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=Welcome to Your THIS Biology on-line journals.=

This is a page where we will use to connect. Keeping science portfolio is an essential learning tool.

=Portfolios and reflective journals=

Description
Portfolios and reflective journals are examples of assessment tools designed to encourage reflective, self-directed learning. In both cases, students are responsible for reflecting on their learning and development over time. These assessment techniques are particularly applicable to the biological sciences where students are encouraged to reflect on their engagement with new knowledge in a range of contexts, including large lectures, laboratories and during fieldwork activities. A portfolio is an organised collection of student work designed to represent students' efforts and academic achievements over a period of time. Portfolios are a powerful assessment tool that provide a record of accomplishments and encourage students to reflect on their progress and development in the biological sciences. Students typically take responsibility for organising their portfolio and selecting the most appropriate content, depending on the purpose of the portfolio assessment task (described in more detail below). A reflective journal also gives students responsibility for recording their thoughts about learning in the subject. It is based on the premise that writing contributes to deeper learning and engagement with a subject, since it gives students the opportunity to clarify and reflect on their thinking. A reflective journal tends to be maintained regularly over a specified period of time. It may describe events, experiences or issues associated with learning, professional placement, fieldwork, or the like. Reflective journals encourage students to reflect critically on the process of learning and their development over time. A reflective journal may be included in a portfolio as a record of student learning. In addition to being useful assessment tools, portfolios and reflective journals also provide invaluable feedback to academic staff about what students are learning and the depth of their understanding. This information, in turn, provides excellent guidance on ways to improve the curriculum and strategies for enhancing student learning in the subject.

Types and purposes of portfolios
There are four main types of portfolios or e-portfolios (adapted from Attwell, 2005; Prouse & Day, 2006).

i. Personal Portfolio: recognizing learning
This type of portfolio is primarily concerned with self-reflection and growth. This has most in common with the reflective journal. The student prepares the portfolio or journal and retains ownership of the document. Therefore the primary audience of this type of portfolio is the student, followed by others with whom the student chooses to share information, including academic staff members and peers.

ii. Feedback Portfolio: Recording and reflecting on learning
This portfolio works as a more collaborative document, providing feedback and evidence of learning primarily to the academic staff member, but it may also be shared with peers. The purpose of this portfolio is to guide teaching and learning and to promote independent learning [Example: [|Ross 4]].

iii. Accountability Portfolio: Validating learning
For this type of portfolio, the academic staff member provides direction to the selection of contents. The primary audience for this type of portfolio is academic staff, university administration, external assessors or agencies (e.g. AUQA, review panels and professional organisations). The primary purpose of this portfolio is to provide evidence of learning, including graduate attributes and competencies developed in the biological sciences. This information guides the teaching, learning, assessment and curriculum development process.

iv. Presentation Portfolio: Presenting learning
This portfolio is produced collaboratively between the student and academic staff member. The primary audience extends beyond the university community to prospective employers or interview situations. The purpose of this portfolio is to demonstrate and highlight achievement, skills and abilities.

**Learning Journal**
A learning journal is "...an accumulation of material that is mainly based on the writer's processes of reflection" (Moon, 1999). For this professional development program there are several reasons for keeping a journal: It is suggested that you use a separate notebook for your journal. You can choose to structure the journal any way you want but may find the following suggestions useful: Always remember that the journal will be your personal reminder of the events of this part of your overall program. Write things as soon as you can. Most important of all, be honest with your entries. the journal will have served its purpose if it helps you place the new learning experiences in the context of your current teaching. The process of keeping the journal can be self-assessed according to the following factors sourced from Moon (1999)
 * to support an understanding of new teaching methodologies through structured reflective activities;
 * to develop critical analysis about the learning experiences of students; and
 * to provide an avenue for regular feedback about the program with your mentor and with your colleagues.
 * If you use only one page of each sheet in the notebook, you can come back later to add observations to previous entries (on the blank page facing your entry).
 * Journal entries will consist of your responses to the activities that occur during the course. You may wish to keep a log of the activities and identify in what way similar activities could be used in you teaching.
 * Sometimes it will be hard to start writing in your journal. On these occasions, it might help to start with a description of the event or issue you are considering, then add other ideas to this description, such as observations from your own teaching experiences. Explore or reinterpret your ideas from different perspectives or within different contexts (for example, from discussion with your peers in the program).
 * Make time to keep your journal up to date.
 * Review previous entries in the light of new knowledge and experiences.
 * presentation and legibility
 * regularity of entries (always date them)
 * honesty of self-assessment; and
 * evidence of a willingness to revise ideas

=Reflective journals=

So as part of your Biology course you need to keep a Biology Journal. Since we are in the electronic age you will keep an electronic one. You will write your notes, thoughts, you will post links that you have used to study or do the assignments, you will post the assignments.

Also you will post reflections. Reflections about your understanding, your study everything........

In the reflection phase you are typically asked to


 * comment on what you liked and did not like in the assignments //or//
 * comment on or identify the processes involved in developing specific products or performances //or//
 * describe and point to examples of how specific skills or knowledge improved (or did not) //or//
 * identify strengths and weaknesses in samples of work //or//
 * set goals for yourselves corresponding to the strengths and weaknesses //or//
 * identify strategies for reaching those goals //or//
 * assess your past and current self-efficacy for a task or skill //or//
 * complete a checklist or survey about their work //or//
 * some combination of the above

For those who are confused here are some prompts you can use for Reflections


 * What are the strengths of this work? Weaknesses?
 * What would you work on more if you had additional time?
 * How has your ______ (e.g., writing) changed since last year?
 * What do you know about ______ (e.g., the scientific method) that you did not know at the beginning of the year (or semester, etc.)?
 * Looking at (or thinking about) an earlier piece of similar work, how does this new piece of work compare? How is it better or worse? Where can you see progress or improvement?
 * How did you get "stuck" working on this task? How did you get "unstuck"?
 * One skill I could not perform very well but now I can is ....
 * From reviewing this piece I learned ....
 * What is one thing you can improve upon in this piece?
 * What is a realistic goal for the end of the quarter (semester, year)?
 * What is one way you will try to improve your ____ (e.g., writing)?
 * One thing I still need to work on is ....
 * I will work toward my goal by ....
 * If you were a teacher and grading your work, what grade would you give it and why?
 * Using the appropriate rubric, give yourself a score and justify it with specific traits from the rubric.
 * What do you like or not like about this piece of work?
 * I like this piece of work because ....
 * How much time did you spend on this assignment?
 * The work would have been better if I had spent more time on ....
 * I am pleased that I put significant effort into ....
 * What would you like your _____ (e.g., parents) to know about or see in your portfolio?
 * What does the portfolio as a whole reveal about you as a learner (writer, thinker, etc.)?
 * A feature of this portfolio I particularly like is ....
 * In this portfolio I see evidence of ....

Evernote.

http://blog.evernote.com/2012/02/28/how-to-create-a-portfolio-with-evernote-education-series/