|
Creating a Portfolio
What is a portfolio?
A class portfolio documents the knowledge and skills you acquired
during the class. Your portfolio can include
- written documents,
- sketches,
- CAD drawings,
- photographs of your work, and
- artifacts you have made.
How will creating a portfolio benefit you?
- helps you understand and evaluate what you have learned.
- helps you show others what you have learned.
Creating your portfolio for Rapid Design
For Rapid Design, your portfolio can document what you have learned in
the following areas
- design process - concept and execution
- communication - documentation, presentations, discussions and posters
- problem solving
- team work
- self and team evaluation
- knowledge about rapid prototyping technologies
To get started, you can keep your assignments in a notebook or a
cardboard box. However, the assignments show what you did, not what
you learned. I would like you to think about how you can document
what you learned. One way is to write an essay. Another way is to
show the evolution of your ideas. You might want to document how your
ideas for your final project evolved, what you learned from building
the prototypes, what you learned from your classmates, etc.
Portfolios and the ABET Criteria for Graduates
The ABET (Accreditation Board
for Engineering and Technology) Engineering Criteria
guidelines require that engineering programs demonstrate that their
graduates have
(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs
(d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
(e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
(f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
(g) an ability to communicate effectively
(h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context
(i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
(j) a knowledge of contemporary issues
(k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
One way schools are documenting what their students have learned is by
having students create portfolios for their entire undergraduate
career. You might think about how the different courses you have
taken fit into the ABET requirements and how you would document each
ability.
sfinger@ri.cmu.edu
|
