Assignment: Information and Documentation
Assignment: Information and Documentation
it should provide much more than just a career resumé or curriculum vitae summarizing academic and work history. A portfolio should also provide evidence of how an indi- vidual has developed both personally and professionally. It is therefore a showcase for past accomplishments and achievements, but can also be used as a dynamic vehicle to enable future career and development planning.
Portfolio structure Although most portfolios will be traditional paper-based files or a folder containing a range of written or printed material, increasingly electronic software packages for developing electronic or ‘e-portfolios’ are available. These can significantly reduce the volume of paperwork gener- ated and allow for flexibility of access. More importantly, perhaps, they have the potential to enable real-time capture of information, activities and learning.
Anderson et al (2009) propose that portfolios may be structured in different ways (see Box 1).
The structure and presentation of a portfolio will clearly vary according to the individual’s preferences, experiences and career goals, but some common information and doc- umentation to consider for inclusion are outlined below: w Biographical information w Educational background w Employment history with brief description of roles and
responsibilities w Professional qualification certificates
AbsTrAcT Since 1995, registered nurses and midwives have been obliged to develop and maintain a professional portfolio of evidence reflecting the learning activities that they have undertaken and how these have informed and influenced their practice. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that rather then just a retrospective account of continuing professional development activities, a portfolio can be used as a vehicle for engaging in self-assessment and personal development planning. Possible structures and type of evidence are explored and portfolios in the context of gaining accreditation for prior experiential learning, and in particular for those nurses in advanced clinical roles, are discussed.
KEY WOrDs Portfolios w Profiles w Continuing professional development w Evidencing competence w Accreditation of prior learning
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
