Resources:
|
|
Preparing the Capstone Portfolio
The general structure of the capstone portfolio will be:
- Home (with narrative overview)
- Courses taken (with catalog descriptions)
- Links to samples of work in selected courses including the 680 project
- Core Competencies (with applicable competency statements)
- Links to work that demonstrates each competency (including the 680 project)
- Reflection on program of study and preparation for the profession
- Resume
You can be creative with the capstone portfolio including a range of media from Word documents to sound to images (still and moving). It should be unique to you while retaining the prescribed structure.
The capstone portfolio is logically organized, condensed information that catches the reader's attention and delivers the message almost instantly.
The capstone portfolio should begin with a well-written overview that is a clear, concise, and relevant account of what you hope a visitor will learn from your portfolio (about you and your educational career); this will likely highlight the learning achieved over the course of your program of study and perhaps how that learning led to and/or was applied to your 680 project.
The reflection is a personal statement that explains who you are, where you come from, and where you are headed in your career. It is an opportunity to reflect on your educational and career goals as you think about your MLS career. Here you have the opportunity to examine and reflect on your learning in a broad context of people, career, culture, and experience.
Course catalog descriptions can be found in the Web version of the Graduate Catalog
The American Library Association has published a draft proposed set of
eight core competencies areas, with specific competency statements under each competency area. These competencies are intended to be for the beginning generalist librarian; they can be used to identify and assess the knowledge or concepts and skills you have acquired over MLS studies. One competency area applies specifically to the 680 empirical research project.
Students who have taken specialized courses suc h as medical librarianshi p's services may want to include Competencies relevant subject competencies. Some of the published competencies are:
For those who would like different perspectives on resume writing, here are a few links:
[NOTE: for general distribution (such as on a CD or Website) it is customary to only include an email address as contact information; that is, we don't include personal address and phone numbers.]
A bit of history about the draft proposed ALA core competencies
(for a generalist 21st Century Librarian)
In 1999, the First Congress on Professional Education recommended that the American Library Association identify core competencies for the profession and "describe the competencies for the generalist of the future" (McKinney, 2006, p. 1). The American Library Association (ALA), the national accrediting body for Master of Library Science (MLS) program, held dialogs with library educators, employers, and students to understand What does it take to be a librarian? A range of skills and attributes emerged that underpins the core of librarianship. The competency statements developed by the ALA "reflect the knowledge and skills of a beginning generalist librarian" and "taken as a whole, the list suggests the development that is basic to a librarian or information professional in contemporary society."
A comparison of competencies and curricula found "ALA-accredited programs have curricula in line with the latest draft proposed core competencies....Of the 56 institutions hosting ALA-accredited programs, 53 (94.6%) have courses to address all eight (8) core competencies" (McKinney, 2006, p. 1).
The American Library Association has published a master list of draft proposed ALA core competencies.
Relationship of the 680 to the Special Project
"All master's degree programs at SCSU require the successful completion of one or more of the following individual capstone experiences: A thesis, a comprehensive examination, or a special project." [2006-2007 Graduate Catalog, p. 33]
"The special project requires the application or drawing together of knowledge and skills acquired in the graduate program. Projects are typically completed under a particular course designation and result in a written report or other product, such as an audio tape of a performance or photographs of an art exhibit, which will be kept on file for review by students, faculty, and accrediting agencies. The master's degree is conferred after successful completion of a minimum of 36 credits including the special project." [2006-2007 Graduate Catalog, p. 34]
If you choose to use 680 and the 680 project as your Special Project to fulfill that portion of the university's requirements for a master's degree,
the Capstone Portfolio which includes a copy of the final 680 paper itself needs to be submitted to the department office on a CD as evidence of the Special Project having been completed. It is also strongly recommended that you ask up to three practitioners to review the 680 project (or even the full portfolio) for the purpose of writing letters of assessment/support for the application/benefit of the project to the field (how your overall training/experience fit into the information profession). These would be added as a "Support" link from the portfolio Home page.
Dr. Brown will sign the Certificate of passing the special project and deliver it to the department secretary for additional signature and distribution (Graduate School, Records Office, student file). A copy will be mailed to you after the final signature is obtained.
As Skiba (2005) reminds us, portfolios have been used in some professionals (such as artists) to collect and organize their work over time and to facilitate feedback and guidance (p. 246). The portfolio has been used in primary and secondary education as an alternative to standardized testing to assess student learning (Ahn, 2004). The use of portfolio assessment has been found to foster clearer learning goals and expectations and encourage student reflection on their learning (Ahn, 2004), giving them "a new sense of their accomplishments" (Young, 2002, p. A31). Portfolios were also found helpful in assessing a student's learning strengths and weaknesses and preparing for job interviews (Young, 2002), assessment of courses (Manson, Pegler, & Weller, 2004), and creating a culture of assessment in higher education (Skiba, 2005).
Digital or e-portfolios facilitate institutional storage (such as on CD disks in student file folders) and sharing (such as among stakeholders). As a shared resources among stakeholders (student, curriculum, professional and accrediting bodies, and employers) portfolios "bring to the forefront the richness of student work and teacher practice" and "allows all stakeholders to continually reflect on the learning process, which is the prime advantage of e-portfolios as an assessment tool." (Ahn, 2004, p. 18).
References
American Library Association. (1992). Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Studies 1992. Retrieved July 26, 2006, from http://www.ala.org/ala/accreditation/accredstandards/standards.htm
Ahn, June. (2004). Electronic portfolios: Blending technology, accountability & assessment. THE Journal, 31 (9), 12-18.
Brooks, Sandy. (2002, November/December). Competencies and certification: Where the profession stands. Library Mosaics, 13(6) 8-10.
Jewinski, E., & Jewinski, J. (1990). How to write an executive summary. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.
Manson, Robin, Pegler, Chris, & Weller, Martin. (2004). E-portfolios: An assessment tool for online courses. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35 (6), 717-727.
McKinney, Renee D. (2006). Draft proposed ALA core competencies compared to ALA-accredited, candidate, and precandidate program curricula: A preliminary analysis. Retrieved July 26, 2006, from http://www.ala.org/ala/accreditationb/Core_Competencies_Comparison.pdf
Skiba, Diane J. (2005). E-portfolios, webfolio, and e-dentity: Promises and challenges. Nursing Education Perspectives, 26 (4), 246-247.
Summers, F. William. (1998, April). Accreditation and the American Library Association; A background paper prepared for the Executive Board of the American Library Association. Retrieved July 26, 2006, from http://www.ala.org/ala/hrdrbucket/1stcongressonpro/1stcongressf.htm
Western Council of State Libraries, Inc. (2004). Library Practitioner Core Competencies. Continuum of Library Education Project (Catherine Helmick, Project Director).
Young, Jeffrey R. (2002, March 8). E-Portfolios could give students a new sense of their accomplishments. Chronicle of Higher Education, 48 (26), A31-32.
2006-2007 Graduate Catalog, Southern Connecticut State University.
On this class site, every effort has been made to acknowledge the work of others. Any omission is unintentional. If anyone finds an oversight, please contact me at brownm6@southernct.edu immediately so that any error can be corrected.
|
