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Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching
and Learning
Teaching Portfolio Development
This practical guide is designed to assist in the development of teaching portfolios.
Over an academic career, instructors are asked to develop different types of portfolios,
including the course portfolio, the professional (scholarly) portfolio, and the teaching
portfolio.
Course portfolio: Includes information specific to a particular course, including
syllabi, course materials, and sample assignments, along with the rationale behind
assignments and a discussion regarding how teaching methods and course materials
help students learn.
Professional portfolio: Includes a collection of documents submitted as part of the
promotion and tenure process. This type of portfolio would include scholarly work and
research progress, teaching experience and accomplishments, and academic service
records.
Teaching portfolio: Describes and documents multiple aspects of teaching ability.
Teaching portfolios are prepared in one of two basic formats:
Summative portfolios are created for the purpose of applying for an academic
job or for promotion and tenure within a department.
Formative portfolios are created for the purpose of personal and professional
development.
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Because teaching experience changes as a career progresses, it’s a good idea to
periodically update portfolio(s) not only to ensure currency, but also to reflect
regularly on teaching. At some point in a career, instructors may find that they need to
keep a summative as well as a formative portfolio, because they serve different
purposes. However, note that summative and formative portfolios may share materials.
Some people describe a teaching portfolio as a place to summarize teaching
accomplishments and provide examples of classroom material; others describe it as a
mechanism and space for reflecting on teaching. The Drake Institute recommends a
portfolio as a space to do both.
Why create a portfolio?
To reflect on teaching goals
To assess teaching strengths and areas which need improvement
To document progress as a teacher
To generate ideas for future teaching/course development
To identify personal teaching style
To promote dialogue with fellow teachers
To consider new ways of gathering student feedback
To collect detailed data to support your goals
To curate multiple sources of evidence that document the implementation of
evidence-based instructional strategies and their effectiveness
To embark on the academic job search, to apply for promotion and tenure
process, and to develop personally and professionally.
Getting Started
Portfolio formats vary, but an effective portfolio should be well documented and highly
organized. The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) suggests that a
teaching portfolio should be the following:
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 your work. It should be representative across courses and time. Some questions for you to 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. We suggest that you limit the contents of your portfolio to what is required by the reviewer while also keeping the purpose in mind.
Content to Include
Because a portfolio describes and documents the abilities of a unique individual, no
two teaching portfolios look alike. A portfolio can include a number of different types
of documents, depending on the purpose for creating a portfolio, the type of teaching
done, the academic discipline, and the portfolio’s intended audience. In spite of the
variation that exists across portfolios, the following materials are often included:
Summary of Teaching Responsibilities
The description of teaching responsibilities is a relatively simple document to write first. Teaching duties listed on a curriculum vitae can serve as the outline. The summary of teaching provides an audience with the context for the rest of the items in the portfolio.
In a formative portfolio, this section can include as much information as desired. In a summative portfolio, the focus is on describing teaching experiences for others to decide on hiring or promotion. It is important to use
detailed descriptors. Keep in mind that “Teaching Assistant” and “Instructor” have different meanings in different departments or universities. TA’s can be true assistants, such as graders or recitation/laboratory instructors, or they may be independent instructors who have complete responsibility for a course. This section provides the opportunity for clarification and explanation.
Writing Tips
Describe teaching responsibilities with a sentence or two. Using this information, craft a narrative describing students, learning context, and instructional approach. Consider the following questions:
What is the description of the course?
What were the goals of the course?
Was it a general education requirement, or a majors-only course? Was it a two-quarter sequence?
How many students did you teach at a time? Were they undergraduate, graduate, or non-traditional students? Were they all majors in the discipline or did they have different majors? You might want to include their average GPA, attrition rates, etc.
What was your responsibility for that class? Did you lead a recitation section or a laboratory section, or did you have full responsibility for the class? Were you a grader?
What types of teaching methods and evidence-based strategies did you use?
Did you design the curriculum? If so, was it the entire curriculum or a part of it?
Did you create quizzes or exams, assignments, in-class activities, assessment tools?
Did you select audio or visual materials to be used in class? Did you design in-class demonstrations? Did you look for supplemental readings?
Did you hold office hours or review sessions? Did you tutor students one-on-one?
Did you advise students on term papers, projects, and group activities for class?
In addition to the above, consider adding a reflection. Consider the following questions:
How did this experience affect your development as a teacher? Did it provide you the opportunity to learn new skills? Why or why not?
What kinds of instructional techniques would you like to try in future courses, and why?
Instructors with extensive teaching experience may want to consider either only including courses from the previous five years or organizing this section around categories of similar courses (for example, if responsibilities, teaching methods, and the student populations for five courses were the same, write a brief course description for each and only one narrative about responsibilities). Note, however, that this section is intended to provide context — not only regarding students, but also teaching strategies. If courses were truly different, take the time to provide a description for each.
Examples
The following were written by winners of the Graduate Associate Teaching Award at Ohio State, and are examples of various formats you may choose to use.
Joshua Eckroth – Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Summary of Teaching Responsibilities Joshua Eckroth Graduate Teaching Associate Department of Computer Science and Engineering Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award
CSE 201: Elementary computer programming
I taught CSE 201 during Autumn 2008 and Winter 2011 quarters.
Course description
CSE 201 is typically a first programming course. Most of the students are not Computer Science & Engineering majors; rather, they often come from Mathematics Education, Business (Marketing, Information Systems, Accounting), Actuarial Science, Chemistry, Art, Music, etc. Additionally, most students do not expect to take another class focused on computer programming.
The goal of this course is to learn modern, though elementary, computer programming techniques. We teach with a popular, modern programming language and the same software tools that computer science professionals use daily. Unlike some introductory programming courses, this course does not use a “toy language” that is designed to enhance learning. Rather, students acquire practical knowledge and skills that may be called upon in their careers.
This is a dual lab and lecture course; one-third of the class time each week is spent in a computer lab. Students are generally expected to work independently, both during lab periods and outside of class. Each class typically contains 40 students.
My responsibilities
This course is taught by a group of GTAs. Weekly meetings among the GTAs and the course coordinator(s) help the GTAs learn how to effectively teach a course. Like the other teaching assistants, I was asked to present the same lecture notes (PowerPoint slides), required the students to complete the same homework assignments, and administered the same tests as the other sections of the course. Thus, I did not possess much freedom to alter these materials. However, I did write additional lecture notes and modified the PowerPoint slides in ways that I thought would benefit the students. Additionally, I used my judgment about how to present the material in lectures, and even included extra lectures about computer security and other topics.
