History Majors and Coordinate History Majors
Subject : Portfolio Requirements
History majors are required to complete a portfolio of their work with self assessment, as detailed below. Portfolios must be submitted at the end of Seminar . The professor who teaches seminar will determine the exact deadline, typically the last day of class when the seminar paper is due or during finals week. The portfolio will not be graded, but students MUST submit their portfolio—including the assessment assignments—to fulfill the requirements for Seminar!
Students should use their portfolios to evaluate and track the development of their skills as a history major and academic progress. Portfolios can also serve as a resource for the preparation of reference letters. The department will review the portfolio assessment assignments as an aggregate to assess its students’ progress in meeting the goals of the History
Department.
A complete portfolio will include the following four items:
I. A CD (PC or Mac Platform) onto which the student has copied six papers (in either
WordPerfect or Microsoft Word) that he or she wrote in college. One paper must be an essay or research paper written for Historical Methods and one paper must be the student’s senior thesis written in Senior Seminar . The other four papers should represent different types of historical writing, including no more than one each of the following genres:
●historical essay
●document analysis
●data analysis
●image analysis
●abstract of document or article
●book review
●film review
●website review
●bibliographic or historiographical essay
●periodical literature review
●peer assessment
●historical fiction
●research proposal
●research paper.
II. A completed Student Portfolio Cover Sheet (attached with instructions below). This form provides a list of which assignments are included in the student’s portfolio as well as the course name, the instructor, and the semester the course was taken.
III. A completed narrative Student Self Assessment Form (attached with instructions below)
Filling out the form offers students an opportunity to reflect on and write about their intellectual growth as a history major. Students will reflect on how their knowledge of history has grown and developed and the intellectual and communication skills they developed while completing the program. Students will also assess the value of the writing assignments included in their portfolio in terms of developing knowledge and skills in history.
IV.
A completed bubble sheet responding to questions outlined in the Student Self-
Assessment Questionnaire (attached with instructions below). The Student Self-
Assessment Questionnaire provides students with an opportunity to assess specific knowledge and skills they have acquired as a history major.

Student Portfolio Cover Sheet
Name:_______________________________ Semester Submitted_______________
Write the course name and last name of the professor for whom you wrote the paper next to the appropriate requirement. Each student’s portfolio must include:
● Essay or research paper written in
Historical Methods
● Seminar paper written in Seminar
● Four (4) of any of the additional items, with no more than one from each category
Items-Title Course Name Professor
Historical Methods paper (required)
Historical Methods
Seminar Thesis
(required)
Document Analysis
Seminar
Data Analysis
Image Analysis
Abstract of Article or Document
Book Review
Film Review
Website Review
Bibliographic or
Historiographical
Essay
Periodical
Literature Review
Peer Assessment
Historical Fiction
Research Proposal
Research Paper
Semester/Year

Student Self-Assessment Form
Semester and Year:_______________Name
(Optional):___________________________________
Please review your portfolio assignments and then respond to the following questions. If you would like more room for comments, continue on the back or type your answers on a separate sheet.
What did you learn about history, the study of history and historical research from these assignments?
Which assignments did you find most helpful in terms of developing your skills in historical research, critical thinking, primary source analysis, and/or writing?
From reviewing your work, what specific skills do you think you have developed since embarking on the history program at Rowan?
What specific skills, research methods, and knowledge do you anticipate using either professionally or personally after graduating from Rowan?
Are there any skills, research methods, and/or knowledge that you wish you had been able to develop further as a history major?
If so, why were you unable to develop these skills at Rowan?