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English 1002-118

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Long Island University

Landmark's Citation Machine

The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin

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Education in the News: Portfolio Assignment

download a copy of this assignment in Microsoft Word

One part of your reflection/participation grade in this course will come from a portfolio of education-related articles and news stories. I hope that you will use this assignment to begin thinking about what educational issue you’d like to research for your large research project later in the semester. If you already have an idea of a direction you’d like your research to take, you can use this assignment to begin gathering sources. The sooner you get started the more work you will save yourself down the line. At least two entries are due on February 21; the complete portfolio is due on April 4.  

For this assignment, you have two choices: 1. You can keep a traditional scrapbook, clipping out articles and assembling them in a physical location of some sort (notebook, folder, etc.) OR  2. You can keep an electronic portfolio, using a weblog to keep up with the articles you find. Either way, here are the specifics:

• Your portfolio should consist of at least 10 articles about education—on the local, state, or national level; higher education is fine too.
• You will summarize and respond to the articles you gather. So, first, you’ll tell us what it’s about—briefly summarize the author’s main points—and then you’ll tell us how you feel about it. Feel free to raise questions, explore possible alternatives, make personal connections, etc. The summary and response should be about a page, showing both that you have carefully read the article and understand it and that you have reflected on what it means to you, your issue, or your service.
• At the end of each summary, please include a bibliographic entry with the following information: author’s name, title of the article, title of the source, date, other publication information.

If you choose to keep a physical portfolio:

• Your portfolio can be a binder, folder, or notebook—standard size is preferable (for my own carrying purposes!)

• Please attach your article clippings on regular 8.5 x 11 pages.
• The articles can be either the original (from the newspaper or magazine), printouts or copies. The only thing I ask is that you include the whole story (not just an excerpt) and that it be readable (especially if you’re making copies).
• Please attach articles to the front sides of the pages only.

If you’d like to keep a portfolio online:

• You’ll need to create a blogger account, which you can do here. Follow the instructions for creating a blog (it’s really easy—just remember to write down your username and password). Name it whatever you like (of course, remember that I, along with your classmates, will be reading it occasionally).
• Instead of cutting out physical articles, you will assemble a collection of links to articles. The way you do this is simple: type in the title of the article and then select the title. Click on the “link” button, which looks like a literal chain link on top of the world. A window will pop up where you can paste in the URL to the article you’re planning to summarize. Summarize and respond to the article as specified above. You will create new posts for each of your articles.

Check out the Education in the News links list posted on the left if you're looking for sources!