Academic Portfolios: Reflection and Evaluation

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Academic PortfoliosReflection and Evaluation

• Victoria McGillin, Ph.D. Associate Provost
• And
• JoAnn Barbour, Ph.D., Professor, Ed Leadership

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TEACHING
RESEARCH
SERVICE

Your Philosophy
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• Collection

Presentation
Selection
Philosophy
Evaluation
Reflection
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Pair up (or Triple up)

• For 3 minutes, person A will speak while Person B
  writes down what Person A is saying
  
• 1 minute on words/phrases that you would use to
  describe your teaching
  
• 1 minute on words/phrases you would use to
  describe your scholarship/creative activity
  
• 1 minute on words/phrases you would use to
  describe your service
  
• Reverse roles, with Person B speaking for 3
  minutes and Person A writing

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What is a Philosophy Statement?

• A narrative that includes
• Ones conception of teaching and learning,
  scholarship/creativity and/or service
  
• A description of how one teaches, conducts
  scholarship/creative activity and/or service
  
• A justification for why one teaches, engages in
  scholarly/creative work and/or service in that
  particular manner

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Philosophical Statements should

• Demonstrate that one has been reflective and
  purposeful
  
• Communicate goals and corresponding actions
• Provide an opportunity to point to/tie together
  other sections of ones portfolio

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What is the Purpose of the Philosophical
Statement?

• The process of identifying a personal philosophy
  and continuously examining, testifying and
  verifying can lead to changes in behavior and
  ultimately fosters professional growth

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Purpose of Philosophical Statements

• From Brookfield (1990) The Skilled Teacher
• PERSONAL organizing vision - a clear picture
  of why you are doing what you are doing that you
  can call up at points of crisis is crucial to
  your personal sanity and morale.(p. 16)
• PEDAGOGICAL Knowing clearly what kind of dent
  you want to make in the world means that you must
  continually ask yourself the most fundamental
  evaluative questions of all What effect am I
  having on students and on their learning (pp.
  18-19)?
• From Goodyear and Alchin (1998)
• FOCUS - A clear vision of a teaching philosophy
  provides stability, continuity and long-term
  guidance.A well-defined philosophy can help them
  remain focused on their teaching goals and to
  appreciate the personal and professional rewards
  of teaching (pp. 106-107).

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Tips to Get Started with your Teaching Philosophy

• Ask
• What do I want students to learn?
• What can I do to facilitate their learning?
• What obstacles are there to student learning?
• What can I do to help students overcome these
  obstacles?
  
• If you feel your statement is too abstract or
  impersonal, try asking yourself What does this
  look like when I do it in class?
  
• Think about times you have helped OTHERS learn in
  non-class situations. How was that
  teaching/learning encounter similar to what you
  do in the class? Different? Non-class situations
  can include
• Advising
• Tutoring
• Working with clients/patients
• Mentoring a new associate
• Switch roles if you wrote your teaching
  philosophy from a teaching perspective, try
  writing it from a learners perspective. What do
  learners typically experience in classes that you
  teach?

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Chisms Five Components of a Teaching Statement

• Conceptualization of learning
• What do you mean by learning? What happens?
• Conceptualization of teaching
• What do you mean by teaching? How do I facilitate
  this as a teacher?
  
• Goals for students
• What skills do you expect your students to learn
  as a result of what you do? For example Goals
  for class, rationale for goals, activities to
  implement goals, how goals changed over time.
• Implementation of philosophy
• How does your philosophy translate into classroom
  activities. What personal characteristics of
  you/your students influence the way you teach?
  
• Professional growth plan
• What goals have you set for yourself? How do
  you/have you accomplish(ed) those goals?

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Chism expanded to research, scholarship,
creative activity

• Research/Creative/Scholarly Activity
• What does my scholarship/ research/creative
  activity mean to me?
  
• How does my understanding relate to methodology?
• What do I want to accomplish with this line of
  work?
  
• How do I achieve my goals? What is the evidence
  of my impact?
  
• How has my line of inquiry changed over time?
• What are my future goals and how to I expect to
  accomplish them (short term and long term)?

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Chism expanded to service

• What is service? Whom do I want to serve? How do
  my abilities and others service needs match?
  
