MSW ePortfolio

UMD Department of Social Work MSW Portfolio

Updated 11/16/08.

Check date above for latest update. Changes will be highlighted in Green and italicized.

UMD Department of Social Work MSW Portfolio

What is the MSW Portfolio

The MSW Portfolio is a process and tool designed to help you to integrate, on an ongoing basis, knowledge and skills you learn throughout our curriculum. We designed it to ultimately replace our requirement of a major written project (the Masters Research Project) that students have had to complete before graduating.

The Portfolio is generally comprised of selected assignments from your Concentration Year coursework, along with your brief written reflections on what you learned through each of these assignments. You will work with a faculty member in developing your Portfolio throughout the time when you are completing your Concentration Year coursework, and will formally present your Portfolio to two faculty members as one of the final steps before graduating.

The Components of MSW Portfolios

The MSW Portfolio consists primarily of Learning Products, Reflection Statements, and a final Summary Reflection:

• Learning Products are “A”, “B”, or “S” graded assignments, generally from Concentration Year courses, that you have selected as evidence of your having met each of the Department’s 13 Concentration Year learning objectives (possible exceptions are Social Work with Diverse Populations and American Indians & Social Policy; both are Portfolio-eligible courses which some students may take during their Foundation year). Before an “assignment” can become a “Learning Products,” both of your Portfolio Readers (whose roles are described below) will need to review, and approve of, the graded assignment that includes your instructor’s comments. If you would like to include materials other than course assignments, you should discuss this with your Portfolio Primary Reader whose role is explained later in this document.

• Reflection Statements are 1-2 page papers that connect each of the Learning Projects with the particular Learning Objective you are addressing. You should include, 1) why the Learning Product was chosen, 2) how it demonstrates your Advanced Generalist, MSW-level competency in the associated Learning Objective, and 3) how you will be able to apply what you learned from the Leaning Product to your anticipated primary area of professional practice (e.g., child welfare, mental health, community organization). The second of these requirements is very important since a central purpose of the Portfolio is to ensure that you have achieved the level of competency in all departmental Learning Objectives that is necessary for effective MSW practice. You will need to follow the Departmental writing guidelines in composing Reflection Statements. These guidelines are included in the MSW Student Handbook, as well as on the departmental website.

• The Summary Reflection is a 2-4 page integration of your entire Portfolio. In it you will discuss how the Portfolio project has contributed to your overall professional growth and development--especially in relationship to your primary anticipated area of professional practice. In doing this, you will need to make some specific references to particular Learning Projects and Refection Statements you’ve included in your Portfolio. As with you individual Reflection Statements, you need to follow the Departmental writing guidelines in writing your Summary Reflection.

Besides Learning Projects, Reflection Statements, and a Summary Reflection Statement, your final Portfolio will include a Table of Contents and your resume.

Your Primary and Second Portfolio Readers

• Your Portfolio Primary Reader is the faculty member with whom you will work most closely in putting together your portfolio. She/he also chairs your Final Oral Examination which is focused partly on your Portfolio (see below for a description of your Final Oral Examination). Your Portfolio Second Reader reviews your portfolio at mid-year and also is the second member of your Final Oral Exam committee. Your Academic Advisor has to serve as either your Portfolio Primary Reader or your Portfolio Second Reader. If your current Academic Advisor isn’t someone who you would like to serve in either of these roles, you should change your Academic Advisor through completion of a simple Advisor Change Form that is available in the Student Support Assistant’s office in the SW Suite. Currently faculty able to serve as Portfolio Secondary or Primary Readers are: Lynn Bye, Don Carpenter, Priscilla Day, Denny Falk, Kathy Heltzer, Mike Raschick, and Anne Tellett. Johanna Garrison can serve as a Secondary Portfolio Reader.

The Final Oral Examination

The Final Oral Exam consists of your presenting a brief overview of the knowledge and skills you have learned in the program, followed by a discussion of your Portfolio. In discussing your Portfolio, you will need to demonstrate how it reflects your achievement of departmental Learning Objectives. In doing this, you should emphasize how your Learning Products and Reflection Statements have meaningfully contributed to your competencies in the area of practice you’re most interested. Your Portfolio Primary and Second Readers will ask questions about both parts of your presentation.

The structure of the Final Oral Examination is delineated on p. 46 of the MSW Student Handbook that is available on the Department’s website.

After you complete your Oral Exam, a hard copy of your portfolio will either be kept on file at the Department. As a scholarly product, others (e.g.,future students or interested members of the community) will have access to it upon request. However, you have the right to delete portions of your Portfolio that you consider to be private. You should discuss this option with your Primary Portfolio Reader if it is relevant to you.

The Portfolio Process

• As you begin your Concentration Year, review attached Learning Products Associated with Concentration Year Learning Objectives and start thinking about what Learning Projects that you want to include in your Portfolio.

• Each of your Concentration Year instructors will discuss which of their assignments you can include in your Portfolio, and which Learning Objectives each could address.

• You should meet with your Portfolio Primary Reader sometime in September to discuss the above, as well as the portfolio process in general.

• You should present a preliminary draft of your Portfolio to your Portfolio Primary Reader by the second week of the Fall or Spring semester following your having completed at least 12 credits of Concentration Year coursework. Your Portfolio Primary Reader will provide written and oral comments on this, and then forward your Portfolio to your Portfolio Second Reader for further written feedback. The draft of your Portfolio at this point will obviously will be far from complete because of your having a great deal of remaining coursework from which to pull Learning Products. However the feedback should be helpful to your completion the remainder of the Portfolio process.

• The Final Portfolio Oral Presentation will generally take place in the final week of the Spring semester (during which Concentration Year courses won’t be scheduled) through the Wednesday of Spring Final’s Week. You will, in consultation with your two Portfolio Readers, be responsible for scheduling your Oral Presentation.
At least 3 weeks prior to your Oral Exam, you will need to submit your complete Portfolio to your Portfolio Primary Reader—with the exception of any Spring semester assignments you’re using that haven’t yet been graded or, if you’re taking Summer Field II, your Learning Products associated with it. At least one week prior to the Exam, you must submit all relevant Spring semester assignments that your instructors have graded and returned to you.
If a Spring instructor isn’t able to grade a Learning Product assignment before your Oral Exam, you will at least need to include a rough draft of the assignment and a completed Reflection Statement. Under these circumstances, you will not be able to completely “pass” your Oral Presentation until you submit your graded assignment(s) to your Final Portfolio Reader and they approve it as an acceptable Learning Project.
If you make your Portfolio Presentation before completing Field II, your Field II faculty liaison can evaluate any Field II Learning Product assignments and do the final sign off on your Portfolio.

11/16/08

Step-by-Step instructions for ePortfolio Uploading