Teaching Portfolio

Attachment A

There are two important components to the teaching portfolio: (a) evidence of one’s teaching skill and (b) reflection upon that evidence. Common components in a teaching portfolio are:

• Philosophy of teaching.
• Teaching responsibilities, e.g., list of courses and information about those courses, selective syllabi. 
• Evaluation of instruction. 
• Activities to improve teaching effectiveness. 
• Analysis of and reflection upon specific components of teaching, e.g., organizing, summarizing, and evaluating the set of teaching evaluations.

Possible items for inclusion in the teaching portfolio are listed in the three areas below:

1. Products of good teaching

   1. Student scores on pre- and post-course examinations. 
   2. Student essays, fieldwork reports, laboratory workbooks, or logs. 
   3. Examples of graded student essays showing excellent, average, and poor work. 
   4. A record of students who succeed in advanced study in the field or are successful in the profession. 
   5. Testimonials from employers or students about the professor’s influence on career choice.

2. Material from oneself

   1. A reflective statement of the professor’s contribution to the teaching mission of the unit, institution, and/or discipline. 
   2. Representative course syllabi that detail course content and objectives, teaching methods, readings, homework assignments, and a reflective statement as to why the class was so constructed. This section will include any courses that have been developed by the candidate. 
   3. A personal statement by the professor describing teaching goals for the next five years. 
   4. Description of steps taken to improve teaching including changes resulting from self-evaluation, time spent reading journals on improving teaching, participating in seminars and workshops on sharpening instructional skills including the use of technology in teaching, and the incorporation of the concepts of service learning. 
   5. Summary of steps taken to identify students with special problems and to design teaching and assessment procedures, which facilitate their learning.

3. Material from others

   1. Student course and teaching evaluation data, which suggest improvements or produce an overall rating of effectiveness or satisfaction. 
   2. Statements from colleagues who have systematically reviewed the professor’s classroom materials, the course syllabi, assignments, testing and grading practices, and reading lists.
   3. Invitations to teach from outside agencies, present a paper at a conference on teaching one’s discipline or on teaching in general. 
   4. Statements from colleagues who have observed the professor in the classroom as members of a teaching team or independent observers. 
   5. Documentation of teaching/development activity through the Center for Teaching and Learning on campus. 
   6. Statements from colleagues at other institutions on such matters as how well students have been prepared for graduate studies.