• What is the purpose of this service?
• Why do I choose particular service activities?
• What are my goals for service?
• Have I accomplished those goals? How do I know?
  What is my evidence?
  
• How has my service developed over the years?
  What are my future goals (both short term and
  long term)?

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Pair Up/Triple Up

• Spend five minutes looking at Person As
  words/phrases
  
• Discuss
• Are there themes common to the three areas or
  linking one area with another?
  
• Are there over-riding themes ?
• If not, what ought to change?
• After five minutes, look at Person Bs
  words/phrases

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Evaluation

• Self-Evaluation Portfolio Assessment Checklist
• Is in the format specified by TWU
• A complete table of contents included
• Appropriate appendices included
• Includes proper documents
• Each claim is supported by hard evidence
• Was selective in materials included
• Made appropriate decisions about visual items to
  include, such as photos, graphs, tables, videos
  
• Materials support philosophy statement

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Self-evaluation Checklist continued

• Noted or explained component expectations
• Noted or explained departmental/institutional
  factors that influenced my effectiveness in
  teaching, scholarship and service
  
• Described creative or innovative approaches
  others might not understand
  
• Explained my growth/improvement as an academic
  and/or included explanation on my efforts at
  growth and improvement
  
• Documented outcomes of efforts, not just the
  efforts themselves
  
• Have summarized evaluation results over time
  (e.g., student course evaluations, scholarly or
  creative work, impact of service)
  
• Was sufficiently reflective and included
  appropriate reflective observations

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Self-Evaluation Checklist - continued
Evaluation by Other

• Someone reading my portfolio can identify
• What I teach
• How I teach
• Why I teach as I do
• What I research/ write / create
• My methodological choices
• Why I research/ write / create as I do
• How I have served others professionally
• Why I have chosen to provide this service to
  others

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Rubrics for an Effective Portfolio
Guidelines/Suggestions only NOT a set of TWU
Requirements
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Rubrics for an Effective Portfolio
Guidelines/Suggestions only NOT a set of TWU
Requirements
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Rubrics for an Effective Portfolio
Guidelines/Suggestions only NOT a set of TWU
Requirements
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Rubrics for an Effective Portfolio
Guidelines/Suggestions only NOT a set of TWU
Requirements
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Rubrics for an Effective Portfolio
Guidelines/Suggestions only NOT a set of TWU
Requirements
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Critical Friends Review

• Definition of a critical friend
• A person who helps you with educational plans and
  decisions
  
• Presses you to articulate your rationale for why
  you are doing what you are doing
  
• Helps you see your work from a different
  perspective
  
• Retrieved September 25, 2006 from
  http//www.ncrtec.org/pd/llwt/coach/tips.htm

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Criteria for a Good Critical Friend

• Core qualities
• Respect
• Trust
• Rapport
• Good listener
• Good problem-solver
• Able to ask provocative questions
• Can help you define expectations and intentions
  clarify ideas
  

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Additional criteria

• Encourages you to be specific
• Understands what is being presented
• Understands context of work
• Understands desired outcomes of work
• Offers judgment only when asked
• Is an advocate for your success
• Avoids negativity
• Avoids conflicts of interest
• Avoids directing others

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Critical Friends Review Process

• Explain CFR process to the other and ask him or
  her to read your portfolio
  
• Schedule a conference and jointly set desired
  outcomes what do you need/want to get out of
  the conference
  
• CF asks questions to better understand and
  clarify concepts
  
• CF provides feedback about what seemed
  significant in the portfolio
  
• CF raises questions and critiques work to prompt
  you to see your portfolio from another
  perspective.
  
• Reflect collectively on the points, suggestions,
  differing perspectives

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Critical Friends Feedback

• I particularly liked
• You might want to look at these resources.
• Did you think about
• I wondered about
• I've seen others successful with similar
  activities when....
  

