SELECTED LINKS | TEACHING PORTFOLIO
... providing faculty and teaching associates (TAs) with a practical and self-reflective guide to the development of a teaching portfolio
what | characteristics | functions | why | job app | content | getting started | references
WHAT IS A PORTFOLIO?
As an academic, there are different types of portfolios that you might prepare. These include the course portfolio, the professional (scholar) portfolio, and the teaching portfolio.
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.
Professional portfolio: a collection of documents
that you might submit 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.
Teaching portfolio: describes and documents multiple
aspects of your teaching ability. There are two basic types of portfolio.
A summative portfolio is created for the purpose of applying for an academic job or for promotion and tenure within a department.
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A formative portfolio is created for the purpose of personal and professional development.
Because your teaching experience changes as your career progresses, it is a good idea to periodically update your portfolio(s) in order to keep current with your progress, and to give yourself a regular opportunity to reflect on your teaching. At some point in your career, you may find that you need to keep a summative as well as a formative portfolio, since they serve different purposes; note, though, that those two portfolios may have several materials in common. The materials provided here focus on the teaching portfolio.
Some people describe a teaching portfolio as a place to
summarize your teaching accomplishments and provide examples of classroom
material. Others describe it as a mechanism and space for reflecting upon
your teaching. And for the rest of us, it can be described as a space
to do both.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE PORTFOLIO
The format of a portfolio varies considerably. An effective portfolio should be well documented and organized. The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) suggests that a teaching portfolio should be structured, representative, and selective.
Structured
A structured portfolio should be organized, complete, and
creative in its presentation. Some questions for you to think about might
be: Is my portfolio neat? Are the contents displayed in an organized fashion?
Are the contents representative for the purpose that it is intended?
Representative
In addition to attending to structure, a portfolio should
also be comprehensive. The documentation should represent the scope of
one's work. It should be representative across courses and time. Some
questions for you think about might be: Does my portfolio portray the
types and levels of courses that I have taught? Does my portfolio display
a cross-section of my work in teaching?
Selective
The natural tendency for anyone preparing a portfolio
is wanting to document everything. However, if a portfolio is being used
either for summative or formative purposes, careful attention should be
given to conciseness and selectivity in order to appropriately document
one's work. Peter Seldin (1997) suggests limiting the contents of a portfolio
to ten pages. We suggest that you limit the contents of your portfolio
to what is required by the reviewer while also keeping the purpose in
mind.
Key Functions of a teaching portfolio
- collect evidence of your teaching ability
- a context for your teaching
- summary data on your teaching in a simple, readable format
- focus on quality, not quantity
- organized and its various sections relate to each other
- an ever-changing, living document
- allows for self-reflection
- provides an opportunity to be unique & showcase your personal style of teaching
- the process of creating one is generally much more important and meaningful than the end product
Why create a portfolio?
The teaching portfolio can serve many purposes, some of which include:
- reflecting on your goals as a teacher
- assessing your teaching strengths & areas which need improvement
- reflecting on your goals as a teacher
- assessing your teaching strengths and areas which need improvement
- documenting your progress as a teacher
- generating ideas for future teaching/course development
- identifying your personal teaching style
- using elements of the portfolio to promote dialogue with fellow teachers
- considering new ways of gathering student feedback
- gathering detailed data to support your goals
- collecting multiple sources of evidence that document the implementation of your teaching goals and their success
One would use a portfolio during the academic job search, promotion
and tenure process, and for personal and professional development.
Portfolio in the job application process
There are several ways that you can use your portfolio in the job application process. For example, you could do one or two of the following:
- make it an appendix to your curriculum vitae
- provide a table of contents of portfolio materials, listing all as available on request,
- bring it to your job interview and refer to it as needed
- make it an additional item in your application materials, which is referred to
- elsewhere (e.g., in a 2-3 page required teaching experience
summary)
What is the content in a portfolio?
The portfolio describes and documents the abilities of a unique individual,
and therefore, no two teaching portfolios look alike. A portfolio can
include a number of different types of documents, and which you choose
to include will depend on the type of teaching you have done, your academic
discipline, the purpose for creating one, and the intended audience. For
a list of items that are appropriate for inclusion in the teaching portfolio,
go to Items that might be included in a teaching
portfolio.
In spite of the variation that exists across portfolios, here is a short
list of documents that often are part of one:
- statement of teaching philosophy
- description of teaching experience (responsibilities)
- course planning artifacts: sample course syllabi, lesson plans, assignments, exams
- evidence of teaching effectiveness: summary of student feedback, department evaluations
- teaching awards and recognition
- professional development efforts
A table of contents is an important tool in organizing the various sections of your portfolio. For examples of these, go to Examples of Table of Contents.
Some of the sections above, such as the statement on teaching philosophy, are strictly narrative (reflective). Other sections consist of a set of materials as well as a narrative or rationale that explains what they are. The narrative component should answer the following questions:
- Why did you include it in the portfolio?
- How did you use it in the classroom?
- How do you know that it was effective, i.e. that your students learned as a result?
- How has your teaching changed as a result?
- What have you learned about yourself as a teacher?
The portfolio is not, however, simply a binder with all of the teaching
documents inserted with random pages of reflection. “It includes
documents and materials which collectively suggest the scope and quality
of a professor’s teaching performance….The portfolio is not
an exhaustive compilation of all of the documents and materials that bear
on teaching performance. Instead, it presents selected information on
teaching activities and solid evidence of their effectiveness.”
(Seldin, 1997, p. 2)
How should you get started creating it?
The following is a list of some general strategies:
- Start as early as possible
- Plan well and systematically collect data
- Develop a good filing system
- Regularly sort through, organize, and update information
- Involve others as consultants and contributors
References
Edgerton, R., Hutchings, P., & Quinlan, K. (1991). The teaching
portfolio: Capturing the scholarship of teaching. Washington, DC:
American Association for Higher Education.
Kaplan, M. (1998). The teaching portfolio. CRLT Occasional Paper No.
11, 1-8.
Lang, J. & Bain, K. (1997). Recasting the teaching portfolio. The
Teaching Professor, 11(10), 1.
Seldin, P. (1997). The Teaching Portfolio (2nd ed.). Bolton,
MA: Anker Publishing, Inc.
Wiedmer, T. (1998). Portfolios: A means for documenting professional development. Journal of Staff, Program, & Organization Development, 16(1),
21-37.