I was responsible for grading homework and providing office hours; the group of GTAs shared grading responsibilities for exams. The group collaborated during our weekly meetings and learned from their experiences.
CSE 202: Introduction to programming and
algorithms for engineers and scientists
I taught CSE 202 during Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn 2010 quarters.
Course description
Like CSE 201, CSE 202 is typically a first programming course. Also like CSE 201, most of the students are not Computer Science & Engineering majors. However, the vast majority are Engineering majors of some variety: Electrical, Civil, Chemical, and Materials.
This course is essentially the “engineering” dual of CSE 201. The prerequisite is a first course in Calculus. The programming language that is taught is more geared towards engineers, but like CSE 201, the programming language is very popular and practical. I always held an expectation that students would be required to use their skills learned in CSE 202 at some point in their careers.
This is a dual lab and lecture course; one-third of the class time each week is spent in a computer lab. Students are generally expected to work independently, both during lab periods and outside of class. Each class typically contains 40 students.
My responsibilities
This course was the first that I entirely developed. I exercised the freedom given to me to rewrite the course lecture notes, create new assignments, and design the midterm and final exams.
My responsibilities also included lecturing, office hours, and grading. In short, I interacted with the students at every level, from the lecture notes (essentially replacing the textbook for most students) to the lectures and grading. I also worked with a fellow GTA who was teaching the same course during some of the same quarters. We attended UCAT meetings together, collaborated on course design, shared experiences, and even taught each other’s classes on two occasions.
CSE 230: Introduction to C++ programming
I taught CSE 230 during Spring, Summer, and Autumn 2011, and Winter 2012 quarters.
Course description
This course is oriented towards students who wish to learn more about programming than what was provided in CSE 201 or 202. This course is an elective for non-computer science engineering majors. Most students are Electrical Engineering majors.
As such, this course contains significantly more advanced topics than 201 or 202. Again, the course focuses on a practical, industry- standard programming language and programming methodologies. After completion of this course, students are presumed to be able to create meaningful applications that assist their work as engineers.
This course is not lab-based. Students are generally expected to work independently, outside of class. Each class typically contains 40 students.
My responsibilities
Like CSE 202, this is a course I developed. Using the prior GTA’s material as an initial guideline, I wrote entirely new and complete lecture notes, assignments, weekly quizzes, a final exam, and a host of online “mini-quizzes.” Additionally, each weekly quiz was accompanied by a sample that we reviewed in a class period before the day of the quiz. Each quarter this material evolved as the result of new ideas and feedback from students.
Also like CSE 202, I interacted with the students at every level. I wrote the material, lectured, provided office hours, and performed the grading.
Bora Bosna – Department of Mathematics
Summary of Teaching Responsibilities Bora Bosna Graduate Teaching Associate Department of Mathematics Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award
I have taught at OSU for 19 quarters (counting current quarter): 16 quarters as a TA in a lecture-recitation format, 2 days a week, 2 classes each of 30,3 quarters as the instructor of record, 5 days a week, one class of 30.
My responsibilities as a TA are:
(here MSLC is Mathematics and Statistics Learning Center)
grading weekly homework and quizzes, grading (parts of) midterms and final exams,
preparing weekly quizzes,
2 weekly classroom meetings of 48 minutes with each class of 30 (4 hours total a week),
3 office hours a week plus 1 by appointment, and 2 hours of tutoring service at MSLC,
corresponding with the lecturers, providing them feedback on how students are doing, where they are strong or lacking, discussing what would be appropriate to include on the exams, keeping track of grades.
My responsibilities as the instructor of record are:
meeting students 5 days a week for 48 minutes each (5 hours total a week),
preparing the syllabus, course calendar, grading scheme,
preparing midterms, final exams, weekly quizzes, homework assignments,
setting up the online homework system, synchronizing deadlines with the rest of the course,
grading quizzes, homework, exams, 4 office hours a week plus 1 by appointment,
no MSLC tutoring duty, although I volunteer during summer for shortage of staff by holding some of my office hours there.
Courses I taught as a TA are:
131 – Business Calculus I (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Spring 2007,
132 – Business Calculus II (Riemann Sums, Integration, Applications, Linear Algebra) in Autumn 2007 and Spring 2008,
151 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 1 (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Autumn 2006,
152 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 2 (Riemann Sums, Integration, Areas and Volume, Applications, Differential Equations) in Winter 2007, Winter 2008, Autumn 2008 and Winter 2009,
153 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 3 (Sequences and Infinite Series, Parametrized Curves, Lines and Planes) in Winter 2010and Winter 2012,
161 – Accelerated Calculus for Engineers (151 and 152 taught together in one quarter) in Autumn 2009,
254 – Multivariable Calculus (Limits and Partial Derivatives of Multivariable Functions, Applications, Line and Surface Integrals, Green’s Theorem, Stokes’ Theorem, Divergence Theorem) in Spring 2009 and Spring 2010,
255 – Ordinary Differential Equations (1st and 2nd Order Linear ODEs, Higher Order Linear ODEs, Power Series Solutions) in Autumn 2010,
415 – Partial Differential Equations with Boundary Value Problems (1st and 2nd Order Linear ODEs, Boundary Value Problems, Fourier Series, Heat and Wave PDEs, Linear Systems of ODEs) in Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Autumn 2011.
Courses I taught as the instructor of record are:
131 – Business Calculus I (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Summer 2009 and Summer 2011,
151 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 1 (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Summer 2008.
My total responsibility as a TA is 20 hours a week. Usually it goes over this with the office hours I have by appointment one-on-one with some students because there are too many separate appointments, and with time I spend preparing extra practice material for the students.
The MSLC offers free tutoring service to OSU students who are taking math or stats courses. They have rooms separated according to courses, and they use TutorTrac (same as SASSO) to keep track of the demand for each course, so they can assign an appropriate number of TAs for that room. Students can come, choose to do homework by themselves, or ask questions to tutors. My duty is to be there and answer students’ questions. On a busy day, it’s equivalent to or more than teaching recitation.
Monali Chowdhury – Department of Psychology
Summary of Teaching Responsibilities Monali Chowdhury Graduate Teaching Associate Department of Psychology Winner of the 2011 Graduate Associate Teaching Award
Graduate Teaching Associate
As a graduate teaching associate (GTA), I have taught ten sections of Psychology 100 spanning over Fall 2005 – Spring 2006, and again from Fall 2009 – present.
