Introduction to Teaching Portfolios

Teaching Portfolios

FHIS TA Training Program WorkshopMarch 12th, 2010

4-6pm

Facilitators: Roselynn Verwoord, Community of Practice Developer, TAG

Catherine Paul, Community of Practice Facilitator, OLT

Questions about Portfolios

• What is a portfolio?• What is a teaching portfolio?• Do you know anyone who has a teaching portfolio?

Session Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:• Compare different types of portfolios and begin to determine

what your own goals could be in relationship to teaching portfolios.

• Identify portfolio resources available on campus and beyond.• Identify common components in a teaching portfolio and

artifacts that you could include in your teaching portfolio• Create an action plan for developing your own teaching

portfolio

Kinds of Portfolios

• What kinds of portfolios (other than teaching portfolios) are there?

Types of Portfolios (Electronic or Paper-Based)

• Research• Teaching• Learning• Professional• Assessment• Reflective• *Combinations of the above!

Teaching Portfolio Definitions

• A collection of materials that document teaching performance (Seldin, 2003).

• Not a container to put everything in that defines you as a teacher!

• A cumulative document (updated at least yearly).

• A map or template helping you to organize, articulate, and support and document your teaching contributions.

• *These definitions are synonymous with other types of portfolios.

Portfolio Examples

• Joanne Fox – http://www.joannealisonfox.com/• Catherine Paul – http://blogs.ubc.ca/cspaul• Shona Ellis -

http://www.cfkeep.org/html/stitch.php?s=77561976460332&id=94286895165487

• *What are the audiences/purpose of these portfolios?

Examples

• As you review the following eportfolio sites please consider these questions: o What audience(s) do you think each portfolio is

addressed to?o How easily can you navigate the portfolio and find

information you are looking for?o What purposes do you think each portfolio could serve for

each person?o What do you like the most about each portfolio? Why?o How could each portfolio be improved in terms of ease of

navigation, clarity of purpose or depth of content?

Developing your Teaching Portfolio

• Question to ponder – WHO MIGHT MY AUDIENCE BE FOR MY TEACHING PORTFOLIO (be as specific as you can)? – Record your answer on your sheet.

Assembling a Portfolio: Before you Begin• Understand the context – consult with your Dept., to determine

the type of portfolio that suits your units needs.• Know which teaching criteria your department and faculty use

to assess instruction.• Think about the content you will include and how your portfolio

will be organized.• Starting collecting info. pertaining to teaching NOW!• Brevity is key – 5 to 8 pages (paper portfolio) • Questions to ponder – WHO CAN I TALK TO IN MY

DEPARTMENT ABOUT DEVELOPING A TEACHING PORTFOLIO? WHAT INFORMATION DO I NEED TO KNOW BEFORE I GET STARTED?– Record your answers on your sheet.

Components of a Teaching Portfolio

• Philosophy• Teaching Activities• Providing Evidence of Student Learning• Teaching Reflections

Philosophy: Tips for Development• A statement about your goals and vision of teaching.• Purpose: To introduce the reader to your views about

teaching, learning, and students.• Tips:

o Statement should be reflective and personal o Brief (few paragraphs to 1-2 pages)o Use first person (narrative style)o Avoid technical language – not everyone reading it will be

an expert in your field!o Questions to ponder – DO I HAVE A TEACHING

PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT? WHAT ARE SOME OF MY GOALS/BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING? – Record your answers on your sheet.

Philosophy Tips Continued

• Beginning Questions for Reflectiono Discipline and Classroom Approach (What is your greatest

asset as a classroom teacher?)o Instructor-Student Rapport (What is your primary goal with

respect to your students?)o Teaching Goals and Strategies (How does your teaching

help students to master concepts and promote understanding of theory and practice?)

o Questions about Teaching (What is the one thing that you would like to change about your teaching? What have you done to change it?)

o Question to ponder – CHOOSE ONE QUESTION TO RESPOND TO FROM ABOVE, AND WRITE ONE SENTENCE OR SOME KEY WORDS IN RESPONSE.

Teaching Activities

• Teaching Responsibilities• Supervising and Advising Students• Activities Engaged In to Improve Teaching and Learning• Committee Service (Teaching and Learning Issues)• Publications and Professional Contributions• Assessing and Reflecting Upon Teaching

Teaching Activities: Teaching Responsibilities• Provide a brief summary of course types, class sizes, times,

course goals (i.e. are you providing information, coaching, encouraging self-direction, etc.)

• Evidence:o Teaching methods used in the classroomo Titles and numbers of courses taught

• Question to ponder – WHAT KINDS OF TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES HAVE I HAD? (be as specific as possible)– Record your answer on your sheet

Teaching Activities: Activities Engaged In to Improve Teaching and Learning

• Your opportunity to focus on your efforts to improve the classroom climate, etc. and to summarize your attendance in teaching-related seminars, workshops, conferences, and how you used this new info. in your teaching

• List of activitieso Results of student ratings or questionnaires designed by

you to solicit assessments on your teaching effectivenesso Description of efforts made to improve the classroom

climate or your teaching methods. o Question to ponder – WHAT KINDS OF ACTIVITIES TO

IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING HAVE I BEEN INVOLVED IN? (Suggestion – ISW should be on your list!). Record your answer on your sheet.

Teaching Activities: Committee Service (Teaching and Learning Issues)

• List of committee service that pertains to teaching and learning issues. Include details (names of committees, dates, and the nature of your contribution)

• Potential Serviceo Teaching Assistant Professional Trainingo Involvement in adjudicating or administering awardso Organization of retreats and strategic planning sessionso Development of department teaching resourceso Use of your teaching materials by instructors in other

departments, faculties, colleges, etc. o Question to ponder – WHAT KINDS OF COMMITTEE

SERVICE THAT RELATES TO TECHING AND LEARNING, HAVE I BEEN INVOLVED IN? – Record your answer on your sheet.

