Two Books on Teaching Portfolios

BOOK ONE

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Murray, John P. (1997).  Successful Faculty Development and Evaluation:  The Complete Teaching Portfolio.  ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 8.  Washington, D.C.:  The George Washington University, Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

Myths About Teaching

1)       All that is required to be a good teacher is a thorough knowledge of the discipline .

2)       How to teach effectively cannot be taught; you either have it or you don’t.

3)       Effective teaching strategies are generic and cross all disciplines.

4)       Effective teaching can be measured with a generic set of criteria.  A corollary is that input from students is sufficient to assess the quality of teaching.

Purposes of Portfolios

a)       Documenting teaching excellence

b)       Empowering professors “to gain dominion over their professional lives”

c)       Helping institutions demonstrate that teaching is a priority

d)       Individualizing faculty development

Uses of Portfolios

a)       Receiving credit for effective teaching

b)      Improving teaching performance

c)       Receiving award or merit pay for outstanding teaching

d)       Obtaining a different position

e)       To encourage discussions about teaching with peers and mentors

f)         To encourage discussion about professional growth with colleagues, chairs, & deans

g)      To  encourage reflection about professional growth

h)       To facilitate tenure and promotion decisions (controversial)

What Goes Into a Teaching Portfolio?

First, decide how the portfolio will be organized.  Two possible ways:

I. Philosophy of teaching:  this type would contain

1)       statement of philosophical beliefs about teaching and learning

2)       evidence of how you put your beliefs into practice in and out of the classroom

3)       reflection on how behaviors are congruent with beliefs

4)       plan for altering behaviors found incongruent with philosophical beliefs

5)       strategy to assess the appropriateness and success of the new behaviors

II. Past & present/future: this type would contain:

1)       what you’ve been doing and what you’ve accomplished during the evaluation period

2)       plan outlining your goals and specific objectives during  the next evaluation period

3)       a more general plan for the long term

4)       a description of the kinds of support you’ll need to reach these goals

5)       describe the evidence that would indicate these goals have been reached

What’s Effective Evidence?

Most Effective:

·         syllabi

·         statement of teaching responsibilities (plus descriptions of how course was taught and why)

·         student ratings

·         descriptions of how and why you changed the class

Somewhat Effective:

Less Effective:

 Parts of a Typical Portfolio

1)       philosophy of education

2)       statement of teaching responsibilities

3)       general goals

4)       match between teaching strategies and both philosophy and general goals

5)       documentation of teaching effectiveness

6)       summary of outcomes from renewal plans of previous portfolios (if applicable)

7)       a renewal plan

Evaluating Teaching Portfolios:  Suggested Questions

1)       Is real evidence of accomplishment presented, or just reflective statements?

2)       Are the statements of what was done in the classroom and why consistent with the other evidence (e.g., syllabi, student or peer evaluations)?

3)       Is evidence of student learning presented?

4)       Is an effort to improve performance reflected in the evaluation reports?

5)       What is the quality of the teaching materials?

6)       What kinds of intellectual tasks are demanded of students?  How do students perform?

7)       How knowledgeable is he/she in the subjects taught?

8)       Are the responsibilties he/she has assumed consistent with the university’s teaching mission?

9)       To what extent does he/she strive for excellence?

Ways to Get Feedback From Students

Validity of Peer Observation

They say research suggests that peers can effectively rate:

1)       mastery of course content

2)       selection of course content

3)       course organization

4)       appropriateness of course objectives

5)       appropriateness of instructional materials

6)       appropriateness of evaluative devices

7)       appropriateness of methodology used to teach specific content areas

8)       commitment to teaching and concern for student learning

9)       student achievement, based on performance on exams and projects

10)   support of departmental instructional efforts

BOOK TWO

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Seldin, Peter (1997).  The teaching portfolio: A practical guide to improved performance and promotion/tenure decisions (2^nd Ed.).  Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.

Uses

What it’s NOT

An exhaustive compilation of all documents and materials that bear upon teaching performance.

What it IS

Appendices

Put your evidence in appendices and weave references/descriptions into the body of documents contained in unified essays.  Keep your appendices of manageable size by adhereing to two principles:  integrity and lucidity.  However, don’t let your appendices drive your portfolio:  i.e., don’t gather just the evidence you have at hand and create the portfolio around it.

Seven Steps to Creating a Teaching Portfolio

1)       Summarize teaching responsibilities:  courses taught, teaching related responsibilities (e.g., advising)

2)       Describe your approach to teaching: 2-3 page statement with teaching philosophy, strategies, methodologies, and objectives—i.e., why you do what you do in the classroom, with lots of detailed examples of classroom practices to show how you implement your claims.  A good place to show your knowledge of pedagogy and your discipline. 

3)       Select items for the portfolio

4)       Prepare statements on each item

5)       Arrange the items in order:  sequence of accomplishments in each area is determined by their intended use.

6)       Compile the supporting data:  even though not included in the portfolio, raw data and evidence that supports summaries should be readied in case it’s needed.

7)       Incorporate the portfolio into your vita:  make a separate version of your vita with a streamlined version of your teaching portfolio. 

The majority of the book is comprised of sample teaching portfolios from various disciplines.

© 1999-2001, CogSim