Suggested Documentation

To help you think of your documentation, a list of suggested forms is included. This list is not complete nor are you limited to these alone. Appropriate documentation may be used in more than one portfolio.

  • Letters from employers (see “Letters of verification for Documentation”)
  • Licenses and Certificates (see “Description of licenses and certificates”)
  • Certificates
  • Newspaper clippings
  • Audiotapes and videotapes
  • Resumes
  • Photographs
  • Products of your work
  • Proposals
  • Job descriptions and/or classifications
  • Official forms or records such as records of promotions or performance evaluations. (class or training program)

Indirect evidence verifies and confirms your accomplishments.

Examples are:

  • Letters written on your behalf
  • Newspaper articles, and
  • Programs of your performance

The following example shows how both direct and indirect documentation are used as evidence of learning.

Direct evidence is documentation of your actual learning in a particular subject area.

Examples are:

  • Samples of your work (poems, plays, artwork, reports of projects, tapes of music you performed)
     
  • Official verifications that show your mastery of the subject, licenses and certificates
     
  • Descriptions of the process of your learning (course outlines and evaluations for non-credit/training courses, notes you took in a Jack is seeking credit for college-level skills as a sculptor. In his portfolio, he provides a number of pictures of a sculpture he sculpted and donated in memory of his late wife to her college’s sculpture garden. The sculpture looks beautiful in the picture, but there is no identification of the sculpture. Therefore, the direct evidence, though interesting, does not verify that Jack is the sculptor and has college-level learning.

    However, in the narrative section of his portfolio, Jack describes how he traveled to Italy, the process he went through in choosing the particular piece of marble, the problems incurred, and how he solved them. In addition, Jack provides sketches of the proposed sculpture along with additional narrative that describes the thought processes of how he decided what the finished sculpture should look like as well as the techniques he used for carving the marble. Newspaper articles, a letter from the college president, and a critique by a well-known professional sculptor are additional pieces of indirect evidence to verify not only that Jack was the sculptor, but also the level of his knowledge of the art form.

Letters of Verification for Documentation

Letters can be used to corroborate any type of activity and are usually one of the more common forms of documentation. Since letters occupy an important role in the documentation process, use the guidelines listed below. You may wish to copy this information and p resent it to the person you request to write a letter of verification for you to include in your portfolio. It is the responsibility of the student to make clear to the author that the letter is to be one of verification and not one of recommendation.

Be sure the person knows or has the opportunity to observe the works and learning for which you are seeking academic credit.