integrativeknowledgeportfoliostudenthandbook

Copyright © 2012 Stacey M. Fenton and Melissa Peet ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process 2012 Student Handbook

Stacey Fenton, MA & Melissa Peet, PhD MSW

Editing Contributions From: Duane Breijak Portfolio Contributions From: Jessica Eiland Trenten Rocha Alex Turin Michelle Zellars


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Table of Contents What is the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process? ............................................. 3

Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Sections .................................................................... 3

How Will Creating an Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Benefit Me? ............................. 4

Getting Started on Creating an Integrative Knowledge Portfolio in Digication ............. 6

Logging In ................................................................................................................ 6

Changing Your Password ........................................................................................ 7

Creating a New ePortfolio ........................................................................................ 8

Creating Your Own Integrative Knowledge Portfolio .............................................. 10

Editing Portfolio Sections ....................................................................................... 11

Adding a Section .................................................................................................... 12

Editing a Section .................................................................................................... 12

Digication Portfolio Pages and Modules ................................................................ 13

Editing Portfolio Pages ........................................................................................... 13

Editing Portfolio Modules ....................................................................................... 14

How Do I Get Help Using Digication? .................................................................... 17

Phase A ........................................................................................................................ 18

Activities and Objectives ............................................................................................ 18

Exercise I: Developing Short-term, Long-term and Lifelong Goals ............................ 19

Entering Goals Exercise I into Digication ............................................................... 21

Exercise II: Identifying Key Learning Experiences ..................................................... 22

Knowledge/Skill Areas for Creating the Work Showcase Table of Contents .......... 24

Entering Work Showcase Exercise I into Digication ............................................... 25

Exercise III: Creating a Table of Contents for Your Work Showcase ......................... 26

Phase B ........................................................................................................................ 29


Developing Knowledge Synthesis Pages .................................................................. 30

Characteristics of High-Quality Knowledge Synthesis Pages ................................ 32

Exercise IV: Writing a Knowledge Synthesis Page .................................................... 34

Entering Work Showcase Knowledge Synthesis Pages into Digication ................. 37

Uncovering Knowledge and Values Using Generative Knowledge Interviewing ....... 38

Generative Knowledge Interviewing (GKI)™.......................................................... 38


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Exercise V: Feedback on Your Knowledge Synthesis Pages Using Generative Knowledge Interviewing ............................................................................................. 41

Generative Knowledge Interviewer Guidelines ...................................................... 44

Entering Generative Knowledge Interviewing Feedback in Digication ................... 45

Phase C ........................................................................................................................ 46


Why Create a Philosophy Statement? ....................................................................... 47

Philosophy Statement Components ....................................................................... 47

Understanding Guidelines for Creating a Compelling Philosophy Statement ........ 48

Exercise VI: Creating a Philosophy Statement .......................................................... 49

First Example Student Philosophy Statement ........................................................ 52

Second Example Student Philosophy Statement ................................................... 54

Entering Your Philosophy Statement into Digication .............................................. 56

Exercise VII: Incorporating Feedback on the Philosophy Statement ......................... 57

Exercise VIII: Connecting Your Goals to Your Knowledge Synthesis Pages ............. 58

Entering Your Goals Page into Digication .............................................................. 59

Phase D ........................................................................................................................ 60


Exercise IX: Creating a Clear and Cohesive Welcome Page Message ..................... 61

Creating the Welcome section in Digication ........................................................... 63

Exercise X: Creating a Resume That Adds to Your Portfolio ..................................... 64

Adding Your Resume to Your Portfolio in Digication .............................................. 66

Personalizing Your Portfolio ...................................................................................... 67

Exercise XI: Creating Coherence across Portfolio Pages .......................................... 68

Changing the Banner and Directory Icon for Your Portfolio ................................... 71

Feedback Criteria for Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio .................................. 72

Publishing the Portfolio .......................................................................................... 73

Giving Access to Unpublished Content .................................................................. 74

Showcasing Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio ................................................. 75


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What is the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process? The phrase “Integrative Knowledge” refers to your understanding of how to adapt to new challenges and environments. The Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process is currently the only empirically-proven method in the country designed to help you in connecting your knowledge across “tacit” or experience-based contexts and levels. Students often create Integrative Knowledge Portfolios with the intention of creating a professional portfolio. However, many later find the portfolio process helpful in making a personal statement about who you are, where you have been, and where you want to go in life.

Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Sections

Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio in Digication will contain the following overarching sections:

A Work Showcase section, which highlights a series of Knowledge Synthesis pages that illustrate how you weave together the knowledge, skills and insights gained from pivotal learning experiences in life. Each experience is organized into a larger knowledge/skill category which also serves as the table of contents for the Work Showcase

A Philosophy Statement page, which demonstrates your ability to retrieve and articulate the specific values, beliefs, and sources of inspiration guiding your work and decision-making

A Goals page, which illustrates your capacity to imagine and verbalize a general sense of direction and purpose for work and life as a result of participation in the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process

A Welcome page, which demonstrates your ability to capture a readers’ interest and succinctly introduce your portfolio

A Resume page, which shows that you are capable of presenting your experiences in a traditional format


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How Will Creating an Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Benefit Me?

Through the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process, you will tap into the informal and formal knowledge hidden in your daily learning and interactions to reveal the knowledge, skills, and core capacities you use to navigate through challenges. You will also discover the underlying passions, values and ideas that shape your world view. The Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process then “bridges” these experiences to provide meaning to others viewing your work and a sense of empowerment to you as you share your experiences. Specifically, by moving through each phase of the process, you will gain:

An inner compass, which reveals the questions, values, beliefs, and concerns that underlie your decisions and actions

Guiding perspectives and frames of reference, which are the invisible perspectives, theories, and approaches you use to successfully solve problems and address challenges in a variety of contexts you encounter through everyday life

Awareness of core strengths and capacities, which are the unconscious skills and abilities you’ve developed from learning how to adapt to new situations, contexts, and information

Awareness of sources of challenge and resistance, which are the habits, characteristics, types of work, and/or situations with which you are likely to struggle with

High quality connections, which are the types of relationships, communities, and/or partnerships you are drawn to for inspiration, guidance and resources

Alex Warbasse

“I think everyone should create an ePortfolio… It has been so powerful to be able to capture the essence of what is important to me in one place.

I learned so much about myself through the process - skills I didn't know I had beyond

academics. I learned that these really different and contradictory parts of me actually go

together….it has made SUCH a big difference in how I approach my classes now…”


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University of Michigan


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Getting Started on Creating an Integrative Knowledge Portfolio in Digication

Logging In


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Changing Your Password After signing into Digication for the first time, you should change your password to something you can easily remember.


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Creating a New ePortfolio To get started working on your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio, you will first need to create an ePortfolio in Digication. Follow these steps to create a new ePortfolio:


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Creating a New ePortfolio (cont.)


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Creating Your Own Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio should not only showcase your work, knowledge, and interests – it should demonstrate who you are and what you would like others to know about you. Here, you will learn about how to make changes to your portfolio’s sections, pages, and modules. As you may notice, there are several useful administrative features for sections, pages, and modules inside your portfolio. The picture below describes these important features.


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Editing Portfolio Sections The following provides instructions on using sections in your portfolio. You can easily locate sections beneath the banner image.

As shown in the image above, your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio is organized into five major sections (Welcome, Goals, Philosophy Statement, Work Showcase, and Resume), and several resource pages under Portfolio Completion Resources


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Adding a Section

As you develop your new portfolio, you may decide to add a new section to highlight related links to your portfolio, videos, contact information, etc.. Follow the directions below for adding a new section. 1. Click on the Add/Edit tab located above the modules area. You will then see a small notepad and pencil pop-up next to each section – this is how you will know you are in “editing” mode.

2. Select the Add Section option and enter the name for your new section.

3. Click on the Show Advanced option and check the hidden box if you would like the section to be a hidden page for your eyes only. You should uncheck this box if you would like the public to see the section once your portfolio is published.

4. Click Save. Editing a Section To edit a section, just click on the pencil and pad of the item you would like to change and you will be able to type in new text, change the web address of the link, or make the page hidden. To delete any section, click on the pencil and pad corresponding to the section and click the delete section link.


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Digication Portfolio Pages and Modules The purpose of this section is to highlight portfolio pages and modules – the areas of your portfolio containing the most content – and provide you with instructions for creating, editing and deleting these areas of the portfolio.

Editing Portfolio Pages You can navigate within specific sections of a portfolio by clicking on page links located in the bar on the left-hand side of the screen (pictured below). The same skills you learned for editing portfolio sections applies to editing pages: 1. Click on the add/edit tab on the left-hand side of the screen and select Add Page. 2. Enter the page’s name and then click the show advanced option to indicate whether it’s a hidden page, header for a section of pages, or a “collapsed” subpage under a pre-existing page. The hidden pages will always be in italics, headers (which are unclickable) will always show in bold, and collapse pages and regular pages will always show in regular text style. You may go back and delete a page at any time by clicking on the delete this page option. 3. Click Save.

Pages and modules can enable you to structure your portfolio in a way that truly showcases

who you are and what you want others to know about your

unique skills and knowledge.


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Editing Portfolio Modules Whereas the sections and pages of your portfolio will “label” the content found in modules, the modules themselves contain most of the content in your portfolio. As you may have noticed, modules are the boxed areas in the middle of portfolio pages (pictured below).

You can start exploring modules by clicking on the Add A Module button located just below the sections area of your portfolio on the right-hand side of the screen (pictured below).


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At this point, several module options will appear. Under the Basic area, you can choose to add Image/Video/Audio, which will add one large image, or one audio or video clip. After creating the module, switch to the “Edit” tab, and click “Replace this Media.” This will bring up a file browser, which you can use to locate the file you want to upload. The files can be no more than 20MB, and any file larger than 500 pixels wide will be resized. This means almost all images, audio files (MP3s) up to 20 minutes, and video files as long as 10 minutes can be uploaded.

By selecting Rich Text (the most common module in Digication), you will be able to use some of the most commonly-used text editing features, such as adding in text, picture/video/audio links, tables, website URLs, etc. More instructions for using the Rich Text editor are included under the Welcome section of your Digication portfolio.


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Next, you can add a Gallery module – an array of pictures that are enlarged as you click on them. Make sure to use high-quality pictures, as the enlargement of a picture can distort its true pixilation as seen here.

Finally, you can select the Contact Form module if you would like viewers to submit feedback to you via email from your portfolio. If you are using Digication to display your work experience for potential employers, this tool is ideal for receiving further inquiries. However you choose to structure your portfolio using these module options is up to you. Just remember to save your work often to avoid losing information!

Editing Tips

Please remember as you do your work in Digication that computers crash and Internet-based platforms can be buggy. Consider doing all of your work using document editing software (i.e. Microsoft Word) so that you do not lose considerable time with disappearing work. After you finish your work, you can copy and paste it into Digication.

You can “publish” modules without publishing them publicly if your

portfolio is still set to “private” under settings. However, if your portfolio is

set to “public”, it is best to save changes to a module before

publishing since this will give you time to review your work before it is

viewable by the public.


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How Do I Get Help Using Digication? Once you have signed in, if you need help with any Digication-related features, click on the HELP? link in the upper right hand corner of the page.

If you need further assistance with Digication-related issues, you can email [email protected] or call (888) 342-DIGI.

mailto:[email protected]


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Phase A

Understanding Where You Have Been and Where You Are Going

Purpose of Phase A Completing this phase will help you to figure out what sorts of life circumstances and situations have impacted your learning the most and how you can use those experiences to guide your desired future. Below you will find the key activities for this phase and their location inside Digication:

Activities and Objectives

ACTIVITY LOCATION IN DIGICATION

Developing Short-term, Long-term, and Lifelong Goals

Under Goals as Exercise I

Identifying Key Learning Experiences

Under Work Showcase as Exercise I

Creating a Table of Contents for Your Work Showcase

Under Work Showcase as Exercise II

The activities within this phase correspond to the Goals and Work

Showcase sections of the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process

In Phase A, you will complete activities that prompt you to

Develop goals

Identify personally important learning experiences

Generate a table of contents

for the Work Showcase


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Exercise I: Developing Short-term, Long-term and Lifelong Goals

Becoming an intentional learner and developing integrative knowledge capacities requires you to think about and understand your short-term, long-term, and lifelong learning goals as often as possible. Although you will not develop a fine-tuned Goals page for your portfolio until the last phase of the process, articulating a set of goals early in the process will help you to better identify the kinds of experiences you would like to document for the Knowledge Synthesis pages of your Work Showcase. Directions: Use the table below to answer the questions about your goals. You may also view this exercise under the Goals page of your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio and enter your responses there.

Short-term Goals. List 3-5 goals you have for your education in the next year: What would you like to accomplish? What would you like to learn? What would you like to experience?

What are your goals for this course and how do you relate to your larger short-term goals?

Long-term Goals. List 3-5 educational or career goals you envision for your future (2-5 years): What would you like to accomplish? What would you like to learn? What would you like to experience?

How do you think this course or program will help you fulfill your long-term goals?

Lifelong Goals. List 3-5 goals you envision for your personal life: What would you like to accomplish? What would you like to learn? What would you like to experience?

How do you think this course or program will help you fulfill your lifelong goals?


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Entering Goals Exercise I into Digication 1. Click on Goals in the sections menu.

2. In the area featuring the various pages under the Goals section (on the left-hand side of the page), click on “Exercise I: Creating your Initial Short-term, Long-term, and Lifelong Goals.”

3. Click on the Edit tab of Exercise I’s module. The module’s edit tab will now be highlighted and the module will display a typing area which will let you know you are in editing mode. 4. Answer the questions by typing directly into the table located in the module. 5. Click Save.


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Exercise II: Identifying Key Learning Experiences

The purpose of this activity is to help you to identify and briefly reflect upon your top 10-15 learning experiences to date and create a table of contents for the Work Showcase in your portfolio (see the Work Showcase section located on the left side of your Integrative Portfolio screen).

By the end of this exercise, you will have organized your most important learning experiences into at least 3-5 Knowledge/Skill Areas (e.g. "Research", "Team Work", "Leadership", "Intercultural Communication", etc.). These Knowledge/Skill Areas provide readers of your portfolio with a quick and yet powerful understanding of the types of knowledge, skills and capacities you have developed thus far in life.

Directions: For the table on the next page, follow steps 1-3. 1. In the first column, provide a brief description of your most important learning experiences to date. Include at least 5-7 experiences from work or other types of formal learning (e.g. creating a course, participating within a professional organization, developing a new initiative, etc.), and at least another 3-6 learning experiences from other areas of life (e.g. community leadership, friends, family, etc.). 2. In the second column, jot down a sentence that captures the essence of what you learned at the time of the experience, and add another sentence about why it is important to you now. 3. In the third column, write down Knowledge/Skill Areas you think might apply to the experience (see Knowledge/Skill Areas sheet). Knowledge/Skill Areas need to be broad enough to include several different experiences. For examples, go to MPortfolio.umich.edu and see how Michelle Zellers and Alex Turin have created the Work Showcase section of their portfolios.

Knowledge/Skill areas are the themed groups

organizing your Knowledge Synthesis Pages

http://mportfolio.umich.edu/showcase.html%29


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Memorable Learning Experience

What did you learn from the experience and/or why was it important?

Knowledge/Skill Category

Ex. Leading a successful team project

Learned how to communicate in a way that is more patient and understanding of others; learned how to “try and fail” in front of others and ask for help/advice.

