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Portfolio Guidelines 2010 GMU Teaching Excellence Award
An effective teaching portfolio captures the scope and complexities of your teaching, documenting the various approaches, successes, ongoing refinement, and excellence of your educational work. It is a carefully crafted document that presents your teaching through a particular lens, which you define. This is an opportunity to share what is unique about your teaching in relation to your discipline and the learning of your students - work to capture what makes your work worthy of recognition. Most important is evidence of the impact you have on your students' learning and achievement. The five criteria that will be used to evaluate your teaching portfolio are described below.
Your portfolio must include the following sections. We shall be strictly adhering to the page limit requests; that is, we shall not read beyond the maximum number of pages for a section, so follow those closely. Please format all written materials in 11-12 pt. font with 1" margins. Single-spaced text is acceptable. Appropriate use of pictures, graphics, and charts can help make the material easier to understand.
PLEASE NOTE: Your total portfolio must fit comfortably in the 1" binder that was provided to you. Only the portfolio will be used for decisions, so please do not submit other materials.
Portfolio Sections
- Cover Letter (maximum 1 page)
- Table of Contents
- Teaching Statement (maximum 5 pages)
- Teaching Vita (maximum 5 pages)
- Main Body of Portfolio: Reflections and Evidence
- Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness and Impact (maximum 14 pages)
Remember that the purposes of the portfolio are to record your efforts and achievements as an educator, to evidence your reflective practice and consequent improvement of both your teaching and student learning, and to document your teaching for external reviewers. Whatever material you include in your portfolio as evidence of teaching excellence should be accompanied by an explanation/reflection; be sure to let your reader know the reason(s) that you have included the particular materials you have chosen.
Your portfolio should paint a compelling picture of you as a teacher, using whatever organizational or structural framework makes sense to you. You might elaborate on themes that emerged in your teaching statement, engage in a case study approach to a particular class or learning situation, etc. The important thing to keep in mind is the evaluation criteria for the portfolio.
The main body of your portfolio should speak to the following questions:
- How have you learned to become an effective educator? What has contributed to your growth, development, and identity as an educator? (See Criterion #2)
- How do you engage students within and outside the classroom? (See Criterion #3)
- How do you know what your students are learning and achieving? (See Criterion #4)
Guidelines for Section #6: Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness & Impact (See Criterion #5)
- Summary of student ratings from university evaluations that includes courses taught in past three years (maximum 2 pages)
- Testimonials (maximum 10 pages) - Can include letters of support from students (graduate and undergraduate), colleagues, department chairs/deans, or other collaborators internal or external to the institution; student emails, comments from course evaluations, or thank you letters; reports of peers and administrators about your teaching, coaching/mentoring, advising, teaching-related administration, and classroom observations.
- Closing Statement: Reflection and commentary on student ratings summary and testimonials (maximum 2 pages)
IMPORTANT: Your teaching portfolios are due by 5:00 p.m. Monday, February 8th. Please note that late portfolios will not be accepted.
If you have any questions about the preparation of your portfolio, please contact Kim Eby at the Center for Teaching Excellence at 993-8671 or keby1@gmu.edu.
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