Development of a Web Page Template for an Electronic Teaching Portfolio N. Scott Gorman

College of Optometry, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USAPURPOSE:

Schools and colleges of optometry are exploring ways to improve and reward teaching. The customary curriculum vita describes publications, research, and other scholarly activities, but does not address accomplishments in teaching. Therefore, faculty members must provide clear and concise evidence of the quality of their teaching to tenure and promotion review committees. A Web page template for an electronic teaching portfolio was developed to provide a way to report and display information on teaching activities and evidence of their effectiveness.

METHODS:

Microsoft FrontPage 2002, a hypertext markup language (HTML) editor, was used to develop a Web page template for an electronic teaching portfolio. The template was published to the World Wide Web at www.nova.edu/~scottg/Portfolio and is hosted on a server at Nova Southeastern University.

RESULTS:

The Web page template was designed for faculty members to provide information on their teaching responsibilities; teaching philosophy; teaching methods, strategies, and objectives; student ratings; peer evaluations of classroom teaching and/or teaching materials; statements by department chairs attesting to the faculty member's contribution to teaching; detailed, representative course syllabi;

RESULTS CON’T:

products of teaching including evidence of student learning in both print and electronic forms; teaching awards and recognition; and short- and long-term teaching goals. The template's electronic format allows for the use of text, graphics, tables, charts, as well as audio and video clips. It also permits the inclusion of hypertext (links).

CONCLUSIONS:

The Web page template is a flexible and adaptable technology. It provides a way for faculty members to report and display their work and accomplishments in teaching through an easily accessible online technology.

Eight Steps to Creating an Electronic Teaching Portfolio¹

Summarize teaching responsibilities

Describe your approach to teaching

Select items for the portfolio

Prepare statements on each item

Arrange the items in order

Compile the supporting data

Incorporate the portfolio into the

curriculum vita

Insert information into template

Uses for the Electronic Teaching Portfolio¹

Improve teaching through self-reflection

Reconsider teaching activities

Rethink teaching strategies and objectives

Recognize priorities

Plan for the future

Evaluate teaching

Make personal decisions

Advantages of the Electronic Teaching Portfolio¹

More types of information about the individual and

his/her teaching can be included and displayed

Materials presented can be animations, simulations, or

video clips

Appendices can be stored on disk (or server)

Electronic publications on the Internet can be easily

accessed

Portfolio materials are not lost during transport between

reviewers

Provides the ability to model in the portfolio that which

a professor embeds in the course

Disadvantages of the Electronic Teaching Portfolio¹

There may be too much emphasis on the “bells and whistles” of

the portfolio rather than on using technology to support and meet

the objectives of the designer

Potentially, the readers of the portfolio may need to be provided

with appropriate hardware and software in order to access

information on a disk or on the Internet provided by the portfolio

designer

Portfolio readers and/or reviewers may need to be educated

about the importance of reviewing diverse portfolio components

It may be inconvenient for the readers/reviewers to access the

electronic information presented

¹Seldin, Peter (1997). The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Improved Promotion/Tenure Decisions. Anchor Publishing Co: Bolton, MA.

The template for this electronic teaching portfolio is available from the author. Please send requests to scottg@nova.edu.