Teaching Documentation

Teaching Philosophy

Topics that may be included:

What do you believe about teaching and learning? What are your guiding principles for instruction? What has influenced your teaching approach and perspective?
What is your approach to instruction? Why do you utilize this particular approach?
(Teaching excellence) How do you practice a scholarly approach to teaching? What guides your teaching development? Literature; colleagues and mentors; workshops; conferences, etc.?
What are your expectations of students? What do you want them to learn? State how your expectations shape your practice.
How do you think students learn in your discipline; how do you facilitate learning? Discuss techniques and methods you use to maximize the probability of learning.
How do you motivate and establish rapport with students?
Your theory of assessment; how does your philosophy inform your assessment strategies?
How does your philosophy inform the kind and timing of the feedback you give students?
How does your philsophy shape your responsiveness to feedback, self-reflection, and reconsideration of your approach?

Teacher/Course Load and Evaluations

Discuss teaching load and provide departmental context for this load; if load is not reflected in a student evaluation table summary, include a table with course load by semester. Make sure to differentiate between teaching as part of load and overload teaching.
In discussing your teaching load, refer to your engagement in curriculum development (i.e., development of new courses/programs, noteworthy revisions of courses/programs).
For faculty being considered for promotion to Professor, clearly differentiate teaching that has occurred since promotion to Associate Professor.
Provide a table or graphical summary of student evaluation data; summarize, explain, and provide context for these data (e.g., provide an explanation for low or anomalous scores on student/course evaluations).
Include original IDEA reports (quantitative and qualitative responses) in your dossier.
When communicating about IDEA scores, use t-scores and discuss the broad categories in which these scores fall (e.g., similar, higher, etc.).
Share themes from qualitative student feedback that have informed your teaching practice; however, resist "cherry picking" direct quotes in ways that only showcase highy positive appraisals. Offer a balanced presentation of themes and share how this has informed your subsequent teaching approach.
Include a self-evaluation of teaching that reflects your commitment to continuous improvement:
- Report any mid-course student surveys or evaluations you used. How did you change your practice?
- Report any pre- and post-course testing and how these resulted in course changes.
- Carefully document changes made over time in response to evaluations.

Peer Evaluation

Peer reviews of teaching should be completed annually. It is best-practice to have one of your peer evaluators visit the same class over multiple years so that the evaluation can include comments regarding modifications in and development of teaching over time.
Peer evaluators should include constructive comments. A written summary of the peer evaluation should be provided in a timely manner to the candidate. All written peer evaluations should appear in the dossier.
Address how comments made by peers have informed your subsequent teaching approach.
(Teaching excellence) Invite off-campus colleagues to review your syllabi or teaching approachesand provide their written appraisals in your dossier.

Student Mentoring

Where your student mentoring philosophy and approach are unique from your classroom instruction philosophy and approach, share your perspective on mentoring here.
Report on undergraduate students, graduate students (indicate degree level if still in the program and degrees completed under your advisement), and post-docs (provide dates) who worked with you on research activities.
List publications and presentations co-authored with students. Make sure to differentiate between students you directly mentor and students on publications who are directly mentored by someone else.
Note any unique accomplishments of these students (placement following graduation, awards received, contributions to your research, co-authorship, etc.).
Provide summary of thesis/dissertation committees on which you were a member including student name, department, degree, and date completed.
If other types of mentoring/advising are provided to students, describe this and outcomes.

Curriculum/Program Oversight (if applicable)

If your role statement includes leadership in delivery of an academic program (e.g., undergraduate program director), describe your role in this program and provide data to demonstrate your impact.

Clinical Supervision (if applicable)

Clearly explain what clinical supervision looks like in your field (e.g., what do you do with students?, what is the time involved?). Because many outside CEHS will not understand what clinical supervision involves, providing this context is important.
Provide documentation of the volume of your supervision activity (e.g., number of supervisees over a particular time period).
Provide documentation of the impact of your supervision.

Direct Clinical Services (if applicable)

Clearly explain the nature and amount of direct clinical services you provide and offer data that document the impact of your services.

Teaching Innovations

Describe teaching innovations or unique approaches you use; how students respond to those innovations; discuss data that support student learning as a result of this innovation or approach.
Describe any funding obtained for pedagogical research or to improve your course (e.g., Excellence in Teaching and Learning Grant).
Describe how you respond to student and peer course feedback in constructive and innovative ways.
For those whose primary area is teaching, this section can be critical. Good IDEA scores are not sufficient to demonstrate excellence in teaching. Documentation of teaching improvement and innovation is critical. Documentation of outputs (e.g., peer reviewed papers, conference presentations, curriculum development) provides helpful evidence of innovation and that teaching excellence has been achieved.

Teaching Awards or Other Achievements

List awards or other significant recognitions you have received for teaching/mentoring.
Describe service outside of your program area that is tied to fostering teaching innovation and excellence.
Share other achievements in teaching that are not captured in other subsections described above.

Supporting Materials (In Appendices)

Full IDEA PDF files for all courses taught.
- For faculty being considered for promotion to Professor, if many courses have been taught, it may make sense to include only files for classes since promotion to Associate Professor.
Original peer evaluations of teaching.
Details of evidence of student learning (e.g., pre/post scores before and after a course).
Evidence that you are continually working to refine your teaching skills and to understand student learning. Document workshops that you have attended, books you have read, and data you have collected from your classes.
External reviews of online courses and/or syllabi (if any).