Communication, Team Work, or Leadership


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Knowledge/Skill Areas for Creating the Work Showcase Table of Contents

Directions: The following Knowledge/Skill Areas have been created from years of Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process research and have been shown to be effective in helping participants organize your learning experiences for producing clear, coherent Knowledge Synthesis pages. Please use the Knowledge/Skill Areas to frame your key learning experiences. Advising

Advocacy

Assessment

Arts-Related Skills

Benchmarking

Communication Skills

Community Work

Conflict Resolution Skills

Curriculum Development

Creative Writing

Creativity

Editing

Facilitation

Fundraising

Global Engagement

Graphic Design

Grant Writing

Group and Team Work

Intercultural Skills

Leadership

Learning from Diversity

Lesson Planning

Marketing

Networking

Patient Care

Policy Work

Professional Development

Program Management

Program Development

Research

Self-Assessment

Social Change

Social Identities

Strategy and Planning

Teaching

Team Work

Writing and Publications

Other


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Entering Work Showcase Exercise I into Digication


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Exercise III: Creating a Table of Contents for Your Work Showcase

Creating a Table of Contents will allow you to organize your key learning experiences under themed groups, or Knowledge/Skill Areas, so that viewers can read about the various ways you have honed a particular skill set. Directions: From the table in Exercise I, complete the following two steps. Each step contains specific directions for how to complete the step in Digication. STEP 1: Identify 3-5 Knowledge/Skill Areas that occur most often and put these in the Work Showcase table of contents in the box on the left side of the page. To replace the placeholders for each Knowledge/Skill Area with your own Knowledge/Skill Areas: 1. Click on the Work Showcase link in the sections menu.

Notice how this student, Alex Turin, organized his key learning experiences under

the Knowledge/Skill Areas “Creativity”, “Facilitation”, “Research”, and “Working

with Kids”. Each Knowledge/Skill Area serves as the header for related Knowledge

Synthesis Pages


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2. Click the Add/Edit button located just above the Work Showcase box to the left of the Digication page. A small pencil/paper icon should appear next to each header. 3. Click on the pencil/paper icon next to "Knowledge/Skill Area 1". A text box will display.

4. Replace Knowledge/Skill Area 1" with the first Knowledge/Skill Area you chose to include from Exercise I and click Save. 5. Repeat steps 2-4 for each subsequent Knowledge/Skill Area.

First, input the title you've selected.

Next, click Show Advance, select the Header checkbox, and finally click Save.

NOTE - If you would like to add more Knowledge/Skill Areas than what you originally had, use the Add Page button that appears when you click Add/Edit.


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STEP 2: Choose 8-10 of the learning experiences that are relevant to the Knowledge/Skill Areas you selected that you would like to showcase in your portfolio. Insert the name of the learning experience (e.g. Teaching HIV Prevention in South Africa) into your table of contents. To add new key learning experience page titles: 1. Click the Add/Edit button located just above the box on the left. A small pencil/paper icon should appear next to each header.

2. Click the pencil/paper icon next to the first Knowledge Synthesis Page. A text box will display. 3. Replace the text in the Page Name field with the first Knowledge Synthesis Page title you have chosen and Save.

4. Repeat these steps for each subsequent Knowledge Synthesis Page.


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Phase B

Demonstrating Your Knowledge, Strengths and Accomplishments

Purpose of Phase B Knowledge Synthesis refers to the process of creating new insights from thinking about your learning on several different levels. The purpose of including Knowledge Synthesis Pages in your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio is to give you a place to talk about the important learning moments in life, big or small, that have shaped who you are, and the unique knowledge and abilities honed through those experiences.



Writing Knowledge Synthesis Pages

Under Work Showcase as Knowledge/Skill Areas 1-5

Uncovering Knowledge, Skills, and Values Using Generative Knowledge Interviewing

Under Portfolio Completion Resources as Generative Knowledge Interviewing and Knowledge Synthesis Resources

Feedback on Knowledge Synthesis Pages Using Generative Knowledge Interviewing

Under Work Showcase as Exercise III

In Phase B, you will complete activities that prompt you to

Identify the skills, lessons, and impact generated from your key learning experiences

Invite others to provide

constructive feedback to inform your work on your Knowledge Synthesis Pages

The activities within this phase correspond to the Work Showcase section of the

Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process


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Developing Knowledge Synthesis Pages

You will begin the process of developing Knowledge Synthesis Pages by reflecting on your key moments of learning, and then invite others to listen to you tell a story about your experiences via Generative Knowledge Interviewing (which you will learn about later in this phase). This generative storytelling process will help you pinpoint things that construct a fuller picture of your experiences and clarify the skills, knowledge, and core capacities underlying your efforts and decision-making during those experiences. You will then connect these two levels of understanding to create the Knowledge Synthesis Pages. The incorporation of Knowledge Synthesis Page writing with Generative Knowledge Interviewing will help you develop:

Capacity to identify and value different forms of knowledge

Demonstrated knowledge, skills and insights showcased in a portfolio

Understanding of the basic Generative Knowledge Interviewing principles and how to apply them

Effective feedback loops with Generative Knowledge Interviewing partners for developing written content for the portfolio


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What Types of Experiences Should I Include in My Knowledge Synthesis Pages? The answer to this question will greatly depend on the course or program through which you are completing the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process. Many students choose to include specific learning experiences that occurred during a study abroad trip, a college course, or community leadership project. However, some of the most impactful Knowledge Synthesis Pages discuss every day experiences, such as teaching a younger sibling how to walk or starting a book club. Any experience that has helped you better understand who you are, what you most enjoy, and what you want to do in life can serve as a Knowledge Synthesis Page for your portfolio. Where Do My Knowledge Synthesis Pages Go? Each Knowledge Synthesis Page becomes a page under the Work Showcase section of your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio. Most completed Integrative Knowledge Portfolios have

7 to 15 individual Knowledge Synthesis Pages in the Work Showcase. Each example, which is the equivalent of a 1 to 2 page single-spaced document, describes what you learned from a particular experience, how the learning connects to larger personal and/or social goals, and other areas of your life.

You can check out more students Work Showcases at the University of Michigan by visiting

the MPortfolio Showcase: http://MPortfolio.umich.edu/showcase.html

Knowledge Synthesis Pages under the

broader grouping of Knowledge/Skill Areas

http://mportfolio.umich.edu/showcase.html


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Characteristics of High-Quality Knowledge Synthesis Pages Knowledge Synthesis Pages generally contain the following areas:

Title

Description/Overview

Skills Gained

Lessons Learned

Impact/Importance Although these areas are suggested, many Integrative Knowledge Portfolio students have found that the areas allow readers to quickly understand what you learned or gained and how it fits with other elements of your portfolio. In general, having consistent headers from one page makes the content of your portfolio easy to understand and appreciate. Take time to read the area descriptions below. These descriptions will help you to frame the questions you should ask yourself while creating each of your Knowledge Synthesis Pages.

Title of Your Knowledge Synthesis Page Titles work best if they are action-oriented and really capture the essence of what you learned or gained from an experience (e.g. "Starting a tutoring program" "Learning abstract thinking through calculus" "Applying statistics to everyday life").

Description/Overview This area of the Knowledge Synthesis Page provides a brief summary (one paragraph) of the overall experience that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to continue reading. It often begins with a brief overview of the work, including its purpose and goals, and then includes a sentence or two about your role and why the work was valuable or important to you. You should ALWAYS include at least one image, aligned to either the right or left, in this section. Skills Gained This area describes your role: what you did, with whom you worked, and the types of knowledge and skills you gained. Use a variety of specific action verbs (ex. mentoring, training, facilitating, etc.) and behaviors to describe the kinds of decisions and actions that went along with this work/experience. Search the web for guidance to specific skill language related to your interests, major, or work.

Make sure to insert at least one picture justified to the left, right or center in each Knowledge Synthesis Page’s Description/Overview area

(notice in the example image on the next page, the picture is left

justified).