Course description: General Psychology 100 is a 5-credit hour introductory level course providing exposure to the broad field of psychology and several sub-areas in this field. Psychology 100 (Psych 100) is one of the most popular classes at OSU typically with 1500-2300 students enrolled per quarter, across 30 or more sections. Psych 100 is taught solely by GTAs (with an occasional
doctorate lecturer) under the supervision of Faculty Director, Dr. Melissa Beers. For consistency, the textbook, assigned readings, midterm and final exams, grading, and course policies are standardized across all sections.
Class composition: Psych 100 fulfills, in part, the requirements of the Social Diversity and Social Science components of the University’s General Education Curriculum (GEC), and is a prerequisite for advanced coursework in psychology. This attracts a vast majority of freshmen to enroll who are mostly non-psychology majors and whose academic backgrounds run the gamut from pre-med/pre- nursing and engineering to fashion and retail studies. Classes also comprise upperclassmen, several international and some non- traditional students. Section sizes are typically large with as many as 80-120 students, but average around 55-60 students per section.
Course goals: Psychology 100 aims to help students gain knowledge on several psychological concepts, become familiar with the theories and methods of scientific inquiry as applied to the study of human behavior, thought, and emotion, acquire critical thinking approaches to information, and develop awareness and appreciation of the social diversity found in the pluralistic nature of our culture.
Summary of my teaching responsibilities and role as a Psych 100 GTA
Syllabus preparation: Create a personal syllabus outlining my learning objectives for students, quiz dates and format, extra credit assignments, and other personal class policies
Lesson plans: Create organized guided notes and PowerPoint lectures on 16 chapters; I caught a serious factual error in our current Psych 100 textbook while preparing my lectures. This prompted me to write a letter to the authors pointing out the error and providing evidence for my argument. Henceforth, the authors have corrected this error and the publishers have courteously included me in the Acknowledgements section of the new edition.
Learning environment: Create a stimulating learning environment by using visual aids, class activities, and discussion
Student rapport: Create a safe and personable class atmosphere, by building student rapport, where students feel involved and comfortable to participate
Quiz construction and grading: Create new application- based quiz questions for three quizzes
Review session: Create a new set of practice questions for exam review sessions; hold three exam review sessions every quarter
Exams: Administer and proctor exams in my own and an additional section; grade exams
Carmen course website: Maintain and update Carmen with grades, guided notes, relevant course information, and reminders of upcoming events such as quizzes, extra credit assignment deadline etc.
Regular contact with students: Being available to help students during regular office hours, by appointment, and via e-mail
Mentoring: Mentor undergraduate course assistants, who are matched with GTAs, by providing feedback on short presentations they make in my classes or practice questions that they write
Substitute TA: Be available to cover for other TAs in event of sickness/unavailability; I enjoy interacting with students from other sections and have taught as a substitute TA on multiple occasions.
Textbook review: Carefully review and provide constructive feedback on textbooks being considered by the Psych 100 program for adoption in Fall 2011
Program meetings: I have been actively involved in exam strategic planning meetings to enhance the standardized exam construction process.
Psychology 852 (Practicum on the Teaching of Psychology): I have been invited to visit the psychology teaching practicum classes on several occasions where I engaged in peer mentoring on topics such as first day teaching experiences, classroom management, class activities etc. I also provide mentoring when new TAs from
Psych 852 sit in on my classes to pick up “tricks of the trade.”
Summer 2010 pilot of E-Book: I collaborated with Dr. Beers in a pilot study conducted by the Psych 100 program exploring the use of electronic textbooks. My section was chosen to receive quarterlong free access to the e-textbook. I gathered, via multiple in-class surveys, feedback on student attitudes towards the use of e-text. We conducted quantitative analysis on the survey data, assessed the impact of this section-wide free availability of e-text on student learning, and presented the findings at a recent teaching conference, where journal editors expressed interest in publishing this pilot study.
Leadership Roles
Exam Committee Chair
Every quarter, groups of four to six TAs form Exam Committees that work as a team to prepare the standardized midterms and final exam. I have frequently served as the Chair of Exam Committees with the following roles in this capacity:
Take the lead on preparing a balanced, GEC-relevant exam by choosing appropriate questions from an existing question bank, and being accountable for exam quality and security
Delegate responsibilities to other exam committee members that include writing new exam questions, preparing exam key, copying over 800 exams etc.
Lead the Exam Committee meeting to select the final mix of questions to appear on the exam
Identify the topics missed by most students course-wide based on item analysis results
On other occasions, as an Exam Committee member, I have contributed to the exam construction process by creating new applied questions and participating in other exam tasks.
Assessment Committee Chair
As mentioned before, Psych 100 fulfills the University’s GEC requirements. Every year, the Psych 100 Assessment Committee (typically six to eight TAs) evaluates student understanding of GEC objectives by assessing performance on (1) GEC-relevant items in exams (embedded testing), and/or (2) reflection papers that students write on GEC-relevant topics covered throughout the quarter.
I have been assigned the important position of Chair of the Assessment Committee and have the following responsibilities in this capacity:
Allocate GEC reflection paper prompts to over 30 TAs teaching Psych 100
Oversee course-wide collection of reflection papers from students
Grade and delegate grading of reflection papers to other members of the Assessment Committee
Summarize and analyze quantitative data (from reflection paper grades) that reflect how well students are grasping the GEC learning objectives that Psych 100 aims to meet
This past Fall, I took the lead on fine-tuning the rubric used to grade GEC reflection papers, and modifying the reflection paper prompts to better portray the GEC objectives of the University.
Extracurricular Teaching Activities
In addition to my teaching responsibilities as a GTA, I have sought out other opportunities for professional growth. These include:
Facilitator at UCAT Teaching Orientation: In Fall 2010, I was chosen as one of the facilitators at the UCAT university-wide teaching orientation where I co-facilitated a session on “Introduction to Teaching and Learning” for Independent Courses, and also served as a panelist in two sessions of “International Teachers: Experienced International TAs Share Their Experience.”
Experienced International TA speaker: I shared my perspectives as an international TA with students in two
sections of the Spoken English Program’s Ed T&L 505 class in Fall 2010.
Workshop participation: I continuously try to keep myself informed of teaching approaches of prominent authors in Psychology and current pedagogical advancements by active involvement in workshops. Noted among these are talks by textbook authors Douglas Bernstein and Steven Lynn, David Myers’s virtual seminar on “Practical Strategies for Effective Teaching of Psychology,” and the Ohio Digital Bookshelf Conference on digitization of psychology textbooks to make course materials more affordable for students.
Philosophy of Teaching Statement
The process of identifying a personal philosophy of teaching and continuously examining, articulating, verifying, and refining this philosophy through teaching can lead to change of teaching behaviors and, ultimately, foster professional and personal growth.
