Teaching Portfolios

The term "teaching portfolio" means different things to different people. For some, it means simply a loose file of teaching materials. For others, it's a more carefully organized document. In his chapter on "Evaluating Teaching Through Portfolios" in Peter Seldin's book Changing Practices in Evaluating Teaching, John Zubizarreta defines it this way:

[A teaching portfolio] is an evidence-based written document in which a faculty member strategically organizes concise, selective details of current teaching accomplishment and uses such information for documentation of performance but more significantly for reflective analysis and peer collaboration leading to improvement of teaching and student learning. (p. 164)

Much has been written about teaching portfolios--how to compile them, how to organize them, how to evaluate them. Some good resources are the following:

Nancy Chism, Peer Review of Teaching: A Sourcebook. Bolton, MA: Anker, 1999 (pp. 108-123).

"Documenting Teaching Effectiveness: The Teaching Portfolio," a website prepared by Syracuse University: http://cstl.syr.edu/Cstl/T-L/tch_eff-port.htm

Peter Seldin, The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions, 2nd ed. (Boston: Anker Publishing, 1997).

"The Teaching Dossier," a website maintained by the University of Guelph (Canada). http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/resources/teachres/packagetd.html

John Zubizarreta, "Evaluating Teaching Through Portfolios," in Changing Practices in Teaching Evaluation, ed. Peter Seldin. Bolton, MA: Anker, 1999 (pp. 162-182).

For an example of an on-line portfolio, check out this website created by Bruce Wagner, a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics, Iowa State University. (Note the Appendices, where he lists several items available in paper form only.)