Documenting Teaching
Sources:
Campus Use of the Teaching Portfolio, Erin Anderson, ed. The AAHE Teaching Initiative, American Association for Higher Education, 1993
Developing a Professional TeachingPortfolio, 3rded., Constantino, Patricia M. and Marie N. De Lorenzo, Pearson, 2009
The Teaching Portfolio, 4thed., by Peter Seldin, J. Elizabeth Miller and Clement Seldin, John Wiley & Sons, 2010
‘The Teaching Portfolio’, Kaplan, Matthew, an Occasional Paper from the University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, 1998 (This is a good source for examples of teaching portfolios in different fields.)
Teaching Portfolios, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching
Teaching Portfolios, Ohio State University Center for Advancement of Teaching
‘A teaching portfolio is a factual description of a professor’s teaching strengths and accomplishments. It includes documents and materials that collectively suggest the scope and quality of a professor’s teaching performance. The portfolio is to teaching what … publications, grants, and honors are to research and scholarship. As such, it allows faculty members to display their teaching accomplishments for examination by others. And in the process, it contributes to both sounder … [reappointment] decisions and the professional development of individual faculty members. As a result, it provides a strong signal that teaching is an institutional priority.’ (Seldin 2010, p 4)
The teaching portfolio represents a curated selection of materials that provides empirical evidence of quality teaching and allows faculty members to describe their courses and their approaches to teaching and learning. ‘Teaching’ includes all activities that support student learning, including one-on-one student-teacher interactions and advising. The portfolio provides evaluators with concrete information on what individual faculty members do as teachers, why they do it, and how they do it, and provides evidence of those activities in student learning. A teaching portfolio can be formative, supporting your growth and development as an educator, or summative, used in reappointment and promotion to demonstrate teaching effectiveness.
While there are varieties of format, an effective portfolio should be well-documented and well organized. The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) suggests that a teaching portfolio should be a carefully curated and structured document that accurately represents the nature and quality of your work as a teacher.
A teaching portfolio allows you to:
· Reflect deeply on your teaching practice.
· Clarify and refine teaching and learning practices.
· Focus on the teaching and learning process.
· Model reflective practices for students.
· Deepen your approaches to teaching and learning.
· Provide context for your teaching.
In preparation for work on your teaching portfolio, consider:
· Why do I teach?
· How do I teach?
· How do I know students are learning?
Teaching portfolios typically include the following:
1. Teaching philosophy
2. Teaching objectives, strategies and methodologies
3. Teaching responsibilities
4. Description of teaching materials (syllabi, handouts, assignments)
5. New instructional initiatives and curricular revisions
6. Formal and informal efforts to improve teaching, e.g., workshops, readings, conferences, conversations with colleague who has taught a similar course
7. Formative course assessments, e.g., feedback sought from students about a course / instructional effectiveness
8. Student ratings / formal course evaluations
9. Evidence of student learning
10. Teaching goals (short and long term)
11. Appendices (materials that provide evidence that support the preceding narrative sections)
Prompts for thinking about the teaching narrative areas and evidence in the Appendix:
Teaching philosophy
What do I believe about the role of a teacher?
What do I believe about the role of a student?
What are my teaching goals?
Why do I teach?
What is challenging about what I teach?
What does ‘good teaching’ mean?
How do I know that my students are learning?
Teaching objectives, strategies and methodologies
What are your course objectives?
Why do I choose the teaching strategies and methods I use?
Why do I choose particular assignments and exercises?
Why do I give the feedback I do to students and why do I do it in the way I do?
How do I assess student learning?
Evidence: Examples of student work, specific assignments, exercises
Teaching responsibilities
Include course titles, average enrollments, an indication of whether the course is undergraduate or graduate, required or elective, role of your courses in the program or school.
Evidence: List of courses provided by your college(s)
Description of teaching materials (syllabi, handouts, assignments)
While examples of materials will be included in the appendix, a discussion of their relevance is appropriate here. Consider in what ways and why they have changed over time and how they reflect your objectives, strategies and methodologies.
Evidence: Syllabi for all courses taught, sample assignments, handouts, quizzes, etc., especially those referenced in the narrative.
New instructional innovations and curricular revisions
What new approaches have I introduced into my courses and why?
What worked, what didn’t, and how did I know? (Through thoughtful evaluation of a ‘failure’, you can show what you learned from it and how you adapted.)
Have I introduced new technologies, why and to what effect?
How and why have I employed guest speakers, field trips, civic engagement work, team or group work, etc.?
Evidence: ‘Before and after’ syllabi, new course or program proposal; syllabi that reflect use of technology, guest speakers, field trips, etc.; sample student work
Efforts to improve teaching
Have I participated in any developmental activities, e.g., workshops, webinars, conferences, readings, related to improving teaching and student learning?
How have I sought feedback on my teaching?
How do I apply what I have learned to my teaching?
What evidence do I have of growth or change in my teaching?
Evidence: Conference or workshop announcement and verification of participation; classroom observation report; course evaluations/student ratings that show improvement (dean’s offices provide all course evaluations).
Course syllabi
Syllabi will be included in the appendix, but you may wish to address highlights in your narrative:
What does this syllabus say about my teaching and learning beliefs?
What do I want it to say?
Is it a learner-centered syllabus and what do I understand that to mean?
Does it elaborate the reasons behind what is included (readings, assignments, etc.)?
Does it help students think about their learning?
Evidence: Highlighted syllabi out of all those included in the Appendix.
Formative course assessments, e.g., feedback sought from students about a course/instructional effectiveness
How do I get feedback in the moment?
How do I make modifications in response to feedback?
Evidence: Sample assessments (student responses);
Student ratings/course evaluations
How do I think about and respond to course evaluations/student ratings?
How do I respond to negative feedback?
Evidence: End of semester course evaluations/student ratings, provided by dean’s office
Evidence of student learning
How do I think about what students are learning in my courses?
How do I determine whether they are meeting the learning objectives of my courses?
Have my students gone on to work or study in my field?
How can I show what and how my students learned in my courses?
Evidence: Sample student work, rubrics, assessments
Teaching goals
How do I think about the continued evolution and growth of my teaching?
What are my teaching goals and why are they important to me?
How are my goals consistent with the mission of my program/school?
How can my program/school help me achieve my teaching goals?
What resources do I need to achieve my goals?