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Lessons Learned This area allows you to think about how you are currently applying the knowledge and skills you have learned to other areas of life, as well as how you imagine using those knowledge and skills in the future. It is VERY important that you be specific in this section, providing as many examples as possible. You should avoid generalized statements, such as “I learned a lot” and “this experience made me a better person”. Instead, discuss how the experience helped you learn and grow and in what ways did you become a “better person”. Impact/Importance This section demonstrates your capacity

for "big picture" thinking. It should describe how your learning connects to goals or values beyond your immediate experience (i.e. how your work benefitted an individual, a group of people, an organization, or social network). It should also capture the influence or impact your work has had on others and yourself (in terms of your own professional development or life goals). For example, consider how the work/experience you are describing relate to the following: Address your larger learning and professional goals (i.e. the importance of

learning Spanish could be that it prepares you to be successful in a diverse workplace).

Support a change underway within a group, community or institution (i.e. the importance of doing research on a health-related issue could be that it motivated you to participate more actively in the national health-care debate).

Enhance group/community development or well-being (i.e. the “importance” of

being a resident advisor is that you can help first-year students make the critical transition to college life).

A Note on Visual Elements

The visual element (image, diagram or picture) usually captures some theme, context, or poignant moment. An effective visual element captures some kind of insight, theme, goal, or outcome described in the work/experience and is distributed throughout the page. You

should include two or more visual elements on each Knowledge Synthesis Page.


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Exercise IV: Writing a Knowledge Synthesis Page

Directions:

1. Read and respond to the questions and prompts in each area. These questions and prompts will guide you in creating your Knowledge Synthesis Pages.

2. Include at least 1-2 images, aligned to either the right or left, in your Knowledge Synthesis page (see example image below).

3. Make sure to replace ALL instructional text and images in the digication module with your own responses and images.

4. Save all work frequently. Typing responses in a Word processor and “cutting” and “pasting” into the Digication module is highly recommended.

ACTION-ORIENTED TITLE OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE SYNTHESIS PAGE DESCRIPTION/OVERVIEW Provide a brief summary (one paragraph) of the overall Knowledge Synthesis page in this section. Include at least one image.

NOTE: The image to the left is just a placeholder. You should select an image that is most relevant to illustrating the experience you are writing about in the Knowledge Synthesis Page.

SKILLS GAINED Answer the prompts below to complete the "Skills Gained" area. 1. Briefly describe (i.e. within 1 - 2 sentences) the steps or actions involved in this learning experience. Provide enough information so readers can later understand why it was meaningful to you. 2. Describe 1 - 2 challenges you encountered with regards to this learning experience (e.g. in trying to address the goals of an assignment, in working with others, etc.). Consider addressing the following in your response:


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Describe an "a-ha" moment or two related to either identifying the challenge or the process you engaged in to address it.

Describe specifically what you learned in addressing the challenge and what happened as a result. For instance, what types of decisions or actions did you engage in to respond to the challenge and what kinds of strategies, insights and/or tools did you gain as a result?

What kinds of previous knowledge, skills and/or strengths did you drawn upon to address the challenge?

LESSONS LEARNED Answer the prompts below to complete the "Lessons Learned" area. 1. How has this experience influenced your understanding of yourself, including your awareness of your own background and social identities? 2. How has this experience informed your overall development as a learner, family member, leader, worker, friend and/or professional? 3. How do the insights you have gained from this experience connect to specific academic concepts or ideas you have already learned, or concepts and ideas that you are currently learning in this course? 4. How have you applied what you’ve learned from this experience in other areas of your life so far? For instance, has it expanded your notion of what "diversity" means or influenced how you approach people in social situations? 5. How do you expect to use what you have learned from this experience in the future? For instance, do you see it having an impact on what you are interested in, where you might work, or how you will approach working with others? IMPACT/IMPORTANCE Answer the prompts below to complete the "Impact/Importance" area. 1. What types of positive feedback have you received from others about your learning from this experience thus far?


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2. What kind of impact do you think this learning experience may have had on others and how has that benefitted them? 3. In your process of learning, did you have to overcome some personal challenges and/or fears that you think others (your friends or family) might be able to relate to? If so, can you imagine sharing your experience with others? 4. If and when you do decide to share what you have learned with others outside of class, what would you like others to gain from hearing your story?


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Entering Work Showcase Knowledge Synthesis Pages into Digication


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Uncovering Knowledge and Values Using Generative Knowledge Interviewing

Writing a Knowledge Synthesis Page can allow you to learn how to deeply think about your experiences as a lens to your core skills, values, passions and knowledge.

Unfortunately since most of our understanding of ourselves is so experienced-based or tacit, it is difficult for us to identify every aspect of our experiences on our own. Therefore, we need others to listen to our stories about our learning in order to get a better sense of what specific skills, knowledge and capacities were used and developed. When we become more cognizant of our tacit knowledge, we often arrive at profound understandings of how we can develop and uniquely contribute to the world around us.

Generative Knowledge Interviewing (GKI)™ Generative Knowledge Interviewing, a method of tacit knowledge retrieval, empowers individuals and organizations to clearly identify the ingredients of their success. By engaging people to explore their “lived” experiences through storytelling, the Generative Knowledge Interviewing process can be used to quickly identify the capacities, skills and conditions that facilitate clarity and excellence, as well as the challenges or obstacles that can hinder an individual or organization.

What’s so “Generative” About Generative Knowledge Interviewing?

This interview technique is “generative” because it allows both the interviewer and interviewee to uncover the underlying value inherent in the speaker’s “lived” experiences. In other words, both the person listening and the person speaking can more easily point out the unique knowledge, skills and capacities the speaker has gained through solving problems, working with different types of people, negotiating competing interests, etc. As a result, Generative Knowledge Interviewing can position the interviewer to discover the highest forms of the interviewee’s abilities and capacities as demonstrated from the interviewee’s experiences. One student named Cassandra, a senior in Psychology who plans to use her portfolio to apply for jobs, used Generative Knowledge Interviewing in the following situation:


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Cassandra has had many incredible learning experiences in college but she’s not sure what they all mean or how they could possibly all go together. As part of the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process, Cassandra works with a GKI peer mentor to explore her work and life experiences; she realizes that she has significant strengths and skills that she had not recognized previously in areas of group facilitation, problem-solving, leadership and self-starting initiatives. At the end of the GKI process, Cassandra is ready to demonstrate her new insights in the pages for her Integrative Knowledge Professional Portfolio. Through the GKI process she realizes that she has far more career options than she had previously thought. When necessary, she will be able to effectively communicate her unique knowledge, skills and capacities to future employers in writing and in interviews.

So How Does Generative Knowledge Interviewing Work?

The goal of Generative Knowledge Interviewing is to begin surfacing, identifying and presenting the essential knowledge that is embedded in a person’s experiences through a process involving storytelling, listening, dialogue, reflection and documentation. The role of the interviewer is to assist the interviewee or speaker in telling a complete and detailed “story” or series of stories about their current or previous experiences.

The process of constructing a single story involves prompting the speaker to describe moments of their experience as specifically as possible by telling stories of (a) accomplishing a goal, (b) responding to challenge, and/or revelatory and enlightening moments.

Through skillful interviewing, the facilitator draws out key insights and lessons from these stories, and in this way elicits the tacit knowledge present in the speaker’s life experiences.

First, the speaker is encouraged to tell their stories from an active first-person perspective, demonstrating what they thought and how they responded to particular moments along the way.

Then throughout the storytelling process, the interviewer is listening as deeply as possible to what is said explicitly and implicitly by the speaker.

As the stories progress, the interviewer discerns patterns, capabilities and themes, and validates her/his observations by asking additional questions.

After a full set of stories are recounted, the interviewer begins to share words or phrases with the speaker– derived through generative listening – that help identify the speaker’s competencies, core passions, and other motivating factors that support the speaker in acting at their highest ability.


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The interviewer then summarizes and documents these findings electronically in a word document, ePortfolio page or email and sends it to the speaker. The process continues as the speaker considers the interviewer’s insights and works to integrate them into their life.

