Toolkit
Introduction
Most of the literature on teaching portfolios relates to teaching faculty in higher education, or to teachers in the elementary or secondary schools. Little has been written within the professional literature that relates specifically to library instruction and/or librarians..
Nevertheless, based upon anecdotal evidence, teaching portfolios appear to be increasing in popularity as a tool for academic librarians to document and subsequently improve their library instruction activities. It is not known how many colleges and university libraries currently require or encourage the use of teaching portfolios. Based on an informal query on behalf of the Committee posted by Nancy Dewald in (date: fall 03?) on the Information Literacy Instruction List (ILI-L), institutions whose librarians are using teaching portfolios either voluntarily or as a requirement Austin Community College, Iowa State University, Marshall University (WV), Murray State University (KY), Oregon State University, University of Illinois-Springfield, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Valdosta State, Virginia Tech, and Washington State University.
At Penn State, the teaching portfolio may be developed for a variety of reasons. One of them may be to demonstrate a librarian’s teaching effectiveness for a P&T review. If this is the case, the portfolio may be prepared as supplementary material to the dossier, and submitted for review committees to gain a more comprehensive understanding of your teaching efforts. Note that the guidelines for supplementary materials must be followed.
Judith Arnold, Extension Services Librarian from Marshall University, and presenter at the July 17, 2001 Penn State Teaching Portfolio Workshop, defines a teaching portfolio as “a selective compilation of materials that represent your teaching performance.” According to Arnold, a portfolio also shows accountability for bibliographic instruction (BI) and connects the instruction sessions that one delivers to a philosophy of reference and instruction. The portfolio documents your “strengths, accomplishment and your teaching improvement.”
What distinguishes a teaching portfolio from an annual evaluation? According to Michelle Millet, librarian at the University of Montana, there are four major differences between these activities:
Three major reasons for constructing teaching portfolios include:
According to Arnold a teaching portfolio shows “teaching effectiveness, encourages improvement and is used to earn tenure and/or promotion. This collection of documents shows the work that one puts into providing library instruction, tracks improvement and can be used as an assessment tool. Teaching portfolios may serve a formative or summative function. The assessment tools measure the implementation of a teaching method. The methods, in turn, are a reflection of the teaching philosophy in action. [Note: credit teaching activities can be included as well.]
For many reference and instruction librarians, the provision of course related instruction comprises a major responsibility within the area of librarianship. For evaluation purposes, especially but not limited to librarians on the tenure track, the documentation of library instruction is a necessary activity. The teaching portfolio allows the librarian to compile more than a list of course sections taught over time. Considering the importance of library instruction to student achievement and the significant amounts of time and effort that is committed to this activity by librarians, it is appropriate that the work is recognized and evaluated. The teaching portfolio provides an opportunity to document this activity and the development of one’s teaching over time.
According to Costantino and De Lorenzo teaching portfolios “encourage teachers to assume more responsibility and ownership for their own learning and professional growth” (2002, p. 5). Rather than reflecting just the activity that is documented, the process itself of compiling the portfolio becomes an opportunity for growth and for inspiring self-confidence. By fostering self-reflection and an awareness of growth and achievement, constructing a teaching portfolio can cause an individual to be empowered by the process.
Library instruction connects the coursework with the library resources and assists in directing students away from fruitless searching on the open Web. The teaching portfolio of an academic librarian should aim to address this interaction. While a teaching portfolio can vary depending on the unique activities of the instructor, it essentially contains the following components:
The current teaching responsibilities section tells the reader what courses/classes the teacher is currently teaching, how many students they have taught, even the number of hours at the reference desk if one-on-one teaching is also conducted there. This section would also include: any faculty workshops given, cross-training of colleagues, the creation of library or web-based guides and any committee memberships that have teaching aspects to them (Curriculum Committee) (Tuttle, 1999).
Other resources on teaching responsibilities:
Tips on putting together a description of teaching responsibilities (Ohio State University)
Teaching Portfolio of Paul L. Schumann, Ph.D. Business Professor at the Department of Management, College of Business, Mankato State University (link not available)
Samples of Teaching Responsibilities:
The narrative statement of one’s teaching philosophy describes the instructor’s goals, beliefs, and assumptions about teaching and learning that influence activities within the classroom. The narrative statement provides the opportunity for self-reflection and to articulate one’s own approach to the activity of teaching and instruction. Based on this statement, a connection may be drawn between instructional methodologies/strategies and the teaching philosophy.
One significant resource to consult when developing your philosophy statement is ACRL’s Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction. These objectives help you to develop an outcome based curriculum giving your philosophy statement more weight and credibility.
Questions to ask when writing the Narrative:
What sets you apart as a teacher? (Dawson, 2001)
What do you think your most important characteristics are as a teacher? (Dawson, 2001)
What are your teaching goals? (Dawson, 2001)
Why do you teach what you teach? And how you teach it? (Tuttle, 1999, p. 144)
What have you learned in your teaching experience? (Tuttle, 1999, p. 144)
What are the most significant claims you will make about teaching effectiveness? PSU Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT)
Why do you believe these claims are significant? PSU Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT)
Other resources on Creating Your Teaching Philosophy
- Articulating your Philosophy of Teaching (Center for Effective Teaching and Learning at the University of Texas at El Paso)
- Developing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement (Ohio State University (link not available)
- Frequently asked questions about the philosophy of Teaching Statement
- Reference and Bibliographic Instruction: A Survey of Philosophy Statements in LIBRAS Libraries by Ellen Keith and Dave Kohut at Northern Illinois University at http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/il980257.html (link not available)
Sample Personal Teaching Philosophies:
Paul A. Arrigo, Head Librarian, Penn State Shenango Library
Daniel Mack, Humanities Librarian, Arts and Humanities Library, Penn State University
Eric Novotny, Humanities Librarian, Arts and Humanities Library, Penn State University
Jane Tuttle, Head User Services Librarian, J. Drake Edens Library, Columbia College
This section provides an opportunity to share the methodologies used in your classes, how you prepare and how much time you spend preparing for each course, a description of how long your classes are and what type of skills you teach. Your personal teaching philosophy should be evident by the way you design, prepare and describe your courses in this section.
ACRL’s Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction is the perfect place to consult when writing your course methods, strategies and objectives. ACRL even provides a “Backward Design” process to help you write your Course Development Strategies.
This section also allows the librarian to describe the different methods used in various teaching settings and to state why they are effective. It provides the opportunity to share the development of your teaching over a period of years and how it has changed in response to your learning, student and faculty feedback, peer reviews, etc. How are your current teaching methods an improvement over earlier ones? Technology can also greatly influence the teaching methodology. You might comment on how you use technology to enhance your teaching, or to engage students. (Tuttle, 1999)
As information is gathered in support of your teaching philosophy statement, consider these questions:)
Other Resources on Teaching Methods & Strategies
Information Competency Standards (Information Literacy and Assessment), By ACRL http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm (link not available)
Information Literacy Standards: Step-by-step, ACRL. http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/infolitstandards/stepbystep1/stepbystep.htm
Integration of Learning Outcomes, California State University. http://www.calstate.edu/ls/outcomes.shtml
Sample Methods & Strategies:
