![SAMPLES FOR EVALUATING STUDENTS’ COMMENTS
(FROM: TLS WORKSHOP)
“Dr. xxx is a very good teacher, although sometimes s/he seems nervous or
uncomfortable speaking in front of the class... I know s/he is trying hard to
improve and it is obvious how much effort s/he puts into it.”
Of course the students could perceive my inexperience and nervousness in teaching. I
had never taught before. I had never even stood in front of 100 people before! This
was obvious to the students, and constructive comments like this are quite to their
credit.
“Prof xxx seems to really enjoy teaching, gives us [...] personal experiences. ...
Excellent teaching skills and use of innovative instructional strategies.”
In my first 5 years, my ratings for overall teaching ability increased from 3.5 to
4.3, significantly above the faculty mean of 3.9 .This improvement is due to using
new teaching approaches learned in workshops and seminars which increased my
comfort level speaking in a large class.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/teachingportfolio-131115140723-phpapp02/85/Teaching-portfolio-19-320.jpg)
Teaching portfolio
- 2. WHAT IS A TEACHING PORTFOLIO? • Documentation of your teaching and research as an ongoing process: “an ever changing, living document” (ucat.osu.edu) • Articulation and reflective discussion of your teaching approach, methods and philosophy • Organized and selective collection of teaching materials and evidence of teaching effectiveness • Demonstration of best practices and the effectiveness of your teaching • Forum to improve your teaching skills and expand your expertise
- 3. PURPOSE OF A TEACHING PORTFOLIO • for job market applications (most applications require at least a teaching philosophy, many universities today also require a portfolio for hiring purposes) • for reappointment, tenure and promotion as part of your academic career • for tracking and reflecting on your own development and progress as a teacher and educator • for generating a public dialogue about your teaching and teaching experiences
- 4. DEREK BOK CENTER FOR TEACHING/HARVARD Creating a portfolio “ may seem like a lot of work that will distract you from completing the Ph.D. Try not to see it as such. Instead, envision the process of creating a Teaching Portfolio not as a necessary evil -- something akin to assembling a c.v. -- but rather as a means of productively preparing for the job market and a successful academic career. The process of creating a Portfolio should provoke the kind of thought and attention to teaching that academics more commonly reserve for research. The Teaching Portfolio, Peter Seldin writes, "is to teaching what lists of publications, grants, and honors are to research and scholarship." More accurately, it is to teaching what an abstract and statement of research interests are to disciplinary scholarship. “
- 5. FORMATS OF TEACHING PORTFOLIOS: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES Print portfolio: Advantages: • can be prepared easily and edited without any outside tools except a computer and printer. Disadvantages: • costly to reproduce and mail • overwhelming amount of materials • limited access • linearly structured
- 6. FORMATS OF TEACHING PORTFOLIOS: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES Electronic portfolio Advantages: • Immediate access for portfolio evaluators and search committee members • Possible incorporation of multimedia tools such as video, audio etc. • Possibility to link various documents with each other and thus create a “non-linear environment” for your materials, which allows yourself and your reader greater freedom
- 7. FORMATS OF TEACHING PORTFOLIOS: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES Disadvantages: • privacy and copyright issues • certain level of technical knowledge and resources essential for preparation
- 8. COMPONENTS OF A TEACHING PORTFOLIO • Statement of Teaching Philosophy (and Teaching with Technology Statement) (plus a description of your personal teaching goals in the future) • • • Your CV Documentation of your teaching experience and responsibilities Teaching materials including comments on their use and effectiveness
- 9. COMPONENTS OF A TEACHING PORTFOLIO • Evidence of teaching effectiveness • Evidence of professional development • Contributions to the profession and your institution • Student Work and ancillary materials • Teaching awards and recognitions
- 10. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 1. Statement of Teaching Philosophy: • well-written and informed essay detailing your ideas about teaching and learning with specific examples from your classroom practice „* Your conception of how learning occurs * A description of how your teaching facilitates student learning * A reflection of why you teach the way you do * The goals you have for yourself and for your students * How your teaching enacts your beliefs and goals * What, for you, constitutes evidence of student learning * The ways in which you create an inclusive learning environment * Your interests in new techniques, activities, and types of learning“ (Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University)
- 11. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY „If at all possible, your statement should enable the reader to imagine you in the classroom, teaching. You want to include sufficient information for picturing not only you in the process of teaching, but also your class in the process of learning.” – Helen G. Grundman, http://www.ams.org/notices/200611/commgrundman.pdf
- 12. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 1.1. Teaching with Technology Statement • Description of the various instructional technology tools you have used and are familiar with, their potential and pitfalls, their effectiveness and forms of assessment you have developed • use of electronic resources for lesson preparation as well as for student use (including citation standards) http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpts (resources) http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/philosophy/index.html (step-by-step tutorial) http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpum (samples)
- 13. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2. Documentation of your teaching experience and responsibilities: • list of courses taught and/or teaching assistant ships • detailed course descriptions including levels, enrollment numbers, methods, projects etc. • sample course syllabi (past and future)
- 14. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO – TEACHING EXPERIENCE Responsibilities: • workshops, info sessions • extracurricular activities • non-academic teaching experience • tutoring, student advising • list of students who chose German as a major or minor after attending your course or/and continued in advanced courses • Successful efforts to establish and maintain a study/work abroad program or opportunities for students
- 15. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO 3. Teaching materials including comments/rationale on their purpose, use and effectiveness: • detailed course syllabi of courses taught or planned • assignments, exams, handouts, creative projects etc. with written evaluation • commented use of multimedia resources and instructional technology • sample lesson plans • teaching modules
- 16. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO - MATERIALS • comments on student exams, essays etc. • videotapes of your teaching and their evaluation • demonstration of your attempts at refining and improving your teaching resources • examples for collecting and sharing materials with colleagues, online etc.
