University Center for Teaching and Learning

Teaching Portfolio: Checklist

This checklist is a guide to help you in compiling your teaching portfolio. The purpose of a
teaching portfolio is to provide documented evidence of teaching (and teaching proficiency)
using artifacts drawn from your teaching. It is also a way to showcase to a search or promotion
committee your teaching strengths and achievements. It is important to remember that your
Portfolio is a work in progress that you will continue to revise and update as you gain additional
experience teaching. Characteristics of a good portfolio are: it is based upon demonstrating the
thesis you articulated in your Teaching Philosophy Statement; it is clear and succinct; it avoids
jargon when possible and flowery/ambiguous language; it is well organized and visually
appealing; and it demonstrates the scope of your teaching goals, values, and methodologies while
maintaining coherence.
Tips for creating a strong teaching portfolio:

 Is there evidence of the teaching philosophy statement found throughout the portfolio?
Does the philosophy give a clear “picture” of what the instructor does/says and what the
students do/say in the classroom?
 Are evaluations/assessments and instructional activities aligned with core learning
objectives?
 The portfolio should be organized with a cover page, introduction to the reader, table of
contents, and teaching philosophy. The other items should follow a logical sequence;
however there is no set order.
 Avoid “grad-speak” – aka language that positions you as an inexperienced graduate
student. Do not apologize for any lack of experience which you perceive. You want to
speak from a position of confidence and proficiency, even if this is your first time
teaching. Begin with what you have done/are doing, while it is ok to talk about what you
will do, those future plans should be framed within the context of your experience. A
simple method to do this if you have not taught much in the classroom is to refer to the
teaching artifacts which you have designed …e.g., a lesson plan (rather than those which
you will teach…at some unspecified date).
Category Possible Components
Cover Page  Name
 Institution and department
 Date
 The words “Teaching Portfolio”
Intro. to the  <1 page Introduction to reader (search/hiring/grant committee)
Reader  Brief summary of specific teaching experiences and qualifications to date
 1-sentence summary of your t.phil statement
 Intro to your particular portfolio, organization, items, etc.
 Sign and Date
Table of Contents  Clear headings and subheadings
 Pagination is correct
 Logical ordering of body and appendices
Teaching  1-1.5 pages succinct statement of personal teaching goals and values, supported
Philosophy by specific examples.
Statement  Introductory sentence that attracts the reader’s attention
 Up to three main teaching goals you want to accomplish
 Concrete examples of the ways you have applied your methods and materials
that support your specific values and goals as an instructor.
 A conclusion that sums things up in a memorable way
Teaching Resume  Teaching fields specified
 List of courses taught, organized logically, with assignments carrying most
responsibility (e.g., teaching an independent course) listed first
 List of courses “prepared to teach”
 Professional development (e.g., teaching workshops attended)
 Any “Contributions to Pedagogy” (e.g. conference presentations/publications
on teaching within your discipline)
 Any mentoring experience (e.g., working with a former student to convert a
term paper into a conference paper; serving as a judge on an student conference
panel)
 Any relevant non-higher ed teaching experience
Lesson Plan +  Illustrates how your teaching works toward fulfilling the goals and objectives
rationale/reflection of your course
 Lesson Plan
 Practical course information [institution, date, department, class title or position
during semester.
- Objectives and how they relate to course goals
- Statement on prerequisite knowledge or skills, beyond “attendance at
previous class”
- Key terms and concepts
- Sequence of events and instructional strategies used that address what and
how going to teach, so that a reader can envision what you are
doing/saying and students are doing/saying (e.g., NOT “review” BUT
“Guided review with questions X, Y, Z and individual writing activity.”
 1 Paragraph to 1 page Rationale addresses how Alignment Model of Teaching
informs your lesson in specific ways.
 Rationale and reflection statement addresses some of the following questions:
- How well did you capture and maintain the attention of the students? How
do you know?
- How was your content organized? Would you make any changes?
- How did you build in relevancy and meaning into the lesson? What did
you do to motivate students and maintain interest? Did it work? Describe
any revisions.
 - Are there areas of the lesson where students had more difficulty? If so,
why do you think this occurred? What could you do to remedy it?
