Teaching Portfolios: Reflection and Growth

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Teaching Portfolios Reflection and Growth

• Isabeau Iqbal and Bjorn Thomson
• UBC Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth (TAG)
• UBC Learning Conference
• May 11, 2006

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Introduction

• What is a teaching portfolio why bother?
• Examples of teaching portfolios
• What is reflection why bother?

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What is a teaching e-Portfolio?

• Teaching Portfolio "is a comprehensive record of
  teaching activities and accomplishments drawn up
  by the (instructor)."
• 1990 Dalhousie University Senate

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What is a teaching e-Portfolio?

• Demonstrates good teaching
• through well-chosen artifacts
• Demonstrates reflection on teaching process
• Accumulated over time
• (At least semi-) regularly updated

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What is a teaching e-Portfolio?
Dont let this happen to your e-Portfolio
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What is a teaching e-Portfolio?
Charting your progress
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What is a teaching e-Portfolio?

• Welcome to my e-Portfolio
• Last updated May 20, 2001

Has it been four years since I looked at that
page?
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What is a teaching e-Portfolio?

• Welcome to my e-Portfolio
• Last updated May 20, 2005

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What is a teaching e-Portfolio?

• What can it include
• Teaching philosophy
• Courses taught
• Peer, student evaluations
• Professional development
• Reflections on, revisions of all the above

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Examples
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Examples
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Examples
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Examples
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Teaching Portfolio Why bother?

• Develop your identity as a teacher
• Demonstrates your skills and abilities to a wider
  audience
• Mechanism and space for reflecting upon your
  teaching
• Augments the collaborative and public nature of
  teaching and scholarship

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On reflection

• Noun a thought, idea, or opinion formed or a
  remark made as a result of meditation-
  Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

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Reflection

• Schön (1987)
• Two types of reflection
• reflection-in-action (thinking on your feet)
• reflection-on-action (retrospective thinking)

• reflection is used by practitioners
• when they encounter situations that are unique
• when theories or techniques learnt through
  formal education may not apply

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Reflection

• Reid (1993)
• Reflection is a process of reviewing an
  experience of practice in order to describe,
  analyse, evaluate and so inform learning about
  practice.

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Words of Wisdom

• Follow effective action with quiet reflection.
  From the quiet reflection will come even more
  effective action.
• - James Levin

Action
Reflection
Action
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Words of Wisdom

• By three methods we may learn wisdom first, by
  reflection, which is noblest second, by
  imitation, which is easiest and third by
  experience, which is the bitterest.
• - Confucius

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Reflection Why Bother?

• Helps you improve as a practitioner
• Helps you solve problems and understand
  challenging situations
• Saves you time
• Communicates to others (students, committees)
  about what kind of teacher you are

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Teaching Philosophies

• Jeff Phillips (Physics) http//www.physics.uci.edu
  /jeff/phil.html
• Rich Holowczak (MIS/Computer Science)
  http//cimic.rutgers.edu/holowcza/classes/portfol
  io.htmlphilosophy
• Dave Rudge (Biology) http//homepages.wmich.edu/r
  udged/tp.html
• Paul A. Gregory (Philosophy/Liberal Arts)
  http//people.colgate.edu/pgregory/ts.html
• Linda L. Baer (Sociology) http//lindabaer.efoliom
  n2.com/index.asp?TypeB_BASICSEC7bFCE34538-5C7F
  -4FFD-82F0-DF9082E1EBEF7d

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Questions