A philosophy of teaching statement is a narrative that includes:
a personal vision for teaching and learning
a description of teaching strategies or approaches implemented
justification for those strategies, focusing on evidence-based practice
An effective teaching philosophy demonstrates that an instructor is reflective and purposeful about teaching, communicates instructional goals and corresponding actions in the classroom, and points to and weaves together themes, materials, and activities outlined in the other sections of the portfolio.
General Formatting Suggestions
There is no right or wrong way to write a philosophy statement, which is why it is so challenging for most people to write one.
A teaching philosophy is generally 1–2 pages, double-spaced, in length. For some purposes, an extended description is appropriate, but length should be determined by content and context.
Use present tense, in most cases. Writing in first-person is most common.
Most statements avoid technical terms and favor language and concepts that can be broadly appreciated. A general rule is that the statement should be written with the audience in mind. It may be helpful to have a disciplinary peer review the statement to provide guidance on any discipline-specific jargon and issues to include or exclude.
Describe in detail teaching strategies and methods. It is not possible in many cases for a reader to observe instruction. By including very specific examples of teaching strategies, assignments, discussions, etc., the reader can visualize the learning context described and the exchanges between instructor and students.
Make the statement memorable and unique. If the document is submitted as part of a job application, readers on the search committee are reviewing many statements. What sets this one apart? Often that is the extent to which it creates a vivid portrait of a person who is intentional about teaching practices and committed to their career.
“Own” your philosophy. The use of declarative statements (such as, “students don’t learn through lecture,” or “the only way to teach is to use class discussion”) could be detrimental if reviewed by a search committee. Write about individual experiences and beliefs or focus on research that informs the teaching practice described to appear open to new and different ideas about teaching. Instructors often make choices as to the best teaching methods for different courses and content: sometimes lecture is most appropriate; other times service-learning or active learning are most effective, for example.
Examples
The following samples are written by winners of the Graduate Associate Teaching Award at Ohio State, and are examples of various formats you may choose to use.
Tim Jenson - Department of English
Philosophy of Teaching Statement Tim Jensen Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of English Winner of the 2010 Graduate Associate Teaching Award
As an instructor of rhetoric and composition
courses, my aim is to motivate students to
begin a personal exploration toward effective,
ethical communication. This can only happen if
they feel genuinely inspired by the
improvement made within the short period of a
quarter and confident in their ability to learn
more—if they feel, in a word, empowered. To
these ends, I practice and continually refine
pedagogical strategies that reveal how power,
knowledge, and discourse are inextricably
woven together with the arts of persuasion,
more formally known as rhetoric.
I anchor my pedagogy in three interrelated
principles, outlined below around Latin
maxims. These dictums are not mere flourishes;
were you to take my class, you would hear
them repeated regularly. Forming the
foundation for specific teaching strategies and
the constant evaluation of those methods,
these principles never allow me to forget that
the best teacher is one who adopts the
perspective of a perpetual learner. To lead by
example, then, I am always seeking to further
my own skills in listening, collaboration, and
application of knowledge to everyday practices.
Audi Alteram Partem
Like the development of any other skill, critical thinking requires practice, whereby repetitious acts form patterns that become easier to perform, eventually becoming natural, almost instinctual. I employ the strategy of audi alteram partem— translated as “hear the other
side”—to cultivate this habit of critical inquiry and analytical thinking. For example, instead of qualifying and modifying a student’s comment in class discussion, I will simply respond with the phrase, often kick-starting a fast and loose version of the dialectical process: one student’s comment (thesis) is followed by a counter-perspective (antithesis), resulting in a new claim (synthesis) for the class to think about. Students soon see the pattern develop and try and beat the game, so to speak, by providing a counter-argument alongside their initial comment (“I know you’re probably gonna say that…”). As a methodology, audi alteram partem encourages the exploration of claims and their structures of reasoning and evidence, all in an organic, conversational manner. The positive effects of this strategy are consistently visible in students’ analytical essays, where evidence shows them grappling with arguments from a variety of perspectives. My larger goal, though, is to foster the natural trajectory of this thought pattern so that students go beyond small claims to examine larger cultural mores. One recent student email demonstrates this move: “Did you know that in China some pay their doctors only while they stay healthy?! Holy Audi Alteram Partem! Docs only get rich by keeping people from getting sick – we should drop that into health care reform!”
Although it is rewarding to see class conversations quickly gain momentum and capture student interest, my use of audi alteram partem is primarily driven by a belief in the pedagogical principle of critical listening, by which we develop more quickly intellectually and socially by listening to multiple perspectives and logics. In short, I teach rhetoric—the art of persuasion—by teaching the art of listening. Because I am here to learn, too, I practice critical listening by soliciting informal feedback from students through brief emails that simply “touch-base,” scheduling multiple one-on-one conferences, and keeping an “open-door” policy, where I promise to meet with a student at their convenience, in terms of time and location, to the best of my ability. To be an effective instructor, I must listen attentively to students in order to discover their unique learning styles and the particular motivations guiding their education.
Docendo Discimus
To cultivate a thriving atmosphere for critical listening and intellectual exploration, all of my courses place great emphasis on the pedagogical principle of docendo discimus—the idea that “we learn
from teaching.” To draw on the diversity of insights and experiences of students, it is my responsibility to create an environment where we can all teach each other. My strategies for doing so have taken several years to develop (and are still evolving), perhaps because they are counter-intuitive at first glance: to animate the self- discovered, self-appropriated learning that can truly influence individual behavior, I emphasize the class as community; to generate a respectful, supportive, and enthusiastic atmosphere, I disperse authority rather than consolidate it. This means, of course, that participants must leave behind the passive role of “student” and adopt a more active orientation that highlights responsibility and accountability. Enacting this principle is more challenging than retaining the traditional roles of student/teacher, but I have found that the results are always worth it.
For example, I recently asked those in my section of ENG 276 (Introduction to Rhetoric) if they would like to include a peer- evaluation component in their first project, and the majority voted in its favor. From there we radically democratized the entire process: in one class session we surveyed sample assignments using a variety of rubrics, exploring the value of different terminologies and evaluative frameworks. Then, with the help of a detailed online survey I designed, they submitted responses on those elements they found most productive, why so, and how they would like to see the peer evaluation integrated. (This particular group chose to have five individual peer reviews be averaged together in determining 20% of their final grade using a holistic, comment-heavy rubric.) Docendo
discismus in action, then, looks like this: students actively, voluntarily choose to become teachers, explore options as a community, and democratically determine the language and structure of their own learning process. This is just one example among many energizing, ever-evolving attempts to empower students by encouraging them to perceive themselves as valuable teachers. There are smaller instances, such as calling for volunteers to lead discussion, and more involved cases, like having former students visit a current class to talk about how they succeeded at a particular project—without me in the
room to moderate or influence. Though it may seem paradoxical, I have discovered through trial and error that the best way for students to cultivate a sense of ownership in their education is through the radical sharing of knowledge.
Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus
At the core of my pedagogical philosophy is the principle, “we learn
not for school, but for life.” To awaken students to the persuasive forces at work on their attitudes and behaviors is to awaken them to their responsibilities as citizens, friends, family members, and principled human beings. The experience of working with several hundred students, however, has significantly altered my approach to communicating the value and importance of a heightened rhetorical consciousness.
Over the past three and a half years, I have moved away from a top- down method of inculcation, where I repeatedly, explicitly declare the importance of rhetorical education, to a bottom-up, micro approach. Using this strategy I focus on seemingly banal, everyday occurrences in a casual tone and exploratory atmosphere. For instance, I will often use the first few minutes of class to nonchalantly describe a random encounter which brought to mind a previous class discussion or reading, encouraging others to help me pull it apart and think through it. It only takes a few class sessions before students seek to supplant my examples with their own, which I encourage. The conversations that follow, which often have that infectious tenor of “class hasn’t really started yet,” are as light-hearted as they are incisive. Only after allowing this to continue for several weeks will I begin to explicitly drive home the importance of sensitizing ourselves and others to surrounding rhetorical forces. Consistently evaluating my teaching methods has led me to this approach, which I find favorable for a variety of reasons: it creates a database of examples I can use to ground theoretical principles using familiar contexts; it tacitly encourages students to look to their own lives for examples of rhetoric; and it carves out a space where students have the opportunity to learn within a context framed by their own concrete experiences.
I have discovered that the most effective route for making my courses valuable and practical to everyday experience is my communication with students throughout the composition process.
Because of the importance of feedback, I have selected a representative example for the instructional materials section, where I elaborate my approach to positive, practical feedback.
In outlining the pedagogical principles that guide my teaching style and strategies, I aim to show how these maxims constitute a powerful frame for viewing the world. I teach by these principles because of my ardent conviction that they provide a path for bettering oneself and one’s community.
Glene Mynhardt - Department of Biology
Philosophy of Teaching Statement Glené Mynhardt Graduate Teaching Associate Department of Biology Winner of the 2010 Graduate Associate Teaching Award
I spent the first thirteen years of my life in South Africa. Growing up in one of the most beautiful and species diverse countries stimulated a natural desire for me to want to study biology. When my family moved to the States, I remember having to make several cultural adjustments. Many were changes on a personal level, but becoming familiar with new ways of learning was especially challenging. High school was relatively easy for me, but being a college student required much more effort. Despite a strong desire to learn, and a passion for biology, the typical lecture setting at the very populous institutions where I gained most of my educational experiences was not ideal. During my sophomore year in college I sought something outside of coursework to test whether I was really cut out for biology. I began volunteering as an undergraduate research assistant in an insect systematics laboratory, and began sorting through large jars of insects that were stored in ethanol. The amazing diversity of insects found in one jar was so fascinating that I would spend around eight hours sorting through these samples. My time in the lab allowed me to get involved in field work, learn different sampling techniques, and become familiar with how data were processed. I finally got to experience the dynamic, fun nature of science! Learning had become so much more, because science wasn’t just an isolated
subject in a textbook – it meant using real processes to study real phenomena.
I have established two primary philosophies as
a teacher: to get students to think about
science as a process, and to individualize their
learning experiences, the former of which I
learned as a student myself, and the latter of
which became evident as an effective teaching
strategy.
Progressing through graduate school allowed me to define learning as a personal process of growth. Being able to ask questions and actually attempt to answer those questions was extremely motivating. The same ideas flowed into my classrooms, where I urge my students to think about very basic questions they have, and to begin questioning all those “facts” in the textbook. It was only after I had begun teaching at The Ohio State University that I became acutely aware of my initial failures as an undergraduate student. I realized the interactive, intellectually stimulating classroom environment was lacking in most of the courses I took. I learned about my own potential, but only after I had already experienced years of education! Because of this, I have made an effort to be not only a mentor, but a teacher in learning, by providing my students with opportunities to learn in ways they are most likely to benefit from. Since the first moments as a teacher, I realized how precious the time was with my students, and how I wished to help them find their love for biology, just as I did, by being involved and invested in more hands-on methods of learning. Just like me, most of my students already know that they like biology, but I want them to begin understanding the process of scientific thinking rather than learning definitions without context to real data. In order to achieve this, I continually aim to involve students by using a variety of methods in all of the classes I teach.
Involving and motivating students presents its challenges, but my goal of individualizing learning creates an open and comfortable classroom environment where students can feel free to ask questions, make mistakes, and challenge themselves. It is by breaking down the barriers to learning that students can face their
own misconceptions. My background as a struggling undergraduate has given me a great measure of sensitivity to each student’s learning process. I firmly believe that students enter the classroom with expectations to learn and advance their knowledge, which I assessed in my own classroom one term by asking two of my 30- student honors labs to write down their personal definition of “learning.” I was not surprised to see that all of them carried the same underlying message, that learning is the process of gaining new
knowledge or perspectives that change the way we think about the
world. In order to keep students motivated, I have found that it becomes imperative to be a creative teacher, by utilizing various active learning methods like group discussions, peer teaching or presentations, and “muddy points” cards, the latter of which allows students to write down what they think they don’t clearly understand. Students rarely admit that they don’t know anything, so using methods that allow them to bring their misconceptions or misunderstandings to light provides an opportunity for me to determine whether my teaching is effective. Another tool that I find equally effective in the classroom is to establish rapport with my students by making it a point to get to know my students, not just by name, but by asking them to think about their personal goals as potential future scientists. I also ask them to rate biology on a scale from one to ten to gauge the level of enthusiasm and perception students have for science. Based on this information, I am able to get to know my students and approach them in different ways to personalize their learning. This is reflected positively in my evaluations, where students always feel that they can approach me, ask questions, or even challenge their own thinking. In addition, several of my previous students loved my biology courses so much that they now teach as undergraduate teaching assistants, and several have pursued graduate school to further explore their interests.