- In what ways did you check students' understanding? Would you make any
changes?
- How did your lesson flow given the time constraints of class? Would you
modify this and if so, in what ways?
- Are there other organizational changes that you would make that have not
been addressed?
Syllabus +  Create a unique syllabus (e.g., do not reuse a preexisting syllabus designed by
rationale/reflection someone else) for a class you have taught, are currently teaching, or will teach.
A substantially revised existing syllabus may also be appropriate, so long as it
is substantially “your own” syllabus.
 You may also choose to include a standard, unmodified departmental syllabus
for a course you have taught (perhaps in an appendix), though you should
indicate that it is not a syllabus of your own design, but rather a course
designed by someone else that you have taught and could teach again.
 Refer to “Syllabus Design Worksheet” and “Syllabus Checklist” in making sure
you include all necessary information.
 Write a 0.5 to 1 page rationale that addresses some of these questions:
- Who are your (projected) students? (Describe how your syllabus fits these
students)
- How have you planned the course to prepare students to fulfill the course
goals?
- What instructional techniques will you use?
- What sequence of topics do your classes follow and why?
- What is the rationale behind your grading scale and assessment
techniques?
- How do these forms of evaluation meet your goals and objectives for the
students?
Student  Design and implement an assignment (paper, presentation, project, lab, group
Assignment work, etc.) for students to apply/practice concepts and skills, and receive graded
+ feedback.
rationale/reflection  Include one sample of excellent, average, and unsatisfactory student work.
and examples of Include your feedback (written comments).
student work  Rationale and reflection statement addresses (1 page):
- What learning objectives does this assignment promote? How do these
learning objectives fit into the objectives for the course as a whole?
- Why have you given the assignment its specified grade percentage/weight
in the course?
- Why is the assignment structured the way it is? What
information/resources do students need to complete the assignment, and
where would they obtain this?
- How do you judge student work? Is there a standardized set of answers or
rubric? How should you explain special criteria (e.g., participation,
creativity) to the students?
Exam +  Develop a midterm or final exam that evaluates the objectives (and related
rationale/reflection lower objectives) of your course.
and examples of  Include table that organizes questions by objective.
student work  Include a 1 page rationale that describes how the questions relate to overall
course goals.
 Include a short reflection statement that addresses:
- Areas where you might expect your students to have more difficulty than
others, and why.
  A description of students’ performance on the exam (did it go as expected?
What was the grade distribution?). Indicate whether you would use this exam
again and why (discuss in context of course goals/alignment model)?
Informal  Develop and administer an informal in-class assessment. Collect student
Assessment + responses.
rationale/reflection  Rationale and reflection statement addresses (1 page):
- Written description of your IA and summary of results (include specific
student comments and reactions)
- What type of feedback about student learning did you target? Indicate
specific objectives and expected level of competency.
- How would you use student feedback from the IA to make future decisions
about your teaching?
- Did you identify any student misconceptions or lack of understanding? If
so, how would you address these in a timely way?
Student  Select evaluations of teaching (scores and comments) included
Evaluations of  A note indicating “full evaluations upon request” included
Teaching  Summary chart of change in numerical evaluations over time.
 Reflective statements indicating how you have used particular feedback to
make strategic decisions about teaching.
Faculty/Peer Have a faculty member or colleague observe your class. Include their observations
Observation in your final portfolio.
Overall  Professional appearance:
Presentation - Are font sizes, coloring, spacing, etc. consistent and do they aid the reader
in processing information?
- Can the reader immediately determine who is speaking to whom? (You,
your students, the hiring committee, etc.)
- Is the portfolio free of grammatical and spelling errors? Is the portfolio
polished and ready for a job interview?
- If hard copy, are the binder and components
professional/clean/aesthetically engaging?
- If electronic, is the document easily navigable (e.g., indexed hyperlinks
from the TOC, cross-referenced links?
 Organization:
- Do the sections have a logical flow?
- Does the reader have to search for content?
- Does the Table of Contents include all elements, including page #s.