Portfolios

Almost every graduate program includes a capstone experience or project that is used to assess whether students have met overall program goals. These capstone experiences can be research papers, theses, dissertations, culminating projects, comprehensive exams, oral exams, interviews, or a combination of these types of activities.

The portfolio process requires a student's participation throughout his or her coursework, and begins in the first course in the sequence (LIBS 6010). Throughout a student's time in the program, he or she steadily posts to a portfolio and demonstrates mastery of professional skills, abilities, and dispositions required for the practice of the profession. This is done through the use of course artifacts (course projects) along with the student's reflection upon those skills, abilities, and dispositions as revealed in the artifacts. The reflection essay associated with each artifact helps explain how the artifact demonstrates that the program objective and other professional standards have been met. It also acts as a record of the student's self-assessment.

The MLS portfolio is posted in TaskStream, which is used by all students in the College of Education. Each student undergoes a mid-program and final review of the portfolio, done by the Portfolio Assessment Team (PAT). The PAT is comprised of faculty members from the department. A student must pass the final portfolio review in order to obtain the degree or licensure.