Teaching Activities: Publications and Professional Contributions (relating to Teaching and Learning)

• Discuss and provide supportive documentation about any involvement in developing and teaching seminars or workshops

• Exampleso Workshops and seminars about teaching that you designed

and instructedo Curriculum materialso Funding related to teaching – internal and external teaching

development grants, fellowships• Question to ponder – WHAT PUBLICATIONS AND/OR

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS RELATED TO TEACHING AND LEARNING, HAVE I BEEN INVOLVED IN? – Record your answer on your sheet.

Teaching Activities: Assessing and Reflecting Upon Teaching• Include the ways that you monitor and evaluate your own

teaching and reflect on what the evidence gathered tells you about your teaching.

• Ways to assess and reflect:o Departmental teaching evaluationso Peer evaluations or reviewso Teaching awards received or nominated foro Student-initiated feedback

• Question to ponder – HOW DO I ASSESS AND REFLECT ON MY TEACHING? – Record your answer on your sheet.

Providing Evidence of Student Learning• Discuss objective indicators of student progress (i.e. students’

standing on nation-wide tests) • Types of evidence of Student Learning

o Objective indicators of student progress o Feedback from supervisors or employers of graduates

• Questions to ponder – DO I HAVE ANY EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING THAT I CAN INCLUDE? IF NOT, IS THERE A WAY THAT I COULD GET SOME? – Record your answers on your sheet.

Teaching Reflections (in the body of the portfolio)• Make some concluding remarks that tie together the

philosophy, approaches, evidence, and evaluative sections. • Detail a plan for future actions, including your motivation and

challenges and short and long-term teaching goals• Questions to ponder – DO I HAVE ANY TEACHING RELATED

REFLECTIONS THAT I COULD INCLUDE IN A PORFOLIO? IF NOT, WHAT KINDS OF TEACHING RELATED ACTIVITIES COULD I REFLECT ON? – Record your answers on your sheet.

Reflection: definitions

• Artifacts:  o represent or symbolize what you know or can doo artifacts as a "proof"o examples could be a syllabus, picture, lesson plan...

• Reflection: o reveals something about how you thinko says something about what you know and understando goes beyond statements like "I felt nervous when I taught

my first class"

Reflection: The 4 Rs

• Report: What is it? When was it created or used? Who was involved? Where was it used?

• Reflect: Why is it important? What did you learn from this sample?

• Relate: How could this sample inform practice?

• Revise: What feedback have you received? What have you (or might you) revise?

• Source: Four Rs (Cloward, Hawkins, & Black, 2003)

Activity: ReflectionThink of an artifact you would include in your portfolio. Complete the following reflection stems.WHAT: Eg √ This example is…

SO WHAT:Eg √ I was surprised to learn that… √ I learned that… √ I changed my mind about…

NOW WHAT:√A question I want to pursue as a result of this example…

Complete the following reflection stems about the sample:• √ I am not satisfied with this example because…• √ Something I would like others to notice about this example…• √ A question I want to pursue as a result of this example…• √ On the one hand… yet on the other hand…• Reference: Rolheiser & Schwartz, 2001

Benefits of Creating a Teaching Portfolio? 

Benefits of Creating a Teaching Portfolio• Reflect on your goals as a teacher• Assess your teaching strengths and areas which need improvement• Document your progress as a teacher• Generate ideas for future teaching/course development• Identify your personal teaching style• Use elements of the portfolio to promote dialogue with fellow teachers• Consider new ways of gathering student feedback• Gather detailed data to support your goals• Collect multiple sources of evidence that document the implementation of

your teaching goals and their success.• Question to ponder: WHY MIGHT YOU WANT TO CREATE A TEACHING

PORTFOLIO? – Record your answer on your sheet.

Partner Activity

• With a partner, take turns sharing your teaching portfolio action plan sheet. o Highlight an area or aspect of your future teaching portfolio

that you feel particularly interested in.o Share what your next steps will be, in developing your

teaching portfolio. RECORD YOUR ANSWER ON YOUR SHEET.

o Share one thing you learned about teaching portfolios today.

o Large group debrief

Revisiting Learning Objectives

• How did we do regarding our learning objectives?• Learning Objectives:

o Compare different types of portfolios and begin to determine what your own goals could be in relationship to teaching portfolios.

o Identify portfolio resources available on campus and beyond.o Identify common components in a teaching portfolio and artifacts

that you could include in your teaching portfolio.o Create an action plan for developing your own teaching portfolio

Academic Resources on Developing Portfolios (available in the TAG Resource Room)

• Barrett, H. (2000). Electronic teaching portfolios: Multimedia skills and portfolio development = powerful professional development. In B. Cambridge (Ed.), Electronic Portfolios (pp. 110-116). Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

• Chism, N. V. N. (1998). Developing a philosophy of teaching statement. Toward the Best in the Academy: Essays on Teaching Excellence, 9, (3). Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education.

• Seldin, P. (2004). The teaching portfolio: A practical guide to improved performance and promotion/tenure decisions. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Co.

Portfolio Resources at TAG

• TAG – Resource Room (Library) – Irving K Barber Building (non-lending library)

• TAG Website www.tag.ubc.ca (search for Portfolios)

• TAG’s Portfolio Community of Practice – become a member through TAG’s website

• Workshop resources   http://wiki.ubc.ca/Portfolios

• Portfolio CoP blog: http://blogs.ubc.ca/portfolios/

Questions?

• Contact: Roselynn Verwoord, tag.copdeveloper@ubc.caCatherine Paul, catherine.paul@ubc.ca