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Required Portfolio for BA Degree

Psychology Portfolio - Overview and Purpose

As a psychology major you are required to complete a Personal Portfolio that is representative of your best work as a psychology major. The department will maintain these portfolios; however, it is your responsibility to build your portfolio as you progress through the psychology curriculum.

One purpose of the portfolio requirement is to enable the psychology faculty to evaluate the success of our undergraduate curriculum. That is, we want to know if the curriculum is fulfilling its stated goals and purpose. The goals we have for the curriculum are as follows:

1. To provide an understanding of the use of scientific methodology in psychological research at both intermediate and advanced levels. This understanding will include a familiarity with the design of observational, survey, and experimental studies; principles of inference from scientific data; the logic of statistical testing; and the use of scientific literature.

2. To provide basic knowledge in primary areas of the discipline through an array of required intermediate-level core courses.

3. To develop depth of understanding in areas of the discipline specific to students' individual interests.

4. To ensure that students can write clearly and effectively in an appropriate professional style.

An additional purpose of the portfolio experience is to enable you to evaluate your own progress and accomplishments over the course of your program. We hope that you will be able to see development in your knowledge of psychology as well as in your ability to write and think like a psychologist.

Finally, your portfolio will be an important resource for faculty whom you will ask to write recommendations for you in future graduate school and job applications. The completion of your portfolio is an important part of your overall experience as a psychology major here at UNCG because it will help you once you've graduated.

Creating a Portfolio and Maintaining It

As you progress through the psychology major, you will be required to include a minimum of 5 pieces of work in your portfolio. These portfolio items will come from your course work; you do not have to do additional assignments to fulfill the portfolio requirement.

The first item that will go into your portfolio will be a research report from PSY 311. At the end of this semester, you must turn in what you regard as your best report from PSY 311, along with the "Personal Portfolio Cover Sheet" with your name and student ID (see separate handout). We will then place these items in a portfolio to be kept by the department.

In subsequent semesters, you will be required to add to your portfolio with an item from each 400-level lab and 400-level course that you take. You may add items from other courses as well. You will be reminded in each course that you need to add to your Personal Portfolio. The item(s) you choose to add should be turned in to your instructor. We will then file them into your portfolio.

You will begin building your Personal Portfolio with a PSY 311 research report. In subsequent semesters you will need to include at least 4 more items based on your 400-level course work. One of these additional items must be a research report from a 400-level laboratory course. The remaining items will come primarily from your coursework in other 400-level core courses. (You may choose to include another research report from a second 400-level lab.)

Items for your portfolio may include research reports, term papers, research proposals, essay exams or anything else an instructor indicates is appropriate. You may choose to include additional items in your portfolio that do not come from 400-level core courses. You may want to think of each additional item as a "showcase item" that represents work about which you are particularly proud. In other words, feel free to show off. A "showcase item" may come from any psychology elective (e.g., 346, 515). It may also come from a Senior Honors Seminar (495), a directed study (433), an honor's thesis (493), or field experiences (e.g., 472). Of course, you should feel free to designate work from a 400-level core course as a "showcase" item, too.

To summarize, by the end of your career as a psychology major, you should have built a Personal Portfolio that includes at least 5 items - one from PSY 311 and four from your 400-level core courses. In addition, you may choose to showcase your accomplishments from other courses or experiences you've had as a psychology major.

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Dr. Ed Wisniewski, edw@uncg.edu, (336) 256-0004

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