The Teaching Portfolio

1
The Teaching Portfolio

• A framework for development and evaluation

2
Todays objectives

• Understand what a teaching portfolio is
• Consider possible sections to include in your own
  portfolio
• Set up topic for discussion regarding the
  teaching portfolio for the upcoming week

3
The Teaching Portfolio

• What is your main purpose in creating this
  portfolio?
• What basic argument about your teaching will you
  make, and why?
• Who are the primary readers?
• What do you know about their beliefs about good
  teaching?
• Are their beliefs consistent with your own?
• What types of evidence of teaching effectiveness
  will be most convincing to these readers?
• What evidence will they expect to find?

4
Documenting your Success and Development

• How are your beliefs about teaching and learning
  reflected in your actions as a teacher?
• What evidence will show readers that your
  teaching reflects these beliefs?
• What evidence can be provided by
• your students?
• your colleagues?
• you?
• others?
• Which of the data listed above is regularly
  collected?
• How can you begin to collect the rest of the data
  you need?

5
For instance. . . .(example from Yours Truly)

• Statement of Pedagogical Philosophy, Strategy and
  implementation
• Summary of Teaching Responsibilities (my example)
• Semester Hours Per Year
• Effective Teaching Load
• New Course Development
• Assessing Teaching Performance
• Student Evaluations
• Average Evaluation Scores
• Individual Evaluation Scores
• Questions 1-10 (Departmental Supplemental
  Questions)
• Questions 11-17 (CET Survey Questions)

6
For instance. . . .

• Peer Evaluation of Teaching and Teaching
  Materials
• Classroom Observation
• Department Chair
• Gender expert
• Evaluation of Course Materials
• Educational Psychologist
• Program director
• Teaching Research in Economics
• Grants and Awards for Teaching Innovation
• Description of Efforts to Improve Teaching
• Self-Evaluation
• Goals for the next five years

7
Minimum Contents

• a statement of teaching philosophy,
• a statement of teaching responsibilities
• a summary of student evaluations of teaching
  placed in the context of departmental norms
• representative course materials from at least one
  instructional setting.

8
Are there other examples?

• Robert M. Corless, Department of Applied
  Mathematics, University of Western Ontario
• Teaching Philosophy and organization of portfolio
• Timothy A. Pychyl, Department of Psychology,
  Carleton University, Ottawa
• CV
• Teaching Philosophy
• Professional Development
• Teaching evaluations
• Sample teaching portfolios
• Note how whats included reflects what is
  important to the instructor

9
Its never too early!

• Shows prospective employer you care about
  teaching.
• Grad students typically have limited teaching
  opportunities.
• Be proactive about getting feedback and evidence
  of your teaching
• A partial checklist
• Get student evaluationseven for labs or
  recitation sections.
• Invite the professor teaching the course to visit
  one of your classes and provide comments,
  preferably written.
• help structure the occasion by providing some
  questions to guide observation.
• it will likely not happen unless you ask first.

10
Its never too early!

• Go to seminars on teaching. Keep a record for
  section on "Professional Development."
• Engage in professional dialogue about teaching.
• Ask questions of teachers you admire about their
  teaching.
• Thinking about your teaching philosophy,
  sometimes requested as a part of academic job
  applications.

11
Group Activity in Class

• Group activity in class
• Help each other develop a list of
• Topics and items for your Teaching Portfolio
• Documentation you can use (or get)
• For the next week, I suggest
• Review resources on our website
• Draft your own 1-page teaching philosophy and
  post it to Group Discussion Folder called
  Teaching Philosophy in WebCT
• Name your file TPName.doc
• Check resources on syllabus