Steps of Generative Interviewing

1. Intending and Creating a Generative Space: the interviewer helps the speaker(s) clarify the goals of the interview: what they would like to learn and how they will use the knowledge gained

2. Indwelling and Retrieving: the interviewer seeks to get “inside” the speakers’ experiences by asking them to tell stories about key learning, work, and/or life experiences, while paying attention to the speakers’ agency – their perceptions, actions and decisions within the story

3. Identifying and Discerning: the interviewer prompts the speaker to “unpack” key words and phrases, while he/she listens for themes, ideas, images or words that emerge in response to the stories but are not actually spoken by the speaker

4. Validating and Aligning: the interviewer shares the ideas, words, and themes they discerned from listening to the speakers’ stories to see if they resonate with the speaker. As needed, the interviewer repeats steps 2-4, prompting additional stories until the interviewee’s core capacities are fully verified and documented

5. Anchoring and Amplifying: the interviewer prompts the speaker to connect his/her core capacities to a larger understanding of his/her roles and identities across various contexts and imagine how knowledge of these core capacities can help them better respond to the world

How Will I Use Generative Knowledge Interviewing in the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process?

In this part of Phase B, you will learn the basic skills of Generative Knowledge Interviewing.

You will then use those skills to help others uncover the tacit knowledge embedded in their Knowledge Synthesis Page experiences (just like how the GKI peer mentor helped Cassandra in the example above).

Later on in Phase C, you will once again use Generative Knowledge Interviewing to develop a Philosophy Statement for your portfolio.


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Exercise V: Feedback on Your Knowledge Synthesis Pages Using Generative Knowledge Interviewing

Part I: Conducting a Generative Knowledge Interview

Directions: The purpose of this exercise is to provide a list of questions to aid the Generative Knowledge Interviewer in gathering rich, descriptive insights from the speaker. Use these questions to help the speaker expand their written learning experiences for their Knowledge Synthesis Pages. You should make sure to write key phrases or points of insight that can later be connected to understand what knowledge and skills were gained through the speaker’s learning experience(s).

1. DESCRIPTION/OVERVIEW & SKILLS GAINED SECTIONS

• Tell me about the work/experience you are writing about for your Knowledge Synthesis Page(s).

• What were the overall goals of the job or task? How did you work to achieve those goals?

• What was the most engaging aspect of the experience you wrote about?

• Describe an “a-ha” moment you had – the more specific, the better.

• What are some ways in which you work with others individuals from different backgrounds who had values and/or work styles different from your own?

• What was your role? What were you trying to accomplish, and how does it relate to the overall needs/goals of the organization?


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2. LESSONS LEARNED SECTION

• How did this experience address your own learning and/or professional goals? What are your current learning goals?

• What specific types of knowledge and/or skills have you either enhanced or gained from this experience?

• How do you see this experience as helping to shape how you may

approach things in the future?

• Have you applied or used what you did in that experience in other areas? Please describe. If not, how do you think it could be used in other areas?

• Can you identify any other larger types of insights or skills from this experience that you can see yourself carrying forward into other areas of your life?

3. IMPACT/IMPORTANCE SECTION

• How was this experience relevant to the “big picture” goals of your institution/organization?

• What do you see as the potential impact or outcome of your work in this experience?

• Can you identify a particular goal, group, process, organization or community that can benefit?

• What positive feedback have others provided about this work/experience?


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Part II: Reflecting Information Back to the Speaker

Directions: Use the notes you created during the Generative Knowledge Interview to identify specific strengths, capacities, values, concerns, motivations, and passions that guided the speaker during the experience they described during the interview. You will provide these concrete feedback points to the speaker for them to improving their Knowledge Synthesis Page on the experience.

Strengths and Core Capacities

1. Identify at least two strengths and/or capacities that were similar across your partner’s Knowledge Synthesis story. Write down what the capacity is and an example of how they express it in specific contexts.

Strength or Core Capacity 1:

a. Name of strength or capacity:

b. A specific example of how your partner expresses this strength or capacity through their perceptions, decisions, relationships and/or actions in specific contexts:

Strength or Core Capacity 2: a. Name of strength or capacity:

b. An example of how the speaker expressed this strength or capacity through

their perceptions, decisions, relationships and/or actions in specific contexts

Motivating Factors and Values

2. Identify at least two passions and/or values that informed your partner’s decisions and/or actions based on the strengths/capacities you pinpointed above.

a. Passions, Motivations, Values or Concerns 1

b. Passions, Motivations, Values or Concerns 2


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Generative Knowledge Interviewer Guidelines

Assist the speaker in describing specific moments related to their learning – prompting them to talk about what they were doing in as much detail as possible.

Make sure to ask the speaker to further describe or “unpack” common phrases or terms they use.

Listen for generic adjectives or adverbs such as “interesting” “frustrating” “amazing” “fun” and then prompt the speaker to say more.

Listen for recurring themes from the speaker’s story (ies) -- it is helpful to quickly write down a word or two so you can recall these themes or insights later.

Reflect back to the speaker what you hear them saying after they have told you a chunk of their story. For example, “what I heard you saying so far is that you took on a leadership role within an organization that was in dire need of good leadership …sounds like there were a lot of challenges you faced fund-raising, creating ways for people to communicate…”

After you have reflected back to the speaker what they have said, it is important to share your own insights into their story and see if they resonate with the speaker’s perspective. Usually these kinds of comments will prompt the speaker to go further and sometimes they will also create an “a-ha” moment of insight.

Encourage the speaker to “anchor” their newly conscious understanding of their tacit knowledge in their portfolio as soon as possible. Since tacit knowledge is so entrenched in our experiences, it will recede quickly back into our unconscious decision-making and behavior. Writing about it in the portfolio will not only allow the speaker to enhance their pre-existing Knowledge Synthesis Page, but it will help them to retain a conscious awareness of the insights revealed during the Generative Knowledge Interviewing Process.


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Entering Generative Knowledge Interviewing Feedback in Digication


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Phase C

Demonstrating Passions and Values Purpose of Phase C During this phase, you will complete a series of exercises that help them identify your values and beliefs as well as the sources of curiosity and engagement that underlie your decisions and actions.



Writing a Strong Philosophy Statement Using Generative Knowledge Interviewing

Under Philosophy Statement as Exercise I

Completing Your Goals Page

Under Goals as Exercise II

In Phase C, you will complete activities that prompt you to

Identify the passions, values and motivations behind your behavior and decision-making

Develop a clear, succinct, and purposeful Philosophy Statement

Complete your Goals page

The activities within this phase correspond to the Goals and Work

Showcase sections of the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process


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Why Create a Philosophy Statement?

The Philosophy Statement allows you to identify and explore the values, passions, and ideas that are most meaningful to you. It addresses “why” you do what you do. After reading it, people will understand the values, beliefs and commitments that inform your decisions and actions.

Some questions you will answer through the Philosophy Statement are, "Why do I do what you do?" "What are the beliefs or values behind my actions?" and “What motivates and/or inspires me most?” Students often say that this is the part of the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process that has the most profound effect on them since developing the Philosophy Statement creates a focal point for the overall Integrated Knowledge Portfolio.

Philosophy Statement Components

Your Philosophy Statement should illustrate how you will aspire to contribute to your families, communities, professions and society as a whole, as well as the approaches and methods you wish to use, or have already used, in working toward your goals.

You should make sure to describe three to five core themes that articulate values, beliefs or approach that capture why you will choose particular types of work or areas of study.

You should also provide concrete examples of how each theme connects to your actions and decisions.


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Understanding Guidelines for Creating a Compelling Philosophy Statement

Directions: Use the guidelines listed below in preparation for Exercise VIII: Creating a Philosophy Statement. Be sure to send these guidelines to your partner/reviewer after you complete the Philosophy Statement exercise and are ready to send it to others for constructive feedback.

