A university course is a journey
Today I was part of a panel presentation on teaching portfolios. One of the analogies I used was that of a course being like a journey, and I created this slide to illustrate my point:
Material for a teaching porfolio is actually best gathered throughout the duration of a course, but at a pinch, replaying the course mentally can be a good substitute.
Either way, my technique was to think about every activity that happens during a course and ask myself these three questions:
- What do I do? Even seemingly insigificant things can help show your approach to teaching.
- Why do I do that? There is always another way to do everything, and it is important to have a sound reason for every teaching practice. Just asking this question can lead to a lot of learning
- How can I provide evidence? Evidence doesn't have to stand up in a court of law, but just has to give examples of what you do.