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Resources

• Sample statements
• The following samples are written by Ohio State
  faculty and TAs and are examples of various
  formats you may choose to use. http//ftad.osu.edu
  /portfolio/philosophy/Philosophy.html
• Essay format samples Elizabeth Allan,
  Educational Policy and Leadership Robert M.
  Anthony, SociologyMahesh Iyer, Chemical
  Biomolecular EngineeringSzu-Hui Lee,
  PsychologyLaura Luehrmann, Political Science
  Matthew Maurer, Science Education Diana
  Ruggiero, Spanish PortugueseChristine Sahling,
  Germanic Languages Literature Leslie Wade,
  PsychologyJohn Wenzel, Entomology Deborah
  Zelli, Anthropology Carl Zulaf, Agriculture
• Question answer format samples Susan Hannel,
  Consumer and Textile Science
  
• Creative poem or extended metaphor samples
  Faith O. Mowoe, LiteratureJeffrey Stowell,
  PsychologyNancy Tatarek, AnthropologyJoseph
  Zeidan, Near Eastern Languages Cultures

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• Samples of teaching philosophy statements from
  other universities
  
• Rex Campbell, Professor, University of Missouri
  philosophy of undergraduate teaching
  
• http//www.ssu.missouri.edu/faculty/RCampbell/phil
  osophy.htm
  
• and philosophy of graduate teaching
  http//www.ssu.missouri.edu/faculty/RCampbell/gra
  dphilosophy.htm
  
• Aaron Bloomfield, University of Pennsylvania
  http//www.ctl.sas.upenn.edu/tools/aaron.html
  
• Christopher Burrows, University of Pennsylvania
  http//www.ctl.sas.upenn.edu/tools/chris.html
  
• Gregory Flaxman, University of Pennsylvania
  http//www.ctl.sas.upenn.edu/tools/greg.html
  
• Don Vaughan, Mississippi State University
  http//ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/philosophy/vaughan_
  phil.htm
  
• Major components of a philosophy of teaching
  statement
  
• Each statement of teaching philosophy is very
  personal by nature. Therefore, it should be up to
  instructors to decide what components to include
  in their own statements. However, there are a
  number of excellent resources to get you started
  with the writing process at Guidance for Writing
  a Philosophy of Teaching Statement.
  http//ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/philosophy/Phil_guid
  ance.html

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• Other sites with information on philosophy of
  teaching statements
  
• What's Your Philosophy on Teaching, and Does it
  Matter? Article in the Chronicle of Higher
  Education http//www.usc.edu/programs/cet/resource
  s/teaching_philosophy/
• Center for Excellence in Teaching at the
  University of Southern California
  http//www.usc.edu/programs/cet/resources/teaching
  _philosophy/
• Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at
  Iowa State University http//www.celt.iastate.edu/
  teaching/philosophy.html
  
• The Center for Effective Teaching and Learning at
  the University of Texas at El Paso
  http//academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?aliasacade
  mics.utep.edu/cetal
• Teacher Portfolio and Preparation Series at the
  University of Hawaii at Manoa, Second Language
  Teaching and Curriculum Center (includes
  philosophy of teaching statements written by
  language teachers) http//www.lll.hawaii.edu/sltcc
  /tipps/philosophy.html

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References

• Brookfield, S. (1990). The skillful teacher. San
  Francisco Jossey-Bass.
  
• Chism, N. V. N. (1998). Developing a philosophy
  of teaching statement. Essays on Teaching
  Excellence, 9(3), 1-2. Professional and
  Organizational Development Network in Higher
  Education.
• Goodyear, G. E., Allchin, D. (1998). Statements
  of Teaching Philosophy. In M. Kaplan (Ed.), To
  improve the academy, Vol. 17 (pp. 103-122).
  Stillwater, OK New Forums Press. FROM
  Developing a Philosophy of Teaching, Scholarship,
  and Professional Service http//www.kennesaw.edu/a
  cademicaffairs/tenure/philosop.htm
• Ohio State University. http//ftad.osu.edu/portfo
  lio/philosophy/Philosophy.html
  
• Reis, R. Tomorrows Professor Msg. 13 Items for
  Inclusion in a Teaching Portfolio. Center for
  Teaching and Learning, Stanford University.
  http//sll.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/newtompro
  f/postings/13.html
• Reis, R. Tomorrows Professor Msg. 483 Building
  Your Teaching Portfolio. Center for Teaching and
  Learning, Stanford University.
  
• http//sll.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/newtompro
  f/postings/13.html
  
• University of Washington. Center for
  Instructional Development and Research
  
• http//depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/PortfolioTips.
  htm
  
• Coaching Staff for Integrating Technology
  http//www.ncrtec.org/pd/llwt/coach/tips.htm