There is no template that all teaching portfolios follow. However, the following components include all of the requirements for the ACT Program. You may find that there are additional components particular to your discipline. (For example, in the foreign languages, some job applications ask for a video of you teaching.) You may also want to take a look at the rubric used in the ACT Program to evaluate teaching portfolios.
Table of contents
This makes it easy for the reader to understand the contents of the portfolio and to navigate from one section to the next. Section tabs and page numbers are also helpful to include.
Summary of teaching experience
This could include the following:
- explanation of courses taught or other teaching experience (guest lectures, tutoring, etc.)
- number and level of students
- primary modes of instruction
- instructor responsibilities
- other relevant information
Teaching Philosophy Statement
For more information on this component, take a look at the resources on teaching philosophy statements.
Sample materials to illustrate your teaching philosophy
For the ACT Program, this should include the following:
- At least one syllabus of your own design
- A variety of
- assignments
- assessments
- class activities
More information on this component of the teaching portfolio is available here.
Evidence of teaching effectiveness
This can include:
- summaries of student evaluations of teaching
- letters from students you have taught, tutored, or mentored [make sure to indicate whether these letters were solicited or not]
- observations/evaluations from supervising faculty
- mid-semester feedback from your students, either gathered on your own or in collaboration with CTE Staff.
More information on this component of the teaching portfolio is available here.
Evidence of professional development activities
At minimum, this should include information on your participation in the ACT Program. If you have attended additional teaching seminars, workshops, and/or conferences, you can include them in this section.
Alignment Between the Teaching Philosophy Statement and the Teaching Portfolio
Your teaching philosophy statement presents your approach to teaching and provides specific examples of some key learning goals in your discipline, along with the teaching methods and forms of assessment you use to help all of your students reach those learning goals.
Your teaching portfolio provides additional information about your teaching experience and some of the materials you use in your teaching, which serve as evidence for the claims made in your teaching philosophy statement. For example, if you write about the importance of peer review in your statement, your portfolio can include the handout you share with students to prepare them to have a productive peer review session as well as feedback from students on peer review from course evaluations. Similarly, if your statement focuses on the importance in your field of students being able to identify how to approach a problem (rather than just blindly solving it), your portfolio can include a quiz that asks students to identify the math formula they should use in a number of different scenarios.
Gaining Experience & Gathering Materials
Depending on where you are in your academic program and your current teaching experience, you may or may not already have everything you need to create a teaching portfolio. Download the Teaching Portfolio Inventory, which asks you to think concretely about what you have already, what you will naturally gain/do over the course of your program, and what you’ll need to devote some extra time to.
Navigation
- Main Components
- Sample Materials
- Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness