Digital Portfolios as Beautiful Work
In Math 2, Student Digital Portfolios (DPs) are an important means for publicly displaying work, including activities, investigations, POWs, and (of course) projects. As such, it is very important that the DP page associated with each piece of work be an example of beautiful work. What makes a DP page for Math 2 an example of beautiful work is outlined in the sections below. The corresponding grading can be found in this pdf file.
All Prompts are Fully Answered
Each DP page assignment will normally include anywhere from 3-6 prompts that you must address in your write-up. In beautiful work, there are many instances of significant explanations and much evidence of deep reflection. There are no short (single sentence or single word) responses to prompts.
Images are Clear
Beautiful work on a DP often includes images (graphs, tables, visuals, ...) that help the viewer understand the problem being worked, the problem-solving approach, or the results of the effort. Such images are always clear (legible) and they are appropriately cropped to remove unnecessary or distracting aspects. The images are always relevant to the work and are always referenced in the text so the reader understands the relevance.
Mathematical Equations and Expressions are Formatted
A challenge for creating a beautiful DP page is making sure that more complex mathematical equations and expressions are readable. There are a few ways this can be achieved and the student has adapted one of those approaches to ensure that all readers can follow the student's explanations of their mathematical thinking.
Attention has been Paid to English Mechanics
An example of beautiful work is free from most spelling mistakes and grammatical errors: the student probably wrote the text in a word processor first (that has a spell/grammar checker) or had a friend or family member proof-read their work before copying/pasting into their Webpage editor.
Page is Well-Organized and Easy to Follow
There is usually a fair amount of latitude in how a DP page can be organized. In examples of beautiful work, they DP pages are easy to follow and navigate around because the student has made really good use of headings and sub-headings. Also, anything that would distract the viewer from reading the content, such as complicated background imagery, hard-to-read fonts, and animated GIFs have been omitted. The student has also made it easy for the viewer to see the content by embedding all the content directly on the page (except for videos): there are no external links, attachments or HTML frames.
There is a Clear Sense of Ownership
Overall, a beautiful DP page will reflect the both student's desire to publicly exhibit their work and the pride that they take in putting it on display.