KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
GRADUATION PORTFOLIO

One of the graduation requirements in the College of Arts and Sciences is participation in Mandatory Outcomes Assessment conducted by the major program. This requirement can be found in the Arts and Sciences section of the Undergraduate Catalog, under General Graduation Requirements, and is listed on the Major Requirement Sheets for the Mathematics B.A., Mathematics B.S., and Applied Mathematics B.S. degrees.

This assessment is part of the Academic Assessment and Continuous Improvement efforts of the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The purpose of the assessment is evaluation of the Department's major programs and it is not used in the evaluation of individual students or instructors.

One component of the Outcomes Assessment in the Department of Mathematical Sciences is collection of a Graduation Portfolio. Collection and submission of a Graduation Portfolio is required for all students who are

[NOTE: For students NOT meeting the criteria above, the Graduation Portfolio will consist only of the written version of the Senior Colloquium presentation and the Senior Exit Survey, and will be submitted no later than the last day of spring classes in the graduation year.]

The due date for the complete portfolio and Graduation Portfolio Checklist is the last day of classes of the semester of graduation. The contents of the portfolio will be reviewed by faculty after graduation. The purpose of this review is to assess the abilities of the student in written communication, reasoning, and problem solving, as well as to assess the growth of the student in these areas over the course of the major program and in individual courses. The portfolio should also reflect the student's understanding of a range of mathematical subdisciplines, and connections within mathematics and to disciplines outside of mathematics.

The portfolio will consist of work collected from various designated courses, as well as from two 40000-level courses of the student's choice. The following courses have been designated as Portfolio Courses.

All majors:

Mathematics majors:

Applied Mathematics majors:

For each of these courses, instructors will have a list of portfolio assignments from which to choose, generally consisting of one or two problems. At the discretion of the instructor, these can be assigned as part of the regular class homework or assigned separately. In either case, the assignment may be graded or simply checked by the instructor for completion.

After each portfolio assignment has been returned by the instructor, it will be added to the portfolio folder and the date of completion will be entered on the Graduation Portfolio Checklist. Two assignments from each of the designated courses for the student's major are required elements of the portfolio. Mathematics B.A. majors need only include assignments from one of MATH 41001 or MATH 42001.

A student taking a portfolio course not designated for his or her particular major has the option of including the assignments in the portfolio, but is not required to do so. If MATH 21001 is completed prior to fall 2006 or if one of the other designated courses is completed prior to fall 2007, samples of work from that course will not be required. The semester and year of course completion should be entered on the checklist in this case.

In addition to the assignments from the designated portfolio courses, the portfolio must include two samples of work chosen by the student from each of two other 40000-level mathematics courses. These may be homework assignments, projects, or exams, but should include a significant writing component (e.g., proofs, essays, etc.). Two samples of work should be included for each course. One sample should be from early in the course (approximately the first five weeks) and one should be from late in the course (approximately the last five weeks).

The write-up of the Senior Colloquium presentation and the completed Senior Exit Survey will also be submitted as part of the portfolio. The completed portfolio must be submitted to the Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Mathematical Sciences no later than the last day of classes of the semester of graduation.


 

Morley Davidson
Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Mathematical Sciences


davidson@math.kent.edu