Illustrative – A compelling Philosophy Statement demonstrates your ability to connect an abstract or conceptual understanding of your values with specific examples of how the values have been previously demonstrated in your decisions and actions, as well as how you intend to integrate the values in the future. The axiom of “show, don’t just tell” is key to reflecting your values in ways that do not sound like a cliché. Many people begin with an inspiring quote and then demonstrate how or why the quote illustrates their values. Key Themes – Since your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio is intended to reflect patterns and interconnectedness, it is important that you demonstrate several underlying key values or themes in your philosophy statement. Even though you may have a single value that is most important to you, you will demonstrate a greater level of maturity by demonstrating how you negotiate and express several different values or capacities (i.e. building strong communities, exploring diverse perspectives, and supporting positive change) in your life and work than you will by focusing on a single value or example. Balanced – A good Philosophy Statement discusses past, present, and future with similar detail. For instance, if a Philosophy Statement has several illustrative anecdotes that represent how you demonstrated values in the past, then it should also have several examples of how you intend to demonstrate and even further develop your values in the future. Another form of balance occurs through making sure that each value is reflected in a similar length of text and level of detail. Keep in mind that it is really important for you to seek feedback from others as you complete this process! Constructive feedback will allow you to shape a compelling Philosophy Statement page.


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Exercise VI: Creating a Philosophy Statement

The purpose of this activity is to work with others to identify patterns and themes for creating a Philosophy Statement and to gain the skills needed to write an initial draft of your philosophy.

Part I: Identifying Passions, Strengths and Values Directions: Spend 5-10 MINUTES noting your responses to the questions below. You do not need to write down full answers - just enough so you can discuss your responses with others.

AS SPEAKER, you will spend 15 min. sharing your responses and reverse roles;

AS INTERVIEWER, your role is to prompt the speaker to share their responses in such a way that you can understand the kinds of values and criteria that are embedded in their decision-making and responses. You should listen for thoughts and insights that occur to you as you are listening to the speaker’s responses. Write down any themes or values that came to mind. When the speaker finishes, articulate the themes you identified and examples of how they are relevant to the speaker’s actions and decision-making (refer to Phase B for guidelines on Generative Knowledge interviewing).

Questions Responses

When have you felt deeply engaged or purposeful? Describe at least 2 experiences of deep engagement:

Experience 1:

What was the context? What were you doing and why was it engaging?

Describe an “a-ha” moment or an experience of challenge. What was the result?

Experience 2:

What was the context? What were you doing and why was it engaging?

Describe an “a-ha” moment or an experience of challenge. What was the result?

Who are the people, groups, and/or organizations you admire and why? How have they influenced how you think, relate and/or act?

Describe an experience when someone motivated and/or inspired you. Who were they and how did they inspire/motivate you? What did you think or do differently as a result?

If you had a magic wand and could influence or change the world in any way, what would you do? What specific changes would you create?


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Part II: Reflecting Information Back to the Speaker

Directions: Use the notes you created during the Generative Knowledge Interview to identify specific passions, values, concerns, and motivations that guided the speaker during the experiences they described during the interview. You will provide these concrete feedback points to the speaker for them to create their Philosophy Statement in Digication.

Passions and Values

Identify at least two strengths and/or capacities that were similar across your partner’s stories of engagement and insight. Write down what the capacity is and an example of how they express it in specific contexts.

Passion or Value 1:

c. Name of passion or value:

d. A specific example of how your partner expresses this passion or value through

their perceptions, decisions, relationships and/or actions in specific contexts:

Passion or Value 2: c. Name of passion or value:

d. An example of how the speaker expressed this passion or value through their perceptions, decisions, relationships and/or actions in specific contexts

Motivating Beliefs and Concerns

Identify at least motivating beliefs or concerns that informed your partner’s decisions and/or actions based on the passions/values you pinpointed above.

c. Motivating Belief or Concern 1

d. Motivating Belief or Concern 2


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Part III: Organizing Your Passions, Values, and Strengths into a Philosophy Statement

Parts I and II of this exercise helped you discover specific situations where your values, passions, and strengths are clear. You also had the opportunity to clarify some of the external motivators and characteristics that inform your values, passions and beliefs (such as inspirational/motivational quotes, people, groups, causes, etc.). In Part III, you will organize your insights from Parts I and II into at least three main areas that will be included in your Philosophy Statement.

Directions: In the boxes below, answer each question for each of the main areas of your Philosophy Statement. After you answer the questions, identify at least one (1) picture that best captures each main area. After completing this exercise, you should have a draft of the content for your Philosophy Statement.

Question Main Area 1 Main Area 2 Main Area 3

1. What were the key values, passions, and strengths highlighted during your Generative Knowledge Interview?

2. What areas of your life do these values appear? Give specific examples.

3. Who and/or what shapes your values, passions, and strengths in each area? How do they do this?


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NOTE: Your Philosophy Statement should contain the elements illustrated in the example Philosophy Statements (on the following pages of this handbook).

First Example Student Philosophy Statement The philosophy statement below has the following effective qualities:

1. It is organized around several clear, centralized themes making it easier for the readers to appreciate Jessica's main ideas and experiences.

2. It integrates pictures relating to each theme creating visual metaphors for the reader to better understand the importance of the ideas and experiences and how Jessica personifies characteristics of notable individuals with similar social change perspectives.

3. Each of the sections has statements that illustrate what Jessica values and examples of those values in real life; these examples let the reader know that Jessica's values and beliefs guide her decision-making and actions on a daily basis.

Jessica Eiland (Can be found online at http://MPortfolio.umich.edu/showcase.html)

James Baldwin

My Mother and I Grace Lee Boggs My Father and I Martin Luther King Jr

Today I am going to tell my story. Today I am going to be heard.

Today we are going to tell our stories. Today we are going to be heard. I am told that my mission statement as a child must have been to "save the world one man, woman and child at a time". As an adult, what I hope for and work toward is a society where people are more supportive of one another; a place where the dreams of individuals are connected to and considerate of the goals and aspirations of others, and a



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place where people have the shared intention of creating stable, supportive networks and communities for all people. Living Stories of Transformation My own story is intertwined with the lives and stories of others. The relationships with peers, friends and family that I have had and the transformative stories I have heard contributed to my understanding of the world and motivated me. My father grew up in a small, rural, segregated Mississippi town. His determination to succeed in order to become a highly educated and successful black male role model despite enormous limitations has instilled in me a powerful commitment to resist oppressive constraints and commit to doing work that enhances the lives of others. My mother was committed to raising me with a strong sense of self-worth and self-capability that I have not only used in my own life but worked to relay to others. In addition to my parents, the lives of professors, writers, and activists such as Grace Lee Boggs, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Lakota Harden and many others have also motivated me. From them I have gained the courage to overcome my fears and take risks that will change lives, neighborhoods, communities, local and national policies and even create international movements. Working with Others Towards Self-Empowerment I recognize that my core strength is encouraging and supporting others to take control of their surroundings, and helping them connect to the strengths within themselves and in their communities. I have learned from my previous work that successful community organizing takes considerable time and effort. It requires getting to know people, learning about their experiences, and listening to their stories. I am willing to invest the time to build the strong relationships that are essential to forming a solid foundation for change. Using Creativity to Build Community I am mindful of the importance of the human voice in creating change. From my work with elders in urban communities, I have learned how to utilize creative forms of expression, such as theatre, role-plays and monologues as a means to give voice to powerful stories, and initiate the kind of dialogue that brings people of different generations and cultures together. Creativity can be used as a powerful tool to connect people to their strengths, share stories of challenge and transformation, and build bridges of understanding and collaboration that transcend differences. Addressing Economic and Political Inequalities Through my work in Detroit, New Orleans and other places across the country, I have learned a great deal about economic and political inequalities and oppression in urban America and how these differences impact the well-being of people in those communities. Although difficult, I accept the fact that changes in society and communities must address systematic social inequalities. I am committed to learning about these inequalities and having this knowledge inform all the work I do.


