Graduate students are creating teaching portfolios as part of college teaching courses they take. More colleges and universities are requesting a teaching portfolio of those seeking faculty positions. Some departments are requiring a teaching portfolio as part of tenure and promotion, for third-year review, or even on a yearly basis.
C reating a teaching portfolio can be personally beneficial in several ways.
First, a teaching portfolio is the best format for illustrating our teaching effectiveness. We expend a substantial amount of time and effort on teaching, on improving our teaching, on developing new courses, on tutoring and mentoring students. However, our efforts in these areas often have been overlooked or trivialized in part because, unlike the established formats we have to demonstrate our research effectiveness, we have not had an effective format for illustrating our teaching effectiveness. In addition to being an excellent format for illustrating teaching effectiveness, preparing a teaching portfolio involves reflection on our teaching, which leads to teaching improvement. Finally, a teaching portfolio can be personally gratifying and rejuvenating as we see documented evidence of the positive results of our teaching efforts.