What is a Teaching Portfolio?

A portfolio or dossier is a collection of material that depicts the nature and quality of an individual's teaching and students' learning. Portfolios are structured deliberately to reflect particular aspects of teaching and learning – they are not trunks full of teaching artifacts and memorabilia. At its best a portfolio documents an instructor's approach to teaching, combining specific evidence of instructional strategies and effectiveness in a way that captures teaching's intellectual substance and complexity. (William Cerbin, 1993)

As a "product" (for decisions – evaluative, summative)

• to communicate your teaching to potential employer
• to communicate your teaching to students, colleagues, community

As a "process" (for development – formative, reflective)

• to record your teaching experiences over time
• to provide themes and evidence for your evaluative portfolio

• Teaching Experience and Responsibilities

• Teaching Philosophy

• Teaching Methods and Strategies

• Examples of efforts to Improve Teaching: observations, critiques, workshops, experiments in pedagogy and methodology

• Teaching Goals: short- and long-term

• Appendices

• Annotated course materials -- for example, syllabi, assignments, activities, handouts
• Examples of student work
• Student ratings and other student feedback
• Peer and supervisor reviews

• Reflect on your teaching individually; talk about your teaching with others

• Get feedback on your teaching from several sources – students, peers, supervisors, video

• Reflect on student learning in your field: How do students learn? What challenges do they face?

• Keep records of your teaching, feedback you receive, and plans to develop your teaching

• Seek out teaching opportunities

At CIDR we provide resources and assistance to help you with your teaching. We can help you with your teaching portfolio by providing

• Examples of TA and faculty teaching portfolios from various disciplines.

• Current literature on teaching and course portfolios in the CIDR Resource Collection.

• Individual consultation and workshops about developing a teaching portfolio.

• CIDR's collection of resources and materials on Developing a Teaching Portfolio and Writing a Teaching Statement