Quick Hits for New Faculty: Successful Strategies by Award-Winning Teachers

Chapter 7: Keeping Track

Chapter 7: Keeping Track You are continually making and revising decisions about teaching and learning. Sharon Hamilton 119 How Do I Get Started on a Teaching Portfolio? Jay R. Howard Sociology Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus Teaching portfolios are now common enough that you’ve likely heard of their utility in the demonstration and assessment of effective teaching. But just what is a teaching portfolio and what should go into one? How does one get started collecting materials for a portfolio? A teaching portfolio is a collection of materials that allows one to document teaching performance over time. Portfolios allow one to highlight what it is one does well as a teacher. Most commonly the materials are arranged in a three-ring binder. The length of the portfolio depends on the purpose and audience (e.g., teaching award, promotion and tenure, job application). There is no single “correct” list of categories or sections for portfolios, but the following eight elements are commonly included in portfolios. The important thing is to begin collecting materials for your portfolio early in your career to make the construction of the portfolio easier and more comprehensive. A good way to being is to get a set of file folders, label them with the eight categories listed below, and keep them handy for collecting appropriate materials. Statement of Teaching Philosophy The most important component of the teaching portfolio is the statement of teaching philosophy, sometimes referred to as a reflective statement on teaching. Whatever other materials or evidence are presented in the portfolio, they should support the claims being made in the statement of teaching philosophy. The candidate should ask him/ herself, “What are my goals in teaching and what is it in my teaching that I do especially well?” Ideally, you should be able to identify a small number (around three) aspects of your teaching that you wish to highlight in your reflective statement. Perhaps you are an outstanding lecturer who effectively engages students by drawing them into your explanation of the material. Maybe your strength is facilitating discussions – being unafraid to release control of the class. Spurring students toward critical thinking or excelling at utilization of technology to promote greater student learning might be your strongest skill. Developing mentoring relationships with students may be what makes you an outstanding teacher. Whatever it is that makes your teaching effective should be clearly profiled in the statement of teaching philosophy, making reference to the types of evidence that support your claims found in other sections of the portfolio. Having served on multiple teaching award and hiring committees, it is clear to me that the statement of philosophy will most likely be carefully read. The rest of the portfolio may not be as carefully read, so it is crucial to make and support your central claims in the statement of teaching philosophy. List of Courses Taught Depending upon the purpose of the portfolio, it is often good idea to include a complete list of courses taught by semester, including the number of students in each class. If the portfolio is being used as one piece of information in a job application, this material may be especially important. The hiring department wants to know exactly Begin collecting materials for your portfolio early in your career. 120 which courses were taught, when and where, and with what number of students in the class. Often this information is not clearly included in a curriculum vitae. Nonetheless, it might be crucial information for a hiring department. For teaching awards or promotion and tenure decisions, a clear record of the courses taught may be required as well. Student Evaluations and Comments Giving a committee all of the course evaluations you have received over a period of years is rather like sending the raw data you collected to a journal for review. No reviewer wants to read through all of your course evaluations - though they may ask for a random sample of complete evaluations from a small number of courses. Instead, you should summarize what you have learned about your teaching from your evaluations. Ask yourself which of the quantitative measures on the evaluation form best assess the claims you make about in your statement of teaching philosophy. If I have claimed that I excel at teaching critical thinking, there is likely a measure included on the evaluation form such as “My instructor stimulates my thinking.” Create a table that shows...