Getting students involved in learning often means being inventive with one’s teaching methods and has encouraged me to use various active learning techniques in the classroom, and presents another way to individualize my students’ learning experiences. Each class session includes the presentation of a basic concept, a real example of why the topic is relevant, and some challenging questions about how the topic applies to students’ lives. If students are learning about the structure and relative location of arteries and veins, I usually ask
them why western societies wear wedding bands on the left ring finger. They are amazed to learn that some societies do so because the aorta branches directly to the left arm, which directly connects the left ring finger to the heart. They are able to make connections between structure and function, and make ties between science and culture. I have found that when students are presented with these linkages between science and “real life” they are able to question their personal beliefs in a scientific context. In other words, students are thinking like scientists and are being engaged on a personal level. In the example of the ring finger they are also able to think about anatomy and function as the underlying process, rather than memorizing the end-products of science. My goal is to have students leave the classroom with an attitude of inquiry, something I think is necessary to be a good scientist and a good citizen. Encouraging students to question what they know results in fruitful and revealing classroom discussions and has allowed me to identify common misconceptions. For example, most students know about the process of electron transport within the energy-providing mitochondria in a cell. I ask students to think about bacteria, which do not have mitochondria. How do bacterial cells achieve this process without mitochondria? By deconstructing larger concepts into smaller pieces, students become really successful in understanding how universal or unique biological “facts” are in different systems. Given my background as a struggling undergraduate, the way I teach has made me a more successful teacher, because I finally understand what it means to learn meaningfully.
The personal journey that I have taken as a teacher has extended beyond the classroom, into areas that I never imagined. I have had humbling opportunities to help other TAs with their teaching, which has been remarkably insightful and informative. My roles as a teaching fellow, orientation facilitator for the University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT), and as graduate UCAT consultant, have brought teaching to the forefront of my graduate career. The same qualities, which are meaningful to me as a teacher – making the classroom process-driven and individualized – are echoed in my role as a mentor to other teachers. The classroom is a dynamic space, where each teacher can do the things he or she wishes to do. It is the place where another undergraduate student can struggle, fail, and learn how to excel. It is the place where I started as a student, the place that could have taught me so much more than
what I learned. Years after struggling as that student, I am a teacher, a mentor, and a researcher, but only because I found something meaningful that taught me something about biology and science. That is what I aim to create for my students.
James Collier - Department of Communication
Philosophy of Teaching Statement James Collier Graduate Teaching Associate Department of Communication Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award
More than anything, I want students to
recognize my genuine passion for teaching and
interest in them as individuals. I want my
classes to be challenging but fair, valuable
beyond their time at Ohio State, and fun. I am
obligated to provide a high quality experience,
and strive to be the teacher I want as a student.
To accomplish this, I integrate things I have
learned in my own classes, student evaluations
and a variety of studies and books I have read
about teaching on the university level.
First and foremost, I want to challenge students and push them out of their comfort zone. I tell them the first day: if school is not challenging, their investment of time and money is trivialized, to the detriment of their value to prospective employers. Being demanding yet fair is by far my most difficult task. There are always gifted, self- motivated students who will rise to any challenge I offer. What about those less driven, or less able? It says little of me if I set the bar high and then watch dispassionately as students sink or swim. That is not how I work. I implore them to make a consistent effort, with the promise I will provide support for anyone who demonstrates as much. Many of my students struggle early. I reassure them as a class,
and privately: ‘Don’t panic, don’t quit; as we progress through the quarter, this will become more and more normal.’ This reassurance does not work like magic, but eventually it does take hold. My rules are simple: Don’t panic, don’t quit, come talk to me. I always find a way to reward effort. This includes extra credit opportunities, but never ‘free of charge.’ I trade points for knowledge. On my Carmen site, I post an entire section of additional readings of interest. Students know up front that at the end of the quarter, they can do additional reading and take a quiz. I credit any points they earn toward prior quiz grades, allowing them to make amends for earlier disappointments. Ultimately, most students trust me and buy into the system. My grades are relatively high; not because I give students anything. The grades are earned. In addition to challenging, I want my class to be interesting and fun.
My methodology entails heavy reading (approximately 100 pages per class period) and abbreviated lectures (approximately 30 minutes). Research demonstrates that reading improves vocabulary and language use, which improves writing skills – all of which improve public speaking skills. All are premium job skills. I adopted shorter lectures based on student feedback. Students find interaction and discussion more interesting. To ensure that students read with a sense of purpose, every class begins with a brief quiz. We review the answers in class, and as we do, I expand on the content and add detail by referencing other sources. This tends to spur interest and further discussion as we walk through the quiz. In addition, I allow students to ‘negotiate’ with me. In other words, I allow them to ask if what they put is sufficiently accurate. Sometimes I say no, sometimes I give half credit, and sometimes what they write is not at all what I was looking for, but I am so impressed with the level of detail they absorbed, I give them full credit. This is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the class because, while the heavy reading and daily quizzes can seem daunting, students quickly realize that they are empowered to make their case and earn credit. This is my way of acknowledging that creating each quiz is not an exact science, nor are the items I select the definitive aspects of the reading. The give- and-take of these exchanges inevitably leads to laughter, inside jokes related to prior quizzes, and mutual respect between us. The level of enjoyment these ‘negotiations’ generate is most notable at the end of the quarter when I offer the extra credit quizzes in my office. Students arrive sporadically over the course of two hours, take the
quiz and leave due to time constraints. Almost all of them say something to the effect of ‘this is not as much fun without the negotiations; I miss that.’ To hear this is priceless because many of these students struggled a bit throughout the quarter, and to hear them lament the fun being over is truly amazing. In addition to being interesting and fun, I want to be organized and responsive. This manifests itself in three ways: 1) daily game plans; 2) e-mail response and personal meetings; and 3) immediate grading.
During the last 5 minutes of each class, I review the up-coming readings. I tell them why we are covering this material and how it connects to prior readings and our larger plan moving forward. I provide a general guideline to what they should focus on, and what they can gloss over. By articulating these connections, I help them organize their thoughts and synthesize the readings. It also alleviates the sensation of being pounded by wave after wave of readings. As mentioned earlier, I know that a certain portion of the class will struggle early on. I allow for time to meet with students after class, am very diligent about responding to e-mails quickly, and devote 4 office hours per week for personal consultations. Students always know that I am there for them. Without question, the organizational aspect that students most appreciate is my quick and detailed grading. Quiz grades are posted by late afternoon. Rather than extensive papers at mid-term and final, students write 5 papers between 600-700 words in length at a time of their choosing – giving them freedom to manage their time. I grade and return these papers with detailed comments the same night they are submitted. To earn their participation points, they post 10 opinion paragraphs between 200-230 words in length on our Carmen discussion forum. I read and post these grades the same night. The final component of the class entails a group presentation where each student presents a media sample related to the current content and poses discussion questions to their classmates. These grades are also posted immediately, along with my comments. All told, students know their grade in real-time, where they stand, and why. This is a show of respect and organization they really appreciate.
