Currrent Students | Academic Program Requirements

The Portfolio

In lieu of a traditional comprehensive exam written upon completion of doctoral-level course work, the inter-university doctoral program is designed so doctoral students complete a comprehensive Portfolio during their course work. This portfolio has to be successfully presented and passed before doctoral students can enrol in the Dissertation course.

The Portfolio is intended to contribute to and reflect doctoral students’ intellectual progress and learning. It must help advance their research program and contribute to the development of their research plan and their Dissertation. The Portfolio is a tool for research and scholarship as well as personal and intellectual growth.

Time Line for Completion of the Portfolio

Throughout the first four semesters of their program (July-June), doctoral students will assemble a scholarly, academic Portfolio, which they will submit for examination to their Supervisory Committee and an External Examiner^{^[1]} before undertaking their Proposal and Dissertation (GEDU 9100/EDUC 899Z and 8990). Normally, the Portfolio is submitted at the end of the 14-month residency (the first year of the doctoral program), but this process can be delayed (mainly for pedagogical reasons), in which event the Portfolio must be presented by July of the second year of the program (e.g., if admitted in 2011, the Portfolio must be presented, at the latest, by July 2013).

Initial Portfolio Agreement Form

By July 31st of the first year (upon completion of GEDU 9001/9002/EDUC 8013/8023), the Supervisor and the doctoral student will sign and file, with the Doctoral Program Office, an Initial Portfolio Agreement Form, setting out intended artifacts for inclusion in the portfolio, appreciating that these artifacts may and can change during the next 12-24 months. Students will compile the elements of this portfolio in negotiation with their supervisor, under the auspices of their Supervisory Committee.

Also due on July 31^st of the first year is an initial draft of the Narrative that accompanies the collection of artifacts comprising the Portfolio (see below for more details on what should be included in the Narrative). The Narrative is a crucial piece of evidence of intellectual growth and preparedness for movement onto the Dissertation. It is anticipated that several iterations of the Narrative will emerge during the creation of the Portfolio, culminating in the final version submitted with the Portfolio for examination.

More Details on the Narrative

The multiple iterations of the Narrative prepared during the full-time residency will

include the following dimensions. Ongoing iterations of the Narrative are not required to be submitted to the Doctoral Program Office, nor are they graded, per se, by the Supervisory Committee. The emergent Narrative serves as a record of progress along the journey towards the oral examination:

a summary of the contents of the portfolio (artifacts should be labelled or otherwise identified) and a rationale for the organization of the collection,
a statement of how each artifact meets the five competency areas set out in Table 1,
a statement of the student’s role in preparing each artifact (individual or multi-authored),
a statement of the doctoral program objective(s) and student outcomes that are being met by each artifact,
a statement setting out the intellectual synergy reflected in the collection, and
a reflective statement about the process and how the activities/contents address the student’s research goals and professional development goals.

Process for Completing the Portfolio

Doctoral students will gather artifacts to demonstrate competence in five principal areas (see Table 1). All elements of the Portfolio will be initiated and completed as part of the doctoral program. Work completed prior to the commencement of the program is ineligible, although such works may be further augmented with ongoing theoretical, methodological or philosophical learnings during the course of doctoral level courses (in consultation with the Supervisory Committee). At least half of the artifacts included in the Portfolio must be generated outside of the context of doctoral course work. At least half can be generated within doctoral courses. Normally, students will include two or three items from each of the five principal areas, to a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 15 items (see Table 1).

Table 1 Five general areas of knowledge and competencies for Portfolio

General Knowledge	In-Depth Knowledge	Research Knowledge and Competencies	Professional and Collegial Competencies	Teaching and Instructional Competencies
broad familiarity with understanding of prominent social scientific and educational theoretical traditions and trends related to educational studies	thorough and detailed knowledge of a range of issues in their specific doctoral focus area (theme(s))	demonstrate research competence and critical analysis of current research and methodological issues	demonstrate a range of professional competencies that will enhance active professional engagement	range of teaching competencies demonstrative of readiness to assume the role of teacher and mentor in academia and other educational/training contexts

General Knowledge:

Students will be required to demonstrate a broad understanding of prominent social scientific and educational theoretical traditions and trends. Students will include artifacts that demonstrate their wide-ranging familiarity with theories related to educational studies. Although specific artifacts will be determined in consultation with the supervisory committee, examples of items in this area might include:

Article for peer review surveying general trends or themes in educational studies

Scholarly working paper demonstrating broad historical and conceptual knowledge

Wide-ranging literature review surveying a significant issue or movement in the social sciences or education

