GLOBAL ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ASSESSING CORE CURRCICULUM OBJECTIVES OF
ELEMENTARY SPANISH II – SPAN 1234
PORTAFOLIO CULTURAL1
Description:
The Portafolio Cultural serves as an assessment of student’s performance of the core
curriculum objectives of Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Social and Personal
Responsibility in the specific context of this course. Students will develop the portfolio based
upon three activities from the Conexiones Culturales spreads in the Exploraciones text and
corresponding sub-sections (Conexiones, Cultura, Comparaciones and Comunidad). Each one of
the activities must be from a different chapter and a total of three activities must be completed
and corresponding work submitted as components of the portfolio. The activities in the
Conexiones Culturales sub-sections are meant to be a starting point for further investigation,
analysis, and synthesis by the student. Students are also encouraged to refer to the chapter
sections titled En Vivo, Redacción, Lectura and Exploraciones Profesionales as additional sources
of ideas for activities for their portfolios. Students should choose topics that interest them and
demonstrate that they have adequately researched and considered the topics in the framework
of the core curriculum objectives.
In addition to the above textbook-based assignments, students may report on a
personal intercultural experience gained through a minimum of four (4) hours of volunteer
service in the local, regional, national or global Spanish-speaking community through the
service projects of the Spanish Club, another campus or community organization and/or
through an alternative Spring Break option. This option can replace one of the assignments
based upon the Conexiones Culturales activities. However, the assignment must meet the same
submission requirements as the textbook-based tasks. Students must also request the
instructor’s permission prior to submitting this alternative assignment.
The Portafolio Cultural will also include a personal reflection essay on a specific cultural
topic based on one of the other assignments chosen for the Portafolio or on a specific cultural
topic presented by the instructor. The cultural topic chosen by the student or presented by the
instructor will present students with an ethical dilemma or issues for resolution. In the essay,
students will identify their core beliefs and the origins of those core beliefs, recognize the
ethical issues presented and relationships between issues, state a position on an ethical issue
and connect their position to implied actions and consequences.2
Format and submission of work:
Various formats of work will be accepted as components of the portfolio. However, if
students would like to submit work in a format other than the one described below, they
should first obtain the instructor’s permission. Students must keep in mind that the portfolio is
1
The Portafolio Cultural Global Assessment Tool is based upon the Portafolio Cultural described by
Mary Ann Blitt and Margarita Casas, authors of Exploraciones, 2012, Cengage, in their document
Teaching Culture with Exploraciones, August 2011.
2
Modified from AACU Ethical Responsibility VALUE Rubric.
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GLOBAL ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ASSESSING CORE CURRCICULUM OBJECTIVES OF
ELEMENTARY SPANISH II – SPAN 1234
an assessment of their demonstration of the core objectives listed above. Thus, the portfolio
must show evidence of development of these objectives. Any visual, auditory, or technologybased submissions such as art work, theatrical or musical works, must be accompanied by at
least a half page explanation of how the submission fulfills the activity chosen from the
Conexiones Culturales spread. For example, if a student were to submit a sketch of a favorite
building in town for the Conexiones…a la arquitectura sub-section on p. 133, the student would
also need to submit at least a half page description of how his/her work answers or fulfills the
purpose of the corresponding Conexiones Culturales activity.
Portfolio documents may be submitted in Spanish or a combination of English and Spanish.
However, each of the three components of the portfolio must contain a minimum usage of
Spanish as determined by each instructor (generally a minimum of four complete lines of
Spanish). Students are expected to use Spanish learned over the length of the course
specifically demonstrating grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic usage in the context of the
varied cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.
Criteria for Assessment of Portafolio Cultural
Content: The Portafolio



Includes three assignments based on sub-sections Cultura, Conexiones, Comparaciones or
Comunidades, and/or a personal intercultural experience as mentioned above
Includes a personal reflection essay of at least one page (25-28 lines, font 10-12) on a specific
cultural topic that includes an ethical dilemma or addresses ethical perspectives related to
culture.
meets the minimum requirement of at least one page per topic (25-28 lines, font 10-12) or the
minimum requirement of at least ½ page per topic (12-14 lines, font 10-12) if the student is
submitting work in an alternate format.
Critical thinking: The Portafolio demonstrates inquiry, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of
information from various resources available in Spanish and English on the topics of the
student’s choosing.
Communication: The Portafolio demonstrates effective use of memorized vocabulary, highfrequency expressions, accurate grammatical usage and idiomatic expressions in the target
language to develop, interpret and express ideas with culturally appropriate sensitivity.
Furthermore, the Portafolio demonstrates accurate interpretation of target language print and
multi-media resources.
Personal Responsibility: The Portafolio demonstrates the student’s ability to connect choices,
actions and consequences to ethical-decision making. In the form of a personal reflection essay
that addresses a culturally-bound ethical dilemma, the student identifies his/her core beliefs
and the origin of those beliefs, recognizes complex ethical issues and relationships between
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GLOBAL ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ASSESSING CORE CURRCICULUM OBJECTIVES OF
ELEMENTARY SPANISH II – SPAN 1234
issues, states a position on an ethical issue and connects his/her position to implied actions and
consequences. 3
Social responsibility: The Portafolio shows evidence of the student’s intercultural competence
and knowledge of civic responsibility as demonstrated in the connections or comparisons made
by the student between his/her own culture and the target culture.
Rubric for Scoring Portafolio Cultural Criteria
Please see the attached document titled Rubric for Assessment of Portafolio Cultural.
Target Level of Attainment
Ninety percent of students will obtain a score of 70 % or better on this global assessment of the
core curriculum objectives specified above.
3
see note 2
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