Reflecting on Teaching Growth and Impact on Student Learning: A Guided Self-Assessment Tool

How can you reflect on and document your teaching values and beliefs over time in your teaching narrative?

You may consider documenting your teaching values and beliefs in your teaching narrative via a Teaching Philosophy Statement. Teaching Philosophy Statements are not static documents but rather evolve, shift, and transform informed by your growing teaching experiences and your students’ learning experiences. You may consider reflecting on teaching values and beliefs as aligned to specific teaching innovations, research-based teaching and learning practices, student learning outcomes, assessments, student feedback, and student needs. Specifically, you may note shifts in teaching values and beliefs as well as growing awareness of any potential implicit biases about students’ learning experiences as informed by student feedback, peer observations of teaching, course evaluations, and research-informed practices.

How can you reflect on course redesign innovations implemented and the impact they have on student learning, engagement, and success?

Consider documenting teaching effectiveness around specific innovative and creative teaching practices, such as flipped classroom, augmented reality, effective use of technology, Open Educational Resources (OER), Universal Design for Learning, accessibility, curriculum alignment, among others. Specifically, in your teaching narrative move beyond only naming the teaching innovation. Instead, consider exploring the teaching innovation and/or creative practice within the context of how effectively and positively engages and influences learners in their learning experiences and growth in your course and beyond. You may consider providing examples of students’ reflections and/or activities, assignments, and assessments where they engage with the innovation or creative practice.

How can you reflect on research-based teaching strategies, specifically on how they are linked to student learning outcomes, assessment, and student learning and engagement?

Consider reflecting on the research-based teaching strategies that inform your teaching and learning activities and assignments/assessments. For instance, do you draw on the following to inform your teaching: experiential/service learning, undergraduate/graduate research and learning practices, service learning, study abroad, studio performances, community engagement, problem-based learning, team-based learning, collaborative assignments, a new technology, culturally responsive/relevant teaching, active learning/dynamic lecturing strategies, shift to learning as opposed to "grades,” etc.? If so, consider drawing on these and other research-based teaching and learning to explore how you have implemented them, how they are linked to specific learning outcomes, and what impact they had on your students’ overall learning and engagement in the course and beyond. You may consider providing examples of students’ reflections and/or activities, assignments, and assessments where they engage with the innovation or creative practice.

Beyond the numerical expectations for course evaluations, how do you contextualize course evaluations as aligned to student learning and continuous improvement of teaching?

Please note that your department may have specific guidelines and criteria around course evaluations; please review them. However, best teaching and learning practices emphasize that documenting teaching effectiveness around course evaluations are normally contextualized within other teaching effectiveness categories/criteria.  For instance, you may consider providing evidence of how you have incorporated additional student feedback questions in your course evaluations to enhance your growth as an educator and further respond to students’ need to ensure their growth. Similarly, you may note how you collect feedback from students on teaching and learning experiences throughout the semester. Additionally, if you have worked with the Center for Teaching Excellence Students as Learners and Teachers at a Hispanic Serving Institution program, you may consider providing examples of the feedback you received and/or how such feedback informed your approaches to collect feedback from your own students. Specifically, in your teaching narrative, you may provide evidence of reflecting on course evaluations and student feedback through a growth mindset approach that reflects your commitment to continuous improvement of teaching by specifying teaching and learning practices you have revised and the overall impact these revisions had (or that you hope have) on student learning and engagement. Finally, you may consider providing examples of specific revisions you implemented to your courses, such as revised sections on course syllabi, activities, assignments, assessments, and/or assessment processes.

How do you engage in eliciting and providing peer observation of teaching and how do you engage with the feedback provided/received?

Documenting your teaching effectiveness related to peer observation of teaching may consist of reflecting on 1. how you proceeded to seek specific feedback on your teaching and learning practices from peers, specifically what questions you asked and why was this important to you and your students? 2. How did you reflect on the feedback you received? What did you learn? How do plan to implement suggestions? 3. How did you implement the revisions in subsequent semesters and what was the outcome? 4. What impact did these revisions have on student learning and engagement? Please note that to reflect on the peer observation of process fully as suggested here, you may need to seek feedback from peers on a timely manner and on a regular basis beyond minimum number required for peer observation of teaching. In this way, you illustrate your continuous growth as an educator. Additionally, you may also consider reflecting on the impact that conducting peer observations of teaching have on your own growth as an educator as well and the teaching and learning revisions you have made in your own courses as informed by observing your peers.  

Beyond the number of professional development session (s) you participate in, how do you engage with the impact the professional development session(s) had on your continuous improvement of teaching and student learning?

As you reflect on the professional development sessions on teaching and learning that you attended, please consider providing evidence of a clear and compelling commitment and rationale for participating in professional development and/or academic teaching conferences. Most importantly, you may consider aligning your participation to specific teaching and learning revisions you have implemented to reflect your development of continuous improvement in teaching and/or innovation in preparation of course materials. Specifically, consider presenting evidence of application and impact on student learning. For example, you may consider providing examples of how you have revised specific teaching and learning materials as well as students’ reflections and/or activities, assignments, and assessments where they engage with the innovation or creative practice.

How do you reflect on the impact of leading professional development, specifically the impact related to leading other instructors to reflect on their continuous improvement of teaching and student learning?