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Second Example Student Philosophy Statement

The philosophy statement below has several effective qualities:

1. It is organized around 3 central themes making it easier for the readers to appreciate Alex's main ideas and experiences

2. It integrates pictures with each theme creating visual metaphors for the reader to better understand the importance of the ideas and experiences

3. Each of the 3 sections has statements that illustrate what Alex values and examples of those values in real life; these examples let the reader know that Alex's values and beliefs guide his decision-making and actions on a daily basis

Alex Turin (Can be found online at http://MPortfolio.umich.edu/showcase.html)

Learning to Seize the Day

As a giant wall is made up of a constellation of bricks, I see life as being made up of segments of opportunities. For instance, the passages to elementary school, to high school, or to the university level all illustrate transitions from one unique opportunity to another. Through my choices, I strive to make full use of each opportunity, seizing every resource in order to learn all that I can before the time comes to lay another brick. As a university

student, I've made the most of my environment by asking questions to my professors, accessing tremendous libraries, and speaking with any number of other students in regards to essentially any topic of interest, be it coursework or career advice. It is these resources, among others, that have enabled me to delve into and discover vast areas of knowledge that would otherwise go unnoticed. Using opportunities, resources, and time wisely allows me to set my own standard of excellence and then strive to achieve it, not only as a way to return what was given me, but also in respect to the work of my family.



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Learning to Do Everything My father's advice of my childhood years still resonates through my head: "You must be able to do everything." It is not by any means a realistic expectation in its literal sense, and I have always taken it to mean that I must learn the skills and overcome challenges to be able to adapt in any given situation, in any opportunity. Aside from the knowledge gained in school, I've taken advantage of the opportunities to learn - at least in a basic form - everything, from changing a tire to cooking, music, literature, science, and foreign languages (which I am particularly fond of). For instance, when two individuals share a language that is not the common language of the region, it inherently creates a connection that cannot be forged in any other way. It is this breadth of knowledge that allows me to strike up conversation with just about anyone, on just about any topic. By being a balanced and well-rounded person, I can participate fully in the world to have the deepest and widest impact possible.

Learning for Life Studying often carries with it the implication of an exam in the not-so-distant future. The majority of learning, which stems from such studying, seems to vanish without trace en route in the few all-too-often hedonistic hours following sets of examinations. This "learning for the moment" is, to me, impractical and a poor use of opportunity, resources, and time. As I see it, all knowledge may be applicable in the future, even if it is not immediately clear how. Lifelong learning creates a foundation of knowledge that can be activated and built upon in the future. For instance, as an avid pianist, I have learned numerous pieces that I enjoy playing; however, with increased responsibilities, I have less time for

practice, and I have forgotten many of the pieces I had once enjoyed so much. However, it takes a small fraction of the time to "relearn" a piece than to learn a new one afresh, and the same is true of all knowledge. Moreover, as I build upon the foundation and developed deeper, I find myself creating patterns of knowledge that stem from experiences and learning. These patterns are interdisciplinary, leading to new insights and ideas that not only help learn the information, but to apply it, to understand it, and to use it.


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Entering Your Philosophy Statement into Digication


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Exercise VII: Incorporating Feedback on the Philosophy Statement

Directions: After incorporating the suggestions given to you during your Generative Knowledge Interview into your drafted Philosophy Statement, use this sheet to figure out how you can polish your Philosophy Statement before publishing your portfolio.

Key Themes Comments Included several underlying key values, passions, and strengths in philosophy

Quality of key themes

Balance Comments Included past and present examples of values, passions, and strengths

Quality of Examples

Articulated future development and use of values, passions, and strengths

Sections are given equal space and level of detail

Sections are clearly organized and easy to read

Illustrative Quality Comments Connected an abstract/conceptual understanding of values, passions and strengths (as evidenced through a quote, anecdote, etc.)

Included pictures for each main area of philosophy

Overall impression

Areas of Strength: Areas for Improvement:


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Exercise VIII: Connecting Your Goals to Your Knowledge Synthesis Pages

Although you started to develop a Goals page in Phase A, you will now consider your original goals in relation to other parts of your portfolio, such as your Knowledge Synthesis Pages and Philosophy Statement. The purpose of this exercise is to aid you in connecting these sections to demonstrate your ability to integrate your learning. Directions: After completing several Knowledge Synthesis Pages, consider the following questions before completing your polished Goals Page for your published Integrative Knowledge Portfolio:

Questions Comments and Thoughts

How are the goals you identified in Step 1 reflected in your Knowledge Synthesis Pages?

How are your goals reflected in your Philosophy Statement?

Are there any disconnections between your goals and Knowledge Synthesis Pages? If so, what are they?

Are there any disconnections between your goals and Philosophy Statement? If so, what are they?

Name 1 – 2 additions you believe will enhance your Goals page?


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Entering Your Goals Page into Digication Publishing your Goals Page

1. Click on the Goals link in the sections menu.

2. Replace the text and picture in the instructional module with your own text (generated from both Goals exercises) and picture(s) to create a Goals page.

3. Click Save to keep your changes. You will notice a red box at the top of the module after saving (pictured below).

4. Click on the Publish tab and select Publish Changes. The page should now show in the published view of your portfolio.


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Phase D

Completing Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Purpose of Phase D The purpose of this phase is to prepare you for finishing your first Integrative Knowledge Portfolio. Thus, you will learn methods for integrating and evaluating your work across the portfolio, and showcasing your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio publicly.



Creating a Clear and Cohesive Welcome Page

Under Welcome Page as Exercise I

Creating a Resume That Adds to Your Portfolio

Under Resume as Exercise I

In Phase D, you will complete activities that prompt you to

Showcase your resume experiences in a way that demonstrates awareness of tacit capacities

Welcomes others to get to know you through your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio

Invite others to provide constructive feedback on your entire portfolio

The activities within this phase correspond to the Welcome and Resume section of the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio Process


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Exercise IX: Creating a Clear and Cohesive Welcome Page Message

To create a successful Integrative Knowledge Portfolio, it is helpful to begin by thinking about who will be looking at it - your potential audience. The audience for your portfolio will typically include one or more of the following:

School instructors and staff

Classmates

Friends and relatives

Job recruiters (e.g. Google, JP Morgan Chase, etc.)

Admissions committees for graduate, professional, and medical schools

Yourself Regardless of the audience you select, the questions below will help you think about how you would like to present yourself through your portfolio overall, and in your Welcome page in particular. If you find it difficult to answer the questions, ask family, friends, classmates or work colleagues to answer them with you. For each question or prompt in the column on the left below, write your responses in the column on the right.

What are three things that people want to know about you? Name things that you do well and/or qualities or capacities that you think others should know about

Ex. My friends say that I am really good at organizing things, breaking down big projects into smaller tasks and goals. I also get a great deal of joy from working in my garden, watching things grow. And, I really enjoy helping people communicate better with one another.

What adjectives or phrases would you like people to use to describe you after looking through your portfolio? If you need help, ask your friends, family or classmates to help you.

Ex. I love to learn new things, I try to do my best in everything I do and have fun at the same time. I also get along well with different kinds of people.


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Are there any particular images, metaphors or quotes that you would like people to use in describing you (e.g. a bridge builder, a connector, or a force of nature)?

Ex. I'd like people to think of me as a rainbow, someone who makes people smile and who emphasizes the positive.

What are 3 – 5 facts (i.e. key experiences or roles that you have had) that you would like people to know about after reading your portfolio?

Ex. I am a mother, friend, daughter, hard worker, nanny, and a lover of music!


