During the course of LIS 405 you will develop a management portfolio that will count for 50% of your final grade in the class. Portfolios may be broadly defined as collections of representative work in a specific area; they are multifaceted and serve as a record of growth and progress in that area. In developing your management portfolio you will demonstrate your understanding of many of the topics covered in the class and your development in the process of learning to think like a manager.The learning model used by the textbook for the class is in four stages:
The portfolio is intended for steps 2, 3 and 4 of the model. We will exercise some concepts in class and through reading. Your task in the portfolio is to share your reflections and conclusions as you test and analyze the concept in other situations and then attempt to generalize and personalize the learning.
- first experience some aspect of the topic -- through reading and the class exercises
- then reflect on the experience and perhaps discuss it with your classmates and others
- third, try to abstract from the experience to underlying concepts and generalizations that can be applied to a wide variety of circumstances and events
- fourth, consider what the concrete message is for yourself and develop a plan of action -- perhaps a determination to act in a new way or to undertake further reading, study and/or experimentation.
Various other things can be assembled in a portfolio. Certain items will be required of everyone in the class. Some of these will consist of specific responses to meet a problem posed in class. In other words, how you would act like a manager in your specific setting and respond to an organizational problem. One example of this type of requirement is a budgeting exercise that you will be given.
Portfolios are flexible. In addition to the items that I ask everyone to turn in and reflections on the art and science of management, you may want to include other materials that demonstrate your increasing mastery of the skills of management. For instance, you might include memos that you have written at your workplace or summaries of solutions that you have proposed for various work problems. I will comment on all these items although they will be considered optional and not count towards the final grade on the portfolio.
I will ask for your portfolios three times during our brief time together -- once at the beginning of the second weekend session (June 23) and one at the beginning of the third weekend session (June 30) and at the end of the course -- on July 8. I would prefer that the portfolio be turned in electronically as a URL posted to the Webboard. (If this seems too dangerously public, you may send it to me via email as a Word attachment) If neither of these options work for you, give me the portfolio in person as a word-processed document (I would appreciate no handwritten entries) Each time you turn it in, please turn the entire portfolio in. I will comment on each section as it is submitted but you will not be given an overall grade until the entire portfolio is submitted at the end of the semester.
Criteria for Grading. My expectation is that your work will be acceptable at a graduate level. This translates to a letter grade of B. I will let you know immediately if the level of your work falls below that level.
In your portfolios, I am particularly looking for evidence of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in your comments.
Revised 6/15/2000
If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Evelyn Daniel
