning team. The team will review it and, if it appears to be complete, will forward it to your faculty advisor for assessment. Once it is submitted, the portfolio will be considered an academic record which belongs to BCCC. At that point, it cannot be returned to you. Therefore, be sure to keep a copy of each item in the portfolio for your own records, and do not send any original documents which you may need in the future.

Correspondence should be directed to:

Experiential Learning Team

% Director of Enrollment Services

Barton County Community College

245 NE 30th Road

Great Bend, KS 67530

The Assessment of Your Portfolio

Each portfolio is assessed by team and your faculty advisor who has expertise in that particular subject. The maximum years for experience is 10 years, however, the team/faculty advisor may decrease this time for certain subject areas--such as computer applications. The faculty advisor will determine whether or not your knowledge of the subject is equal to a college-level grade of "C" or better. You will not receive a letter grade.

If your knowledge is judged to be insufficient, the faculty advisor will recommend that credit be denied. If the faculty advisor decides that more information is needed in order to make a determination, you may be asked to submit additional evidence, take an examination or be interviewed. The latter practices are often used in cases where students have acquired knowledge of a subject that cannot be documented.

There is a limit of 30 credit hours with pass/fail grades. Kansas Board of Regents will accept no more than 30 credit hours as pass/fail whether this comes from experiential learning or from actual college courses that use pass/fail as their grading standards. However, to graduate from BCCC, the student must complete 15 credit hours from the college. The time frame for three credits of portfolio assessment is generally one to three months, but the process may take longer if more information is needed from the applicant or if a faculty advisor is not available immediately.

Once a credit award is recommended, you will receive a credit award report. If you are a student at another school, you should request, in writing, that a BCCC transcript be sent to your home institution.

PORTFOLIO

FOR

(Course Name)

By

Joe E. Student

January 1, 2000

________________________

Portfolio Advisor

Pass_________Fail_________

Date_____________________