Self-improvement
I have done many things to further my development. Last fall, I shadowed one of our full professors for an entire quarter, and wrote a 1500 word essay about my observations for class credit. I wanted
to pursue the teaching specialization minor but realized I could not fit the class requirements into my other class and teaching schedule, as well as pursue all my research projects. Nonetheless I learned a lot by watching a seasoned veteran for ten weeks. Last October, I conducted a two hour workshop for new graduate students who were scheduled to begin teaching later in the year. This was mutually beneficial because the preparation and subsequent discussion forced me to reflect on my own teaching, triggering new ideas. Upon request, I have served as a guest lecturer in six undergraduate Comm classes. I was also invited to give a two hour lecture on the political history of the Middle East and Central Asia for graduating Air Force ROTC cadets. This opportunity came because a former student recommended me to his superiors. I am currently writing and producing a series of television shows with a group of students majoring in television production. I work directly with their advisors to ensure the project warrants class credit. I am also helping a former student on his undergraduate thesis project. He has enlisted my help in acquiring sources, and also for editing the paper. I also make an effort to read books and studies that examine teaching on the university level. These include Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa; one study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and one by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. All told, my passion for teaching leads to opportunities to teach more, which enhances my skills and creates further opportunities. I am never ‘good enough’ and am always seeking opportunities to hone my skills and contribute to others, including fellow graduate students.
Rationale for Course Materials
Course materials are powerful indicators of an instructor’s approach to teaching and learning. They are important in supporting in-class experiences, as well as experiences outside the classroom. Materials included are those that have been used well in courses and are in line with the philosophy of teaching.
Sample Course Materials
course syllabi
course handouts
course packets
course lesson plans
class participation guidelines
midcourse feedback instruments
tests/quizzes
assignments
grading rubrics/ feedback on student work
journal prompts
problem sets
reading lists/reading prompts
tutorials
transparencies/slides
software
For many, a course syllabus (or syllabi) is the first logical item to include in this section. Depending on the kind of review, several examples might be needed. Unless instructed to do otherwise, it’s best to include a representative set of current course syllabi. A graduate student preparing a portfolio for a search committee, may not have developed their own syllabi but might construct one for this purpose, noting the exercise. Whether including actual or planned syllabi, a rationale might focus on value of this particular course organization or structure.
If the teaching philosophy states that active learning is important in teaching and learning, then course materials that best illustrate active learning should be included. This could be a handout on guidelines for class participation, or ground rules for discussion. A rationale statement that provides the context for their use will assist a reviewer in evaluation of the materials.
Writing the Rationale
A rationale should be written for each item included in your portfolio. Rationales should be short statements (usually one paragraph) that explain why the example of a course handout, test, guide, or other material was used. Each rationale should meet the following criteria:
it describes the audience for the material
it explains why the material was used
it relates how the material was used
it discusses the observed effects (e.g., how the material helped students learn)
Examples
The following samples, written by winners of the Graduate Associate Teaching Award at Ohio State, present rationales for a variety of course materials.
Course Lesson Plan: James Collier – Department of
Communications
Course Syllabus: Spencer Robinson – Department of Slavic and
East European Languages
Test: Bora Bosna – Department of Mathematics
Assignment: Kristin Edwards Supe – Department of Psychology
Documenting Teaching Effectiveness
Documenting teaching effectiveness often includes the use of student evaluations. But strong documentation should also include feedback from peers, advisors, consultants, and other constituents. Most important is to not just to show a potential employer how good student evaluations, but to demonstrate how feedback from a variety of sources is used in development as a teacher.
Evidence from Students
Students are the most obvious source of feedback on instruction. Research has shown students provide valuable information about teaching if questions are structured in a useful way. For Ohio State's policy on evaluation of instruction, review the Office of Academic Affairs Handbook.
Typically, a portfolio will have a separate section dedicated to discussing student feedback. There are three main elements of this section: numeric (quantitative) evaluations, discursive (qualitative) evaluations, and reflection about and interpretation of the evaluations themselves.
Types of Student Feedback
There are many ways to assess teaching; using an end-of-term survey is the most popular (and mandatory for most instructors at Ohio State). End-of- term surveys provide instructors with valuable information to help shape the course and teaching strategies for future course offerings. But how can an instructor collect data that could potentially help enhance the course for the current students?
Here are a few end-of-term and mid-term student feedback tools or approaches.
END-OF-TERM FEEDBACK
Student evaluation of instruction (numerical/quantitative ratings): SEI (Student Evaluation of Instruction) forms are typically filled out at the end of the term. Students are asked to assign a numerical value to various aspects of the course and the instructor, on a scale of 1 (poor) – 5 (excellent). Ohio State instructors can download their cumulative SEIs at BuckeyeLink. (Log in and select the link to SEI Info and choose “Generate New SEI Cumulative Report.”) Individual departments may have their own unique surveys for instructors to use in addition to or in place of the SEI.
Discursive student evaluations (qualitative): Often conducted in conjunction with SEIs, discursive student evaluations are written comments that the students offer in addition to the numerical ratings. These allow the students to add more information about issues evaluated on SEIs and to address issues that do not appear on the SEI forms. For example, students might be asked what about the course or instructor helped them (or didn’t help them) learn; their most (or least) favorite part of the course; how valuable certain assignments were; what they thought about the readings, etc. Some departmental forms use a similar system for collecting open-ended feedback. Discursive feedback does not go to the Registrar’s office, but instead will either go to the department (and may be typed up for an instructor in some cases) or will be returned directly to you as raw data.
EARLY-TERM FEEDBACK
Early-term feedback (ETF) is a formative assessment tool — in essence, a three-question survey — that allows an instructor to engage students, address relevant questions or concerns, and make immediate changes.
ETF can provide information about student perceptions of workload, their understanding of course objectives, their ability to engage with educational technology or resources, or their reception of new instructional approaches.
ETF is usually done between weeks 3 and 5 of a semester. Instructors give students 10 minutes to answer up to three open-ended questions like the following:
What features of this course contribute most to your learning?
What changes would enhance your learning or clarify confusion?
What can you do to improve your learning?
What, if anything, would you change about the course?
What is the best feature of the instructor’s presentation skills?
