| Strengthening Your Academic Portfolio
UCSB's Certificate in College and University Teaching (CCUT)
The CCUT is designed for students who wish to demonstrate superior competence and experience in preparation for teaching at the university or college level. Certificate requirements include completion or attainment of a number of teaching-related skills and experiences culminating in independent instruction of an entire course with the support of a UCSB faculty mentor. Students interested in getting the certificate thus need to obtain a position as an independent instructor either as a Teaching Associate in the regular or summer session on campus or at an off-campus junior college, college, or university location. Certificates are awarded in conjunction with a Ph.D. or MFA degree upon completion.
Creating a Teaching Portfolio
Whether it's called a dossier (Canada), portfolio (Canada & United States),
or profile (United Kingdom), the concept isn't new. The teaching portfolio
is an effective way for teachers to reflect upon, describe, and document their
teaching philosophy, goals, and achievements.
A portfolio is:
- A personal record drawn up and compiled by the teacher, often according to institutional, departmental, or college guidelines.
- A structured means of reflection on one's work, a process of self-evaluation and goal setting.
- An approach to teaching enhancement whereby a teacher can gauge successes, opportunities for improvement, and means for their fulfillment.
- A means of presenting information for job search or career enhancement, such as promotion, tenure, job application. In short, creating a portfolio involves reflection, collection, selection, and connection.
The six steps are involved are...
- Clarify your teaching responsibilities.
- Reflect on your teaching goals, philosophy and style.
- Organize the material to support your purpose and the evaluators' guidelines or needs.
- Prepare a statement of teaching philosophy.
- Select and append your best evidence, connecting it to your statement of philosophy. You want to provide enough evidence to convict you of the charge of excellent teaching.
- Show your draft to a colleague or instructional developer.
Sample Teaching Portfolios
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