A portfolio is a document that provides a summative report of a period of time in one's career, including what was done, why, how, to whom, when and where, and the impact. It allows one to take control of interpreting their own performance and stimulating reflection on growth areas. A portfolio introduces the creator, provides evidence of abilities and growth, and describes future plans. It is important to choose what to include, exclude, and how to arrange and interpret the portfolio for different audiences. Portfolios can take physical forms like binders or electronic forms like websites or PDF documents.

1. Portfolio
What is portfolio?
Why do you need one?
What does it do?
How does it look?

2. A portfolio is
• a document that provides a summative report
about a period of time in your career:
– what you did
– why you did it
– how you did it
– to whom you did it
– when and where you did it
– the impact your actions had on
you, your audience and other
people around you. Annual report is a kind of
portfolio where you provide
summary for the year and
identify directions for the
future

3. Reasons to create portfolio
• Take control of the interpretation
process:
• It is you who provides the explanation not
somebody else;
• You can evaluate your performance by
yourself and do not delegate it to others;
• You can help others to understand the full
range of your accomplishments.
• Stimulate reflection over what you
have done
• Create template for future growth to
critique what went well and what
needs improvement
For example, art
pieces may be hard
to interpret and
understand. What did
Picasso want to
show? Similar to art,
your work is to
provide explicit
meaning to what you
are and what you did.

4. Portfolio
• Introduces you
• Reveals who you are and why you
do what you do
• Provides evidence of your abilities
• Provides evidence of your growth
• Describes plans for the future
⇒Thus, you need to make choices
 What to include
 What to exclude
 How to arrange in a meaningful
way
 How to interpret to meet the
viewers’ expectations
Yes, not everything needs to be
included but the most significant
items. You can emphasize the most
important by descriptions and
analyses, and by placing items more
prominently.

5. How does portfolio look?
• Physical Options:
A ring binder to collect and
organize printed documents
• Electronic options (see the next slides)
– A Web site
– A PDF document
• The choice depends on your and
the audience’s resources (skills and tools)
A ring binder is
preferable if you can
hand it in to the
reviewer.

6. A website
• You post and hyperlink files in a unique combination of a
multimedia presentation. Strive to create a balanced
combination of clicks – the fewer the better
• A variety of
file formats
can be used
• Wiki is an
easy tool to
create a
website
• Then you
submit as a
link to this
website

7. A PDF document
You can assemble separate PDF files into one using a special
function in Adobe Acrobat. In the end, the final product looks like a
few documents in one (file). You can email it or share in other ways.

8. Need help?
• Ask questions to your professors and faculty
mentors in Communication Studies