Introduction to Academic

Portfolios
DANIELLE MIHRAM, DIRECTOR
CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN
TEACHING
OFFICE OF THE PROVOST
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA

Overview
Fundamental features of academic portfolios
Four basic processes for the creation of an
academic portfolio
Example: The Teaching Portfolio as part of
your academic portfolio
Advantages of an academic portfolio
Interactive electronic portfolios: A new medium
for academic portfolios
Bibliography: Electronic portfolios.

Two Approaches to Portfolio Creation

Portfolios for Self-Evaluation & Development:

The Learning Portfolio (students)

The Course Portfolio (instructors)
The Teaching Portfolio (instructors)
The Academic Portfolio (faculty)

The Professional Portfolio (The job market)

Fundamental Feature of the Academic

Portfolio Created for Self-Evaluation
A fundamental feature of the (self-evaluative) academic
portfolio is the intentional focus on learning and
assessment:
the deliberate and systematic attention not only to teaching and
research skills, but also
to a facultys self-reflective, meta-cognitive appraisal of how, and
more importantly, why learning, teaching, and research are
being perfected.

What is Meta-cognition?
Awareness of a learners own thought processes
Conscious of self-awareness
Knowledge and understanding of ones intellectual approaches
and strategies used in learning and teaching
Awareness of how other learners approaches may differ
Level of insight that allows learners to give themselves feedback =
Dialogic reflection
Hughes, H. Woodrow Dialogic Reflection: A New Face on an Old Pedagogy
http://gsep.pepperdine.edu/~whughes/Journaling.html
MacLellan, Effie (1999). Reflective Commentaries: What do they say about learning?
Educational Action Research, Volume 7(3): 433-449. [pdf on CET web]

Metacognition: Implications
A highly personal process
Involves reflective judgment and informed choices
Focuses on the uniqueness of each individual
Fosters individuals ownership of his or her own learning
and career development

Benefits of Dialogic Reflection

Increased understanding of

How you learn and what are your learning outcomes

What you have (and have not ) learned

What do you value?

Role in learning how to articulate in writing ones thoughts and

ideas

How others view your work

Enhanced ability to make connections

Among courses taught and in the context of teaching without

boundaries

Among research experiences and research collaborations

Increased sense of learning over time

Sample Reflections
When one basic goal is improvement over time,
consider:
Documentation of steps (analogous to keeping a log
for lab research)
Commentaries (as for solutions to math problems)
Evolution of a course, of a speech, or of a paper
History of a piece of artwork
Johnson, Bil (1996), The Performance Assessment
Handbook, Vol. 1. Princeton: Eye on Education.

Four Basic Processes for the Creation of an

Academic Portfolio
Collection

A relatively short collection of materials that

summarizes and highlights an individuals activities
as a teacher and researcher.

Selection

Why are you creating the portfolio? Who is reading it, and
why?

Reflection

Thinking critically about your total learning,

teaching, and research experiences

Connections

Making personally meaningful connections between

Your teaching,
Your field of research, its body of knowledge, and
its applications
Your service and community experiences

Goals of an Academic Portfolio

Demonstrate breadth of
learning, teaching, and
research

Range of achievements. Collecting

and connecting your various
accomplishments; a creative
representation of your work and
of you

Evaluate achievement of
intended outcomes

Opportunity to showcase your

accomplishments. Your best work

Reflect, assess own

educational experience

Representative pieces; written

reflections. To make connections
between where you were, where
you are, and where you want to
be

Illustrate the learning

process

Multiple drafts -- a process. To

document teaching and research
as it evolved over time.

Share ones expertise

Legacy of best practices in both

teaching and research.

Example: The Teaching Portfolio as

Part of your Academic Portfolio
Why a Teaching Portfolio?
To serve as supporting materials (documented evidence,
specific data) of ones effectiveness as a teacher
To document ones teaching as it evolved over time
To obtain feedback and to share ones expertise
(mentoring, legacy of best practices)

Seven Steps for the Creation of a Teaching

Portfolio
1. Summarize teaching responsibilities
Courses taught, whether they are graduate or
undergraduate, required or elective;
Teaching-related activities (e.g., serving as faculty advisor
to student organizations, advising individual graduate or
undergraduate students).

2. Describe your approach to teaching

Reflective statement about teaching, strategies,
methodologies and objectives [Teaching Philosophy
Statement].
The most effective reflective statements provide detailed
examples of classroom practices which show how the facultys
teaching methods fit his or her aims and the context of the
course.

Seven Steps for the Creation of a Teaching

Portfolio (Cont.)
3. Select items for the portfolio
Items which are most applicable to the professors
teaching responsibilities and approach to teaching;
Choice of items should also reflect the professors
personal preferences, style of teaching, academic
discipline, and particular courses.

4. Prepare statements on each item

Statements on activities, initiatives, and accomplishments
on each item
Do the syllabi of courses coalesce around a specific theme about
your teaching? have you participated in programs, colloquia, or
seminars designed to improve teaching? Do you have a variety
of measures of your teaching effectiveness? Back-up
documentation and appendices are referenced as appropriate.

