Academic Portfolios

Sarina Schrager, MD,MSUniversity of WisconsinDepartment of Family

Medicine

What is an academic portfolio?

Collection of materials that describe your academic work

Different than a CV—includes some reflection and evaluation

Not just publications and presentations

Goals of an Academic Portfolio

Demonstrate breadth of learning, teaching, and research

Range of achievements. Collecting and connecting your various accomplishments; a creative representation of your work and of you

Evaluate achievement of intended outcomes

Opportunity to showcase your accomplishments. Your best work

Reflect, assess own educational experience

Representative pieces; written reflections. To make connections between where you were, where you are, and where you want to be

Illustrate the learning process

Multiple drafts -- a process. To document teaching and research as it evolved over time.

Share one’s expertise Legacy of best practices in both teaching and research.

USC

Four Basic Processes for the Creation of an Academic Portfolio

Collection A relatively short collection of materials that summarizes and highlights an individual’s activities as a teacher and researcher.

Selection Why are you creating the portfolio? Who is reading it, and why?

Reflection Thinking critically about your total learning, teaching, and research experiences

Connections Making personally meaningful connections between Your teaching, Your field of research, its body of knowledge, and its applications Your service and community experiences

USC

A Document that Evolves Over Time

Remember: The portfolio is a living collection of documents and materials which change over time

New items are added, others are dropped. Once each year, when the research and service

section of the curriculum vitae are updated, the same is done for the portfolio’s teaching and research sections.

USC

Advantages of an Academic Portfolio The Section on Teaching

• Provides the stimulus and structure for self-reflection about areas of teaching (including those needing improvement)

o Concentrates on reflective analysis, action planning, and assessment of student learning.

o Provides evaluators with hard-to-ignore information on what a professor does in a classroom and why he/she does it.

The Section on Research• Provides the stimulus and structure for self-reflection about

areas of research that may lead to inter-disciplinary collaboration• Provides colleagues with the opportunity to contribute to the

portfolio’s creation through feedback and file exchanges Excerpts of Portfolio can be used in successful grant

applications

Used as credentials for those seeking academic positions

USC

What is in an educator’s portfolio?

Philosophy of Education - Personal theory of learning and teaching

Curriculum Development/Instructional Materials - Design, development and evaluation of curricula/programs

Teaching Skills - Documentation of teaching by target audