“A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas. The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for election, the criteria for judging merit, and evidence of student self-reflection.”
Paulson et al (1991)
An analytics portfolio is a compilation of examples which showcase your analytical skills and abilities. The analytics portfolio can be used to demonstrate your skills and abilities for several different purposes. One function it can have is as coursework to be evaluated by your teacher. Another is to support an application for an education, a scholarship, or perhaps a job.
As opposed to a traditional CV, a portfolio presents your skills through substantiated examples rather than listed claims. *The portfolio shows your past experiences of analysis, but can also contain work-in-progress which shows your current development trajectory (Orland-Barak, 2005). The selection of work you include in the portfolio also indicate your characteristics, interests, and perspective on analysis and analytics. No two portfolios will be the same, and this makes them a rich description of you as an analyst.
What should the portfolio show?
The portfolio should show that you have the ability to:
- identify and formulate analytical possibilities
- develop analytical inquires suitable for analysis
- identify and exemplify analytical assumptions
- compare and select appropriate analytic method
- plan and execute different types of analysis
- reflect upon the strengths and weaknesses of an analysis
- discuss and reflect on the relevance and applicability of the analysis for decision making
- interpret and present findings from analyses
Each example will probably show one or a few of these abilities, but not necessarily all. As a whole, the portfolio should aim to show the width and depth of your analytical mindset and skillset. Therefore, try to make sure each of the abilities listed above is covered by at least one example.
You can include examples of where you have failed to perform a good analysis, but in that case make sure to include a comment and reflection showing how you relate to the failure, including what you should have done differently. You can also include examples of work-in-progress, preferably with similar comments of how you relate to the parts that are missing.
Guidelines for the structure
You are free to design the analytics portfolio in whatever way that suits you and makes it easy for you to showcase your skills. Below is a Word-template that gives an idea of how the portfolio can be structured. It is, however, likely that your portfolio is more suitable for another format than a page-like document. Feel free to experiment with, for example, online, interactive, or mixed portfolios.
Although it may be tempting to include “everything” you have done in the portfolio, that can in fact be contra-productive. Make sure you include enough to make the reader/evaluator/assessor/recruiter see your skills, but not too much so the message gets lost. As guidance, aim to include 4-5 examples, each around 2-3 pages (or equivalent), but do not force your portfolio into a structure that does not favour it.
The analytics portfolio is not an “academic text”, so the writing style may be different and so may the use of references. It is still a good idea to point to texts, books and sources that have inspired you, to show that you are actively learning from others.
References and further reading
Elango, S. R. J. L. L., Jutti, R. C., & Lee, L. K. (2005). Portfolio as a learning tool: students’ perspective. Annals-Academy of Medicine Singapore, 34(8), 511.
Greenberg, G. (2004). The Digital Convergence. Extending The Portfolio Model. EDUCAUSE review, 39(4). https://er.educause.edu/articles/2004/1/the-digital-convergence-extending-the-portfolio-model
Lupton, D. K. (1979). Portfolio versus syllabus methods in experiential education. Alternative Higher Education, 4(2), 114-126.
Orland-Barak, L. (2005). Portfolios as evidence of reflective practice: What remains ‘untold’. Educational research, 47(1), 25-44.
Paulson, F. L., Paulson, P. R., & Meyer, C. A. (1991). What makes a portfolio a portfolio. Educational leadership, 48(5).
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