Overview

Reflection is one of the core tenets of Interdisciplinary Honors. The Honors Portfolio is a web-based collection of artifacts and reflective annotations that documents and contextualizes your undergraduate experience, allowing you to share your UW Honors story with your peers, friends, family, mentors, employers, and graduate school admissions boards.

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Requirements

Platform

Beginning in Autumn 2024, students in HONORS 100 will be introduced to the Honors portfolio and begin storing their artifacts, annotations, and reflections in a Google Drive folder. Your Google Drive folder will be a repository for your portfolio items throughout your time at UW.

Once you enter HONORS 496 toward the end of your undergraduate journey, you will set up your portfolio using a web-based software. Some popular platforms are UW Google Sites, WordPress, GitHub, Wix and Weebly. But if you have web development skills, feel free to start from scratch! Whatever platform you choose, your portfolio must be accessible to anyone with the link.

For all students that took HONORS 100 prior to Autumn 2024, you are not required to make this change, and may continue to add your artifacts and annotations to your portfolio website.

Artifacts

Artifacts are multimodal pieces of evidence that represent your learning inside and outside the classroom. Examples include but are not limited to:

• Art pieces
• Audio files
• Creative writing samples
• Essays
• Lab reports
• Musical compositions
• Photographs
• Presentation slides
• Research posters
• Study guides
• Videos

Annotations

To complete an entry in your portfolio, include an annotation with your artifact. As you craft these written reflections, consider the following questions:

• Why does this artifact matter to you and what does it represent about you at the moment?
• How did you grow as a thinker and learner?
• Is there a strategy or approach to learning that you could apply in other courses and/or disciplines?
• What have you learned from the course that might be useful in your professional career?

Learning Statement

As you near graduation, you will enroll in HONORS 496, where you will polish and present your portfolio. You will also write a learning statement, which will tie up your entries and provide a broader reflection on your undergraduate experience. Depending on your intended audience, this may explain your future goals and relevant preparations for those experiences as well.

Entries

To ensure you are prepared for the reflection and group workshopping of your portfolio in HONORS 496, we set the following entrance requirements to enroll in the course:

• Entries from classes in your major(s)
• Entries from Honors classes
• Entries from other classes (electives, minors, etc)
• One Experiential Learning entry
• Entries that address challenges, not just showcase successes
• Entries that span your entire time in Honors and at the UW
• Elicit common themes from your undergraduate experiences
• Demonstrate thoughtful reflection alongside each artifact

Tips for success

Between HONORS 100 and HONORS 496, we will check in on your portfolio progress via an annual audit, but much of your participation in this process will be on your own time and schedule. To ensure consistent, thoughtful progression towards your finished product, we suggest the following tips:

Examples

It may be helpful to see the design, organization, and styles of other portfolios as you develop your own. Check out the following examples from current and past Honors students!