- 17. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO 4. Evidence of teaching effectiveness: • course evaluations (survey and written) and interpretation • letters from students (solicited and unsolicited) and mentees • self evaluations • teaching observation reports and letters of recommendations with a specific focus on teaching from colleagues, supervisors and professors
- 18. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO - EFFECTIVENESS • evaluations from colleagues and supervisor concerning course development and improvement • teaching certificates, awards and honors • comments about teaching achievements and promotions from the administration of your institution
- 19. SAMPLES FOR EVALUATING STUDENTS’ COMMENTS (FROM: TLS WORKSHOP) “Dr. xxx is a very good teacher, although sometimes s/he seems nervous or uncomfortable speaking in front of the class... I know s/he is trying hard to improve and it is obvious how much effort s/he puts into it.” Of course the students could perceive my inexperience and nervousness in teaching. I had never taught before. I had never even stood in front of 100 people before! This was obvious to the students, and constructive comments like this are quite to their credit. “Prof xxx seems to really enjoy teaching, gives us [...] personal experiences. ... Excellent teaching skills and use of innovative instructional strategies.” In my first 5 years, my ratings for overall teaching ability increased from 3.5 to 4.3, significantly above the faculty mean of 3.9 .This improvement is due to using new teaching approaches learned in workshops and seminars which increased my comfort level speaking in a large class.
- 20. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 5. Evidence of professional development: • attendance of professional development seminars • attendance and/or presentation of teaching-related topics at conferences and departmental or university wide teaching workshops • publications of teaching-related research • design and continued development of new courses
- 21. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO – PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT • participation in interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching projects • preparation of a textbook, course reader etc. • evidence of continued improvement in teaching approach, methods and materials
- 22. COMPONENTS OF A PORTFOLIO: STUDENT WORK 6. Student Work: • papers, exams, essays with your written comments • student journals, student projects • video or other forms of documentation of student work (presentations, collaborative work, projects, skits, field trips, extracurricular activities with a specific learning objective etc.) • Websites students developed for a course
- 23. RESOURCES FOR PREPARING A PORTFOLIO Publications: • Seldin, Peter: The Teaching Portfolio, 2004 • Knapper, Christopher and Wilcox, Susan: Preparing a Teaching Dossier, 2007 • Lewis, Karron: Preparing a Teaching Portfolio: A Guidebook (available for download at: www.utexas.edu/academic/diia) • UBC: Teaching Portfolio Preparation (available for download at: http://wiki.ubc.ca/images/6/6f/Teaching_port_prep_guide_2007.pdf • CMU: Guidelines for Teaching Portfolios (available for download at:http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/resources/DocumentingYourTeaching/T eachingPortfolios/TeachingPortfolios.pdf • Clark, George David: Developing an Effective Teaching Portfolio, 2013 (available for download at: http://chronicle.com/blogs/onhiring/developing-an-effective-teachingportfolio/32297 )
- 24. RESOURCES FOR PREPARING A PORTFOLIO Useful Websites: • Teaching and Learning Services, McGill University http://www.mcgill.ca/tls/ • Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation, UoT http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/gsta/teaching-essentials/dossiers.htm • University Center for the Advancement of Teaching, OSU http://ucat.osu.edu/read/teaching-portfolio • Centre for Teaching, Learming and Technology, UBC http://ctlt.ubc.ca/resources/teaching/portfolios/ • Centre for Teaching, Vanderbilt University http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/reflecting/teaching-portfolios/
- 25. RESOURCES FOR PREPARING A PORTFOLIO • The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness, University of Saskatchewan http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/resources/portfolio • Centre for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpcp • The Teaching Centre, University of St.Louis http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/About/ProgramsforGraduateStudentsand Postdocs/resources/Pages/Creating-a-Teaching-Portfolio.aspx
- 26. RESOURCES: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY Helpful websites for getting started: • http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-grad-students/teachingstatement/ • http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/philosophy.html • http://www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resources/teaching_resources/reflecting/p hilosophy.htm • http://www.crlt.umich.edu/sites/default/files/resource_files/CRLT_no23.p df • http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/philosophy/start/index.ht m • http://sunconference.utep.edu/CETaL/resources/portfolios/writetps.htm
- 27. RESOURCES: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY Sample Teaching Philosophy Statements: • http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/resources/portfolio/samples • http://brown.edu/about/administration/sheridan-center/teachinglearning/documenting-teaching-effectiveness/teaching-philosophystatements • http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tstpum
- 28. JOB INTERVIEWS • Common teaching related question during job interviews: Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University