Faculty Share Best Practices for Documenting Teaching Activities and Effectiveness

Professional Development

The teaching portfolio is a structured collection of information from a variety of sources—students, colleagues, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and one’s own experiences—that documents your teaching. The portfolio can serve many roles. While it describes and documents achievements in teaching, it also provides a means for self-reflection and professional development as a teacher.

Join us for an interdisciplinary faculty panel representing Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Development, and the School of Medicine. Panelists will describe their process for documenting and assembling their teaching portfolios and share their recommendations for documenting teaching effectiveness beyond student evaluations.

As a result of attending this session, you will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose and benefits of documenting your teaching and developing a teaching portfolio;
  • List components of successful teaching portfolios; and
  • Identify sources of evidence and data to demonstrate teaching effectiveness.

Session Date

Presenter Bios

Cynthia Metz, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology, where she serves as course director for the School of Dentistry Systemic Physiology course and the School of Medicine Prematriculation Program. Her educational research is focused on the integration of active learning and technology into the classroom, and the impact of these methods on student performance and motivation. For this work, she has received a “Top 4” Favorite Faculty Award, a Ronald Doyle Award for Excellence in Basic Sciences Education, an Outstanding Early Career Award in Post-Secondary Education from the Kentucky Academy of Science, and a New Investigator Award from the American Physiological Society Teaching Section.

Kate E. Snyder, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Educational Psychology, Measurement, and Evaluation in the College of Education and Human Development. She earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Duke University. In her research program, she focuses on understanding the role of achievement motivation in the development of academic underachievement, particularly among academically gifted students. She teaches graduate level courses on human development and learning. She was also nominated as a 2014-15 Faculty Favorite.

Sherri L. Wallace, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Political Science. She is co-author with Hanes Walton, Jr. and Robert C. Smith on American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom, 8e (Forthcoming 2017). Her teaching areas are African American politics, American politics, state and local politics, and public policy. She is the recipient of the Kentuckiana Metroversity colleges and universities 2013 regional “Grawemeyer Award for Outstanding Instructional Design,” and the National Conference of Black Political Scientists 2014 national “Anna Julia Cooper Teacher of the Year” award for “excellence in teaching.” Her research areas include college textbook diversity, race and politics, women and faculty of color in academe, and community economic development. She has served as an executive officer/member on numerous committees in the American Political Science Association (APSA), Midwest Political Science Association, National Conference of Black Political Scientists, Southern Political Science Association, Southwestern Political Science Association, and Western Political Science Association. Currently, she serves as the president of the political science education organized section in APSA.

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