Seven Steps for the Creation of a Teaching

Portfolio (Cont.)
5. Arrange the items in order
The sequence of the accomplishments in each area is
determined by their intended use (e.g., to demonstrate
teaching improvement: entries that reflect that goal should
be stressed -- such as participation in seminars and
workshops designed to enhance classroom performance).

6. Compile the supporting data

Evidence supporting all items mentioned in the portfolio:
e.g., original student evaluation of teaching, samples of
student work, invitations to contribute articles on teaching
in ones discipline, colleagues evaluations.
Such evidence is not part of the portfolio but is back-up
material placed in the appendix or made available upon
request.

Seven Steps for the Creation of a Teaching

Portfolio (Cont.)
7. Incorporate the portfolio into the
curriculum vitae
Although the portfolio may stand as a separate
document [e.g., assembled in a three-ring
binder], a professor may choose to insert it into
his/her curriculum vitae under the heading of
teaching.
The intent is to provide a formal record of teaching
accomplishments so they can be accorded their
proper weight along with other aspects of a
professors role.

Contents of an Academic Portfolio: Teaching

Faculty Member's Name
Department/College
Institution
Date
Table of Contents for Teaching Section
1. Teaching Responsibilities
2. Statement of Teaching Philosophy
3. Teaching Methods, Strategies, Objectives
4. Student Ratings on Summative Questions
5. Colleague Evaluations From Those Who Have Observed Classroom Teaching
or Reviewed Teaching Materials
6. Statement by the Department Chair Assessing the Professor's Teaching
Contribution
7. Detailed, Representative Course Syllabi
8. Products of Teaching (Evidence of Student Learning)
9. Teaching Awards and Recognition
10. Teaching Goals: Short- Term and Long-Term
11. Appendices

Contents of an Academic Portfolio: Research

Table of Contents for Research Section
1.

Research Statement

2.

Research Methods, Strategies, Objectives

3.

Students accomplishments in research lab

4.

Significant outcomes of collaborative or inter-disciplinary research

5.

Research awards and recognition

6.

Research Goals: Short- Term and Long-Term

7.

Appendices

A Document that Evolves Over Time

Remember: The portfolio is a living collection
of documents and materials which change
over time
New items are added, others are dropped.
Once each year, when the research and service
section of the curriculum vitae are updated,
the same is done for the portfolios teaching
and research sections.

Features of Portfolio Formats

Limitations of Physical Portfolios (paper or CD)
Logistic challenges (space and time).
Advantages of Electronic Portfolios
Information in multi-media (text, graphics, animation,
sound,video)
Hypertext environment: e.g., menus, hyperlinks,
searchable information
Non-linear thinking; deep organization
Asynchronous access for others (for feedback and
collaboration)

Advantages of an Academic Portfolio

The Section on Teaching
Provides the stimulus and structure for self-reflection about areas of
teaching (including those needing improvement)
o Concentrates on reflective analysis, action planning, and assessment of
student learning.
o Provides evaluators with hard-to-ignore information on what a professor
does in a classroom and why he/she does it.

The Section on Research

Provides the stimulus and structure for self-reflection about areas of
research that may lead to inter-disciplinary collaboration
Provides colleagues with the opportunity to contribute to the portfolios
creation through feedback and file exchanges

Excerpts of Portfolio can be used in successful grant

applications
Used as credentials for those seeking academic positions

Interactive Electronic Portfolios: A New

Approach for Academic Portfolios
Barrett, Helen (Univ. of Alaska, Anchorage)
Using Technology to Support Alternative Assessment and
Electronic Portfolios
http://transition.alaska.edu/www/portfolios.html
Create Your Own Electronic Portfolios
http://www.electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/iste2k.html

Martin Kimeldorfs Portfolio Library

http://amby.com/kimeldorf/portfolio/

Mable Kinzie (An informal approach to the academic portfolio)

http://kinzie.edschool.virginia.edu/

Bibliography: Electronic Portfolios

Barrett, Helen C. (2004) . Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning

-- Emerging Digital Tools to Support Reflection in Learner-Centered Portfolios
http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/epstory.html

Greenberg, Gary (2004). The Digital Convergence: Extending the Portfolio Model,
Educause Review, July-August.
http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0441.asp

Jafari, Ali (2004). The "Sticky" ePortfolio System: Tackling Challenges and
Identifying Attributes, Educause Review July-August 2004.
http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0442.asp

Love, Douglas, Gerry McKean, and Paul Gathercoal (2004). Portfolios to Webfolios
and Beyond: Levels of Maturation, Educause Quarterly Vol. 27(2). 2004.
(Descriptions of developmental stages offer institutions guidance about their place in the
process and how to move to the next level)
http://www.educause.edu/pub/eq/eqm04/eqm0423.asp

Bibliography: Electronic Portfolios (Cont.)

Seldin, Peter (1997). The Teaching Portfolio. Bolton, MA: Anker.

Tomorrow's Professor Msg.#567 Answers to Common Questions about the

Teaching Portfolio.
http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/postings/567.html

Tomorrow's Professor Msg.#568 Electronic Learning Portfolios

http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/postings/568.html

Zubizaretta John, (2004). The Learning Portfolio. Bolton, MA: Anker.