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Creating the Welcome section in Digication


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Exercise X: Creating a Resume That Adds to Your Portfolio

Purpose and Directions: The Resume section is one of the more traditional aspects of a portfolio; however, you will learn in this exercise how to re-conceptualize your resume as a platform for highlighting your awareness of your tacit capacities (as retrieved from Phase B & C Generative Knowledge Interviewing exercises). Although the design and layout of your Welcome are up to you, use the questions and prompts below to refine the content areas of your Resume. Work Experience 1. Use this area to reframe your work experience to include community leadership, family care, and other roles that have taught you “work”-related skills. Some “work”-related experiences I should add to my resume are: 2. The phase “volunteer work” generally gives the impression of passive participation. To avoid this, try to incorporate specific categories that more aptly approach your role and responsibilities (such as the aforementioned categories “community leadership” and “family care”). You may find that the Knowledge/Skills Areas sheet contains several helpful word choices.

Instead of “Volunteer Work”, I will use ______________________ to refer to my non-paid work experiences. 3. Your Knowledge Synthesis Pages and Philosophy Statement showcase the knowledge, skills, values, and passions you have develop through various learning experiences. To give the reader a clear understanding of these capacities, you should explicitly include what areas of your abilities were developed or honed as a result of your work. For example, instead of “Maintained paper-based and electronic files and other office duties” you could say “Developed process efficiency skills by creating and maintaining filing client documents; increased multi-tasking capacity by facilitating front-line office responsibilities...”


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The tacit capacities and knowledge I should include on my resume are: Accomplishments & Recognition; Education 1. This area of your resume should highlight your accomplishments and recognition for your work. You should not only include traditional work-related accomplishments and recognitions, but those you gained through non-traditional work contexts (such as through the Jaycees, student organization, church, etc.) The Accomplishments and Recognition I should include on my resume are: 2. One of the most under-utilized areas of a resume is the “Education” area. You can enhance this area by listing relevant coursework (if you are using your resume to apply for a specific job), or experiences during your time at a particular school/institution. You may find that it is not always about where you attended school but how much you meet the qualifications for the position. I can enhance the Education area of my resume to include:


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Adding Your Resume to Your Portfolio in Digication


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Personalizing Your Portfolio

Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio should not only showcase your work, knowledge, and interests – it should demonstrate who you are and what you would like others to know about you. Designing your portfolio pages in Digication can help you achieve a more personalized identity for your portfolio. The following exercises and forms will show you how to:

Create a coherent look across your portfolios pages

Change the banner and directory icon for your portfolio

Invite others to provide feedback on your entire portfolio


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Exercise XI: Creating Coherence across Portfolio Pages

In this reading exercise, you will learn how to bring your content and visual elements together to create a coherent story about yourself using your portfolio pages. It is important to be succinct – remember additional explanations and evidence (documents, power point presentation, images, etc…) can be attached to portfolio pages and should not add a great amount of unnecessary space to your portfolio pages. You should also consider what pictures, figures or diagrams add meaning to your portfolio pages. Although most students are used to adding digital images to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, it is important to consider the meaning and importance of those visual elements in terms of representing yourself and your work professionally. This is why it is extremely important for you to get feedback on both the design and content of your portfolio pages as often as possible.

Directions: Use the guidelines listed below in preparation for presenting your portfolio publicly and/or publishing your portfolio. General Principles of Good Design

Good design helps convey a hierarchy of meaning on a single page or through a series of pages within a portfolio; it helps the reader know which content and/or visual elements they should pay attention to, and the meaning they should obtain from the material. There are many resources that can be used to help students think about the design of their portfolio (see Lynch & Horton, 1999). Some principles of good design (Adopted from Lynch & Horton, 1999; Hong & Sullivan, 2009) include:

1. Use Design Elements to make your main points clearly visible -- The consistent use of design elements (i.e. titles and headers) can help the reader understand the major points, rhythm or central theme of your portfolio pages. Identify what you want people to know, and then make it obvious. Consistent spacing can also make the portfolio pages easy to read.

2. Use graphics and images to convey meaning – The careful placement of graphic

and visual elements can highlight the main points while bringing interest and coherence to your portfolio pages. Images can be literal or abstract and should be applied with attention to the following:

For instance, you might want to use a “call-out” box (such as this text box) to highlight key information, a major point, a meaningful insight or quote.


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adding meaning and value to the content or main point of the page; and

bringing a consistent design to each page and across the overall portfolio (this is usually done by using a similar layout of images and text on each page).

3. Make it brief and easily readable - A single portfolio page should not be more than 1- 2 pages of single-spaced text. The main point of the page should be easily seen at the beginning of the page. Avoid excessive videos, images or other elements that take away from the simplicity and succinctness of your portfolio pages.

4. Use white space generously - The term “white space” refers to empty space on a

page (or negative space); it is used to give balance, proportion and contrast to a page; it does not need to be white. The generous use of white space tends to make things seem more elegant and easier to read; it can also convey to the reader that you have an ability to prioritize and succinctly present information.

In addition to the aforementioned principles, it is helpful to pay attention to the following:

Position — the location of text or visuals on the page conveys a great deal of

meaning. Generally speaking, the top left corner is where people look first and then the upper middle of the page. The positioning of visual elements should stay as consistent as possible from one page to another (especially with Knowledge Synthesis pages); this allow readers to pay attention to the portfolio content and not have to acclimate to the different positioning of text and visuals as they read (see the screenshot of Trenten Rocha’s portfolio above for an example of this).


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Color & Contrast — the restrained use of different colors is a good way to distinguish

different content areas and/or major points. As you can see from Trenten Rocha’s portfolio page, the use of varying shades of blue compliment the overall layout and accents each section and header. On the contrary, too much contrasting colors (especially text) on a single page can distract the reader from the content on the page. Identify 2-4 colors for your portfolio and use them consistently throughout for reading ease.

Padding — this term refers to the white space between elements and text on a page. You should always have considerable and consistent space between Images, text, and any other object on a page. Putting space objects makes the content much more readable and pleasant to those viewing your pages.

REFERENCES: Hong, H. and Sullivan, F. (2009). Towards an idea-centered, principle-based design

approach to support learning as knowledge creation. Educational Technology Research & Development, 57(5).

Lynch, P.J., & Horton, S. (1999). Web style guide: Basic design

principles for creating web sites. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.


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Changing the Banner and Directory Icon for Your Portfolio


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Feedback Criteria for Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio

Overall Clarity, Structure, and Grammar Positive elements Things to be Improved

The portfolio conveys a “story” in a logical and orderly manner so that readers can understand the author’s overall purpose and goals and distinguishing characteristics

Grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure are clear and congruent

Formatting is appropriate and consistent (e.g. bullets all begin with same use of verbs)

The connection between pages is clear

The tone of the writing is professional and authentic

Integration of Textual and Visual Elements Positive To be Improved

The visual design of the portfolio is easy to read and consistent

The visual and textual elements complement one another; they enhance the meaning

The Quality of Different Sections Positive To be Improved

Each Knowledge Synthesis Page provides enough context to stand alone, they do not need other pages

The Welcome Page encourages the reader to explore the rest of the portfolio

The Philosophy Statement describes the underlying values of the student; it is congruent with the Knowledge Synthesis and Goals Pages

The Goals Page conveys the authors intent & fits with other pages


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Publishing the Portfolio


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Giving Access to Unpublished Content


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Showcasing Your Integrative Knowledge Portfolio FEEDBACK FORM Name of Portfolio Presenter: Welcome Page Content:

Excellent

Good

Fair/Needs Improvement Comments:

Visuals:

Excellent

Good


Work Showcase Pages Content:

Excellent

Good


Visuals:

Excellent

Good


Philosophy Statement Page Content:

Excellent

Good


Visuals:

Excellent

Good


Goals Page Content:

Excellent

Good


Visuals:

Excellent

Good


Overall Thoughts: What did you like most? What did you like least? Additional thoughts or comments?

integrativeknowledgeportfoliostudenthandbook

Documents

editing portfolio pages

digication portfolio

editing portfolio modules

editing portfolio sections

goals exercise

ma melissa peet

phd msw editing contributions

student handbook stacey