Do you feel that the approach to (describe course change) is effective?
Typically, the instructor explains the purpose of ETF and allows students to jot down responses anonymously.
MIDTERM FEEDBACK
Midterm evaluations can be conducted at any time (and several times) during the term. The advantage to collecting midterm feedback is that you can act on it immediately, by the next class.
Like early-term feedback, midterm feedback is typically very brief and focuses on questions or tasks related to the current content of the course. For example, at any point during a class, students might write a “minute paper” addressing something specific, e.g., “What were the two most important points covered in class thus far?” Responses might inform construction of the next class period. Another useful question is, “What is the muddiest (most confusing) point from today’s class?”
More formal midterm feedback may be administered in numerical fashion.
SGID (SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTIONAL DIAGNOSIS)
SGIDs are focus groups conducted by UITL staff during class time and with the instructor absent. Students are assigned small groups and asked to talk
about and write down answers to three questions: (1) What about the course/instructor is helping you learn? (2) What about the course/instructor is not helping you learn? and (3) What specific suggestions do you have for improvement? After student responses are transcribed, the instructor and UITL consultant meet to discuss the feedback and identify constructive ways to respond. Instructors receive a report that includes a short description of the process, as well as the transcribed student responses. This document is shared only with the instructor, but could be a valuable source of data to include in a teaching portfolio.
Additional Feedback
Other teaching professionals — such as peers from other institutions, departmental colleagues or university and unit teaching and learning staff — can also provide evaluations of teaching. Whether for summative and/or formative purposes, instructors will want to consider which individuals are appropriate sources to provide written evaluations of teaching based on expertise or unit-level policy.
Documentation from Peers, Advisors, and Other Faculty
Written feedback from a classroom observation that details judgment on teaching.
Written feedback that details judgment on course materials, such as handouts, exams, and syllabi.
Written documentation that details teaching contribution to the department.
Documentation from Outside Consultants
Written feedback from a classroom observation that details strengths as well as areas for improvement.
Written summary from a classroom videotaping that details strengths as well as areas for improvement.
Written summary of open-ended comments from student evaluations of instruction that details strengths as well as areas for improvement.
Written summary from midcourse feedback that details areas of strength as well as areas for improvement.
Written summary that details the teaching improvement from professional learning or consultation.
Summarizing Feedback
Be comprehensive. Find an efficient way to document as many courses as possible, if appropriate. (There is no need to go beyond five years in most cases.) If the courses were designed for different student populations — for example, freshman vs. upperclassmen vs. adult learners — emphasize and organize materials accordingly.
Be descriptive. Explain when and how these evaluations were collected. For example, if the evaluations are provided in the form of SEI results, clearly explain what the term “SEI” means, describe how it is used on this campus (mandatory vs. elective), etc. Include course names, terms/years taught, number of students in class, number of students providing responses to the survey, etc. Be sure to include a description of the scale (e.g., if the scale is 1 to 5, state whether 5 is “excellent” or “poor”). For qualitative data, explain when and how these evaluations were collected. If students were asked to address specific topics, mention those.
Graphic displays. SEI or other quantitative data may be summarized graphically — which is useful if evaluations have improved over a period of several terms, for example, or if data is shown for different classes. Graphs should be easy to read and interpret. Be careful not to assemble graphs of numbers with no explanation. Somewhere on the graph, include the number of students, dates the courses were taught, qualities that evaluated, etc. Include a figure legend in case the reader does not have time to decipher the graph. A main feature of graphs is that it should not be too cluttered; clarity is key. Depending on audience, include all courses taught over a certain period of time (promotion and tenure purposes) or only a select number (applying for a faculty job) in order to showcase “best” work. Either way, it will be important to include an explanation of which courses are included and why.
Include student comments. It is inadequate to provide a long list of student comments without any kind of explanation. One way to summarize student comments is by category or theme. Within each category, it is important to include representative student comments; there is no need to include a large number of comments that target the same issue. Areas identified for improvement may also be included. It is important, however, to provide some commentary on how this kind of feedback resulted in or will result in instructional change. It is also important to let readers know that these are
“representative” comments. Choose the number of comments to include carefully. Too many can be overwhelming; too little can look sparse.
Be reflective: Include a paragraph that describes interpretation of the evaluations and how the feedback has enhanced or will be used to refine instruction or course design. Consider:
At what point during the term is feedback collected?
How often is feedback collected?
For what purposes is feedback collected?
How has this feedback into instructional approach?
What further enhancements or refinements to teaching are planned?
Which effective practices will continue?
Examples
The following samples, written by winners of the Graduate Associate Teaching Award at Ohio State, represent different ways of addressing student feedback and teaching effectiveness. All of them show how the instructors have summarized end-of-term discursive feedback by organizing representative comments around common themes or categories.
Robert M. Anthony – Department of Sociology
Bora Bosna – Department of Mathematics
Monali Chowdhury – Department of Psychology
Pulling It All Together
Key decisions about organization of this section depend on use case. If this is for a formative portfolio, content and format reflect what an individual instructor hopes to explore and use as a basis for professional learning. If this is for a summative portfolio submitted for a job application, how much detailed data will depend on how much information the institution to which the application is submitted requests.
For example, if the rationale for changing how a course is taught midterm, or from one term to the next, was a result of student feedback, a few sentences describing the feedback in the teaching responsibilities section of the portfolio might suffice. It also might be mentioned as part of the teaching philosophy statement if philosophy was influenced by student evaluations. It might even be possible to quote a student comment in a cover letter. Mentioning response to student and non-student feedback in various locations within a portfolio serves to connect the different documents.
Teaching awards and recognition
Professional development efforts
A table of contents is an important tool in organizing the various sections of your
portfolio.
Narrative Components
Some of the sections listed above, such as the teaching philosophy, are strictly
narrative (reflective). Others consist of a set of materials that are supplemented by a
narrative or rationale. The following questions should be answered in narratives
accompanying any of the sections or documents:
Why did you include this material in the portfolio?
How was this material (or practice) used in the classroom?
Was the material (or practice) effective? What did students learn as a result
of incorporating the material (or practice) into instruction?
How has instruction changed as a result?
What have you learned about yourself as a teachers
Need Further Assistance?
Drake Institute staff are available for individual meetings to discuss portfolio types and
preparation, areas of the teaching process to be examined, the kinds of information to
be collected, and how these materials might be analyzed and presented. Staff can also
help instructors collect feedback on their teaching through the use of student focus
groups and mid-term evaluation tools.
To schedule a consultation appointment, contact us (with “Teaching Portfolio” as the
subject line).
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