Taking Stock/Assignments

For this class, the values of the class and the PWE program are very closely related since this class is to prove that I am ready to graduate from the PWE concentration. The syllabus for the course says that the portfolio needs to show that I am a reflective learner and meet the writing standards of the PWE concentration, so I based my list of values off those requirements.
I think the most important thing the PWE program values is that I use and build on skills I’ve learned at WVU and end the course ready to move on to professional writing, editing, or graduate school. I put this first because I think that is the ultimate goal when graduating from any program—to have learned skills you need, be able to learn the ones you don’t know yet, and to be able to use those skills in a career or further schooling. It also comes first because it is listed as the intent of the course on the first page of the syllabus, indicating that it is the most important goal. This will be measured in areas such as the quality of work I produce for the portfolio and my supervisor’s evaluation of my performance. The more likely my internship work could be used in a real job setting, the more likely I am to get positive feedback on my work for the class.

Reflective learning is a major component in this course. We practice it weekly with the blogs; the portfolio will have a reflective component, and the Portfolio Keeping guide emphasizes reflection is its writing assignments. The PWE concentration clearly values students who are able to reflect on their own work and learn from it. I have had to practice reflective learning in many English classes. I can also tell it is valued because in class Dr. Wible encourages us to take descriptions further to include more reflection and comments on the blog post to let us know how our reflections are coming. Though high quality work is expected, we are able to include work we have had to improve upon if we are able to make a good explanation of what we learned from it and why it is in our portfolios.

The third group of values on my list are those of the PWE department itself, which I found on the website. Because this capstone represents my successful completion of the PWE concentration, it is important that my work reflect the goals of the program. The PWE concentration prepares students to work in business, industry, and science. Since my internship fits the best into the business category it would probably be best to display my most professional work. This ties in with the first value I mentioned. The program also values the ability to work with specialized and complex information. My internship is not in any of the fields listed on the site, but if I can demonstrate a mastery of the special skills needed for my particular internship I believe I can fulfill that PWE goal.

The final value I think the PWE concentration and WVU in general finds important is the ability to share the work I do with others. This is evident in the poster display requirement. The syllabus says this is a requirement for all capstones, so WVU must value speaking about the capstone experience in some way. Because the English department chose to make it a requirement to share my experience to educate the community, I can tell they value explaining professional writing and editing to people who may not know much about it. A poster display that shows what I did throughout the semester in a clear, unique way would probably receive the most praise. A clear poster allows the viewers to get as much information as possible from it, and a unique poster creates interest in my internship and possibly the field of professional writing itself. I put this last not because I think it’s unimportant. I just think that without fulfilling the other goals of the program, I wouldn’t be very successful at the public display because I would not be able to show that I’ve learned anything.


Task 2

This is an academic web portfolio. The portfolio can be developmental, best work, or make any kind of argument I want it to make. The only requirement is that it makes a clear argument that shows what I have learned over the course of the semester. This is to cover my entire semester as an intern at the WVU Press and display the skills I have gained there. This portfolio must include 20 pages of polished writing along with a reflective essay that explains the choices I made when putting together the portfolio. My web portfolio should also have an introduction to the portfolio as a whole and to the documents I include. I am able to include any relevant documents beyond the 20 pages that I want to use for my argument. I will have to submit a link to this finished portfolio by Tuesday, December 9th on my blog. There are no specific quality standards to the pieces I choose aside from the 20 pages of polished work. They will mainly be judged on their ability to make the argument that I have succeeded in the course. This web portfolio should be neat, organized, and easy to use but isn’t required to display a high skill level of webpage making. It is more important that the contents display my high level of professional writing and editing skills.


Task 3

1. I would like my web portfolio to show how I have improved as an editor over the course of the semester. It is important for me to improve as an editor because then my time spent working was worthwhile and will make me more successful as a job or graduate school applicant. I also think it’s important to compare my knowledge before and after because it will help me recognize the specific skills I’ve gained.

2. I would like to display not only improved editing results, but improved editing methods as well. I think it’s important to show that I’ve improved my methods because that will mean that I have become more efficient and taken notice of why I edit the way I do. Noticing these things allows me to see things to improve on and shows that I’m thinking reflectively.

3. Finally, I want to show how I’ve become a more confident editor. Increased confidence is important to show because the purpose of the course is to prepare to get a job; I want to show that I can confidently use my WVU degree as a successful editor. When I started my internship my confidence in my skills was no where near as high as it is now and I want to be able to show how working at the Press improved that.


Task 4

1. Dr. Wible will be the main audience to this portfolio, and the other members of the capstone course will be able to view it as well.

2. Dr. Wible will be looking for my portfolio to make a clear argument (in my case that I’ve improved as an editor) and that I have practiced reflective learning. He will look to see that my supporting documents explain my growth as an editor as well as representing professional work.

My classmates will probably look at it to get a better understanding of what I did at the Press since we have been talking about our internships but haven’t really shared the work we’ve done.
3. Dr. Wible will look to see that I have included all the required elements. He would expect my reflection to detail logical decision making on what I have learned, what the portfolio says about me, and why I chose the examples that I did. He will expect me present a professional as possible web portfolio since this is meant to be a serious display of capstone experience.
My classmates probably expect the same things because they know the course and what is required for the portfolio. They might also expect that I choose interesting examples of work that help them get a better understanding of my internship.

4. Dr. Wible would not be happy if I were missing a requirement or if I included a document with no reasonable argument for it being there. I think he’d be happy with almost anything in the portfolio as long as it added to the portfolio’s overall argument.

M y classmates would be more likely to be unhappy if the website was difficult to use or if I didn’t present good examples of work. They are more likely to want to see the different kinds of work they could be doing than worrying about the argument the portfolio makes.

5. After reading my portfolio I would like all readers to see a student who started an internship with basic editing skills and left a greatly improved editor with the confidence and ability to apply for jobs or graduate school. I would like readers to think that I produced near-professional documents for the Press.

6. Dr. Wible is the primary audience. He is the one who assigns a grade and evaluates if I have met the requirements of the PWE capstone.