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Professionalization

Developing a Teaching Portfolio

By Kristi Rudenga and Misbah Hyder


What is a teaching portfolio?

A teaching portfolio, sometimes called “evidence of teaching effectiveness,” is a compilation of various materials that reflect your teaching persona and teaching experiences. Of all the materials that you’ll be asked to submit in your academic job packet, the teaching portfolio will vary the most – both based on your own teaching experiences as well as what the institution is asking for.

Note: An institution might say “evidence of teaching effectiveness” and mean a variety of things (e.g. evaluations, sample syllabi or other course materials, etc.). The contents are not universally agreed upon, which means that your portfolio can include materials that are not listed here and you do not need to include all the materials listed; however, it is recommended that you include at minimum a teaching statement, sample syllabus, and student evaluations.

Recommended Components of a Teaching Portfolio

  • Table of Contents
  • Teaching Statement
  • List of courses taught, workshops, pedagogy trainings
  • Sample syllabi / course plans
  • Sample course materials (handouts, assessment guidelines, etc)
  • Student evaluations (or testimonials)


Why create a teaching portfolio?

Besides “because job search committees are asking for it,” you should create a teaching portfolio because it allows you to document and reflect on your teaching experiences. When teaching courses in the future, you have materials in one place to draw upon, and after several years of compiling this material, you can see how your approach has shifted over time. This narrative of your teaching will be helpful if you are ever up for tenure and promotion, or if you want to apply for another teaching position.


How to compile a teaching portfolio:

Your teaching portfolio is one document that has several components with a clear table of contents. One suggestion is to have a “master” portfolio with all the possible materials you have (especially if you have extensive teaching experience), and then you would compile shorter ones that only include relevant materials for jobs (e.g. if you are applying to disciplinary and interdisciplinary jobs, the syllabi you include might differ). Finally, keep your portfolios to 10-15 pages of material; do not overload your portfolios with too much. 

You can organize your portfolio in three possible ways:

  1. By course, which groups the syllabus, assignment, and evaluation based on the specific course you taught
  2. By type of material (this is especially useful if you are drawing from a variety of courses)
  3. By theme (this is useful if the job posting is asking for several areas of expertise that you’re seeking to highlight)

However you organize the information, a clear table of contents will allow the reader to jump to what they’re most interested in easily.

Tip: Annotate it! Guide the reader’s experience by framing, briefly describing, or clarifying your materials where needed/relevant.


Component #1: Student Evaluations

  • What should you include?
    • A reasonable sampling: 2-3 courses
      • Recent is better; variety if possible
  • How should you present them?
    • Provide data about course and sample
    • Can reformat for easier reading. If you do this, be sure to note that this is a full set of evaluations, reformatted for readability but not edited.
  • What if you don’t have formal student evaluations?
    • Solicit testimonials from those who have experienced your teaching.
      • Students 
      • Colleagues/faculty
    • Collect informal and/or early feedback from your students
    • Guest lecture in a class & give a 2-question survey at the end
    • Ask someone to observe your teaching & do a write-up
  • Awards & recognitions may also fit in this section


Component #2: Sample Syllabi and Course Plans

  • What are committees looking for?
    • Can you design courses?
    • Variety of courses (introductory and advanced); flexibility in teaching ability
  • What should you include in a syllabus?
    • Target audience, objectives, key questions, course format, texts, assignments, grading, and other policies
    • Focus on the overall design of the course, rather than on minutiae like page numbers for daily readings.
  • Can I just use my professor’s syllabus?
    • Please no! The ideal is to include a syllabus you’ve already used for a course you’ve designed. If you haven’t taught your own course, design one to reflect the way you would teach.
      • If possible, cater this to the needs of the job posting. 


Component #3: Sample Course Materials

  • Documents you created for teaching (handouts, guidelines, exercises, lesson plans, exam questions, feedback on student writing, etc.) that helped students learn
  • Keep structure clear and consistent
  • Does it make a statement about you as a teacher?
  • Annotate it – give some context at the top


Component #4: List of Courses Taught, Workshops, and Trainings

  • List of courses, other teaching, mentoring
    • Clarify your role: instructor of record? TA? Did you design the course?
  • Workshops, courses, certifications on pedagogy
  • Departmental training on pedagogy
  • “Miniature teaching CV”

Tip: keep this to 1 page

 

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