CS-E4920 - Portfolio in Software and Service Engineering, Lecture, 27.8.2024-7.5.2025

Your task is to create a written learning portfolio. The learning portfolio is divided into three parts: courses and other studies; work experience and other projects; and analysis and comparison. Please see detailed instructions below.

The focus of the portfolio should be on the skills and knowledge needed as a Software and Service Engineering (SSE) professional. Such skills may be specific to SSE, but also generic or soft skills, such as team work skills. (Check out the Excel sheet attached.)

The learning portfolio is not directly meant for assessment, for example, it is not meant to be shown to an employer. Instead, it is a tool for you to reflect, collect material and analyze your learning. This so-called working portfolio is later used to create an assessment portfolio, e.g., a CV / LinkedIn profile.

The length of the learning portfolio may vary according to your situation, so we cannot recommend any specific page length. As a rough estimate, you should spend around 12-15 hours for this task; therefore, make an effort in analyzing all your learning activities.

The deliverables of this task include a written learning portfolio and the attached Excel document filled in with your own ratings. (The Excel is needed to aggregate the results collectively over all course participants.)

This task is done individually.
 

Courses and other studies

 
The first part of the learning portfolio should cover courses and other education. Identify all courses (and other educational activities) that have helped you to learn any skills or knowledge related to SSE or work life in general. Thereafter, for each course, analyze the knowledge and skills you acquired or demonstrated. What did you really learn from the course? What was useful? What was left in the dark? What was the long-term take-away from the course? Remember, the portfolio is NOT a summary of the course content or a list of what was taught. Instead, you should reflect on the real impact the course had on your thinking.
 

Work experience and other projects

 
The second part of the learning portfolio should cover work experience and other projects. Identify all jobs, projects, hobbies or other duties that have helped you to acquire any skills or knowledge related to SSE or work life in general. Thereafter, for each activity, analyze the knowledge and skills you acquired or demonstrated. What was your position or task, and what did you learn from these tasks? What was the long-term take-away from the job? What kind of impact these activities had on your thinking? You can also think about the concrete results, for example, the systems you constructed in your job, or the outcome of the project work.

Analysis and comparison

The third part of the learning portfolio analyzes, compares and summarizes your overall learning.

Firstly, summarize your main skills and knowledge related to SSE themes / topics. This can be done, e.g., by constructing a table or a mindmap.

To better analyze the soft skills, create your version of the graph that shows the skills and competencies from the TEK graduate survey (see attachment). Please fill in the attached Excel with your own ratings, and then import the resulting graph into your document. (Remember to submit the Excel sheet separately as well to allow aggregation of the data.)

Finally, analyze how the learning during the studies and learning through work have affected each other. Has your work experience supported you in your studies? Has work affected your studies negatively? Has learning during the courses helped or hindered you in your work?