If applicable, you may consider reflecting on professional development activities where you have been a thought leader in the area of teaching and learning, such as leading professional development activities, collaborating with the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) Center for Online Learning and Teaching Technology (COLTT) and colleges and programs. Specifically, you may highlight how the activities noted lead others to learn about teaching and learning strategies to improve teaching methods that positively influence student learning and actively engage learners. Most importantly, consider providing evidence on the impact of professional development activities on instructors' reflections on their teaching values and continuous improvement of teaching and learning practices. For example, you can provide assessment scores from session evaluation surveys and/or reflective responses from faculty participants in the program as well as any deliverables they submitted as part of the professional development series.

If applicable, how do you provide evidence on the impact of deliberate teaching, research, and service intersections, specifically as one centered on continuous improvement of teaching and student learning and engagement?

If applicable, consider reflecting on and providing clear and compelling evidence of alignment among teaching, research and service. Specifically, you may consider exploring areas such as Scholarship of Teaching and Learning where exploration centers on how teaching informs research and how research informs teaching. For instance, you may provide evidence of reflection related to how a new teaching approach might lead toward a research study or project. You may also provide evidence of how a specific course design may lead to new assessment approaches to consider in assessment committees or how a service project in the community informs a course design and research study. Ultimately, you can provide an exploration on how such alignment contributes to better understanding students’ needs, which leads to student learning and engagement.

How do you reflect on the impact teaching awards at the local, national, international awards have had on your continuous growth as a teacher to impact student success?

If you received teaching awards at the local, national, and/or international levels, please ensure you highlight the importance of this recognition for you and your students. Specifically, you may consider reflecting on how the award has contributed to continuous commitment to teaching and learning, specifically impacting teaching practices and student learning and engagement. 

In case you are interested in learning more about documenting teaching effectiveness, please consider these resources.

Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Osborn Popp, S. E. (2012). Peer observations among faculty in a college of education: Investigating the summative and formative uses of the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 24(1), 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-011-9135-1

Barber, L. (1990). Self-Assessment. In J. Millman & L. Darling-Hammond (Eds), The new handbook of teacher evaluation (pp. 216-229). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986250.n13

Beatty, J. E., Leigh, J. S., & Dean, K. L. (2009). Philosophy rediscovered: Exploring the connections between teaching philosophies, educational philosophies, and philosophy. Journal of Management Education, 33(1), 99-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562907310557

Coppola, B. P. (2002). Writing a statement of teaching philosophy. Journal of College Science Teaching, 31(7), 448-453. https://5y1.org/download/86d28b2a3e62556650149099deb36d50.pdf

Forsyth, D. R. (2016). Documenting: Developing a teaching portfolio. In D. R. Forsyth, College teaching: Practical insights from the science of teaching and learning (pp. 273–295). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14777-011

Fox, R. K., White, C. S., & Kidd, J. K. (2011). Program portfolios: Documenting teachers’ growth in reflection‐based inquiry. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 17(1), 149-167. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2011.538506

French, A., & O’Leary, M. (Eds.). (2017). Teaching excellence in higher education: Challenges, changes and the teaching excellence framework. Emerald Group Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/9781787147614

Halonen, J. S., Dunn, D. S., McCarthy, M. A., & Baker, S. C. (2012). Are you really above average? Documenting your teaching effectiveness. In B. M. Schwartz & R. A. R. Gurung (Eds.), Evidence-based teaching for higher education (pp. 131–149). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13745-008

Kohut, G. F., Burnap, C., & Yon, M. G. (2007). Peer observation of teaching: Perceptions of the observer and the observed. College teaching, 55(1), 19-25. https://doi.org/10.3200/CTCH.55.1.19-25

Kanuka, H., & Sadowski, C. (2020). Reflective Peer Observations of University Teaching: A Canadian Case Study. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 17(5), 11. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.17.5.11

McFarland, C. (2005). Documenting teaching and learning: Practices, attitudes, and opportunities in college and university archives. Archival Issues, 19-43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41102093

Ouellett, M. L. (2007). Your teaching portfolio: Strategies for initiating and documenting growth and development. Journal of Management Education, 31(3), 421-433. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562906298446

Pereira, M. A., Barro, D., Trezzi, C., Spicer-Escalante, M. L., & Felicetti, V. L. (2020). Autoavaliação: observando e analisando a prática docente. Estudos em Avaliação Educacional, 31(76), 7-26. Epub 26 de agosto de 2020. https://publicacoes.fcc.org.br/eae/article/view/7010

Schönwetter, D. J., Sokal, L., Friesen, M., & Taylor, K. L. (2002). Teaching philosophies reconsidered: A conceptual model for the development and evaluation of teaching philosophy statements. International Journal for Academic Development, 7(1), 83-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/13601440210156501

Seldin, P., Miller, J. E., & Seldin, C. A. (2010). The teaching portfolio: A practical guide to improved performance and promotion/tenure decisions. John Wiley & Sons.

Spicer-Escalante, M. L. & Bullock, C. (Eds.). (2019). USU Teaching Documentation: Dossiers from the Mentoring Program. Utah State University. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=ua_faculty

Wood, P. (2017). From teaching excellence to emergent pedagogies: A complex process alternative to understanding the role of teaching in higher education. In A. French & M. O’Leary (Eds.), Teaching excellence in higher education: Challenges, changes, and the teaching excellence framework (pp. 39-75). Emerald Group Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-761-420171003

Weaver, J.C., Bertelsen, C.,  and Othma, K. (2022) “Documenting your Teaching: A Guide to Promote Reflective and Responsive Instruction.” Journal of Empowering Teaching Excellence. https://uen.pressbooks.pub/jetev6i2/chapter/2/.