READ | TEACHING @ | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING (SoTL)
Reflection | Scholarly Teaching | Mentoring | Literature | SoTL | Documentation
DOCUMENTING EFFORTS
Even if you never do a SoTL study, you are very likely to want to document your teaching practice and effectiveness. Such documentation can be useful as a tool for reflection and improvement, as support in a job search process, as evidence in tenure and promotion review, or in order to share your teaching practices with colleagues as part of your legacy.
The most common forms for this documentation include the course portfolio, the teaching portfolio, and the professional portfolio. A course portfolio includes information specific to a particular course. Such a portfolio would include syllabi, course materials, sample assignments, and an explanation for the rationale behind the assignments, and how your teaching methods and your course materials help students learn. The teaching portfolio describes and documents multiple aspects of your teaching ability, including but not limited to a single course. A professional portfolio is a collection of documents that you might submit as part of a job application or as you go through the promotion and tenure process. This type of portfolio would include all of your work as a scholar, including your research progress, your teaching experience and accomplishments, as well as your record of academic service. More information on teaching portfolios is available here.
Most university faculty members, even research extensive institutions such as Ohio State, spend a significant part of their working lives engaged in teaching and in supporting student learning. It only makes sense to seek to do this well. Regardless of what activities you choose to undertake in your professional development as a university teacher, the point is to try to continue to improve your teaching and your students' learning.
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