Conference attendance review

Annotated bibliography on a broad conceptual topic

Field/travel report

Evidence of original/creative contribution to research in the field

Comprehensive conference paper

In-Depth Knowledge:

Students will demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of a range of issues in their specific doctoral focus area. Although specific artifacts will be determined in consultation with the supervisory committee, examples of items in this area might include:

Article for peer review focused on field of study

In-depth scholarly working paper focused on field of study

Literature review leading towards preparation of dissertation proposal

Annotated bibliography on specific research topic

Art installation

Evidence of original/creative contribution to research in the field

Focused conference paper

Research Knowledge and Competencies: Students will demonstrate research competence and the ability to engage in critical analysis of current research and methodological issues. Although specific artifacts will be determined in consultation with the supervisory committee, examples of items in this area might include:

Review of literature related to issues in research

Scholarly article on methodological issue

Submission for ethics review

Data analysis, including consideration of methodological issues

Annotated bibliography related to issues in research

Evidence of original/creative contribution to research in the field

Professional and Collegial Competencies:

In preparation for active professional engagement, students will demonstrate a range of professional and collegial competencies. Although specific artifacts will be determined in consultation with the supervisory committee, examples of items in this area might include:

Curriculum Vitae

Proposal for funding to recognized granting council

Article, essay, or book assessment or review

Draft of scholarly article for submission

Conference paper/participation

Art or performance adjudication

Evidence of significant support to professional organization

Evidence of significant contribution to community-based organization

Teaching and Instructional Competencies:

To ensure that doctoral students are prepared to assume the role of teacher and mentor in academia and other educational/training contexts, they will demonstrate a range of teaching and instructional competencies. Although specific artifacts will be determined in consultation with the supervisory committee, examples of items in this area might include:

Evidence of successful undergraduate or graduate teaching

Academic seminar presentation

Theatre-in-education performance

Arts-based instruction

Evidence of curriculum development, needs assessment, strengths assessment or program evaluation

Evidence of community teaching, training, tutoring and/or mentoring

In-Progress Assessment of the Portfolio

The Portfolio will be a central organizing feature of the doctoral student’s experience (comprising 20% of required course units/credit hours) and will be developed while taking courses during the 14 month residency (with the option to extend if justified). To maintain relevancy and rigour, and to ensure that the generation of the artifacts and the Narrative aid doctoral students in demonstrating readiness to undertake PhD work, both the student and the Supervisory Committee will complete an in-progress (formative) assessment of the progress being made on the Portfolio, using a form designed for this purpose by the IDAC.

This mid-way assessment will help both parties come to an agreement about the degree of progress to date (see form for degrees of completion). All parties will agree and sign off on which artifacts are complete, need further work and/or have been removed and replaced with others. This form will be filed with the Doctoral Program Office and entered into the student’s file.

Preparing the Portfolio for Submission and Presentation

Media for Submission

The medium or media used to submit the Portfolio will depend on the nature of its contents (respecting many ways of knowing and sharing knowledge). It may be presented in a conventional form, such as a binder, but non-traditional venues will also be accepted (art installations, drama, videos, pod casts, and other technologies). Whatever form the Portfolio takes, the exhibits must demonstrate competence in all of the five knowledge areas, per Table 1.

Submitting the Completed Portfolio to the Supervisory Committee

Once the Portfolio has been completed, normally by June 30^th at the end of the full-time residency, the student will submit copies (artifacts and Narrative) to all Supervisory Committee members and request that they review it over the next few weeks, in preparation for the oral presentation. Working through the IDAC, the student and the Supervisory Committee (in consultation with the External Examiner) will arrange a convenient meeting time.

Although uncommon if there has been sufficient, ongoing input and direction, should any Supervisory Committee member wish the student to revise or address concerns (prior to sending the Portfolio to the External Examiner), these concerns shall be communicated in writing with sufficient time to enable the student to address them (at his or her discretion). Should the student choose to address these concerns, he or she shall undertake these tasks, allowing for sufficient time for the Committee to review the revisions prior to sending it to the External Examiner. As well, the 4000-word Narrative must be revised to reflect any changes. It is this version of the Portfolio (artifacts and Narrative) that is given to the External Examiner two weeks prior to the oral examination.

See the Section on Portfolio Examination for criteria for grading, for passing or failing and the policy for a failed Portfolio.

^{^[1]}Although the Portfolio External Examiner will not be involved in the development of the portfolio, he or she will be expected to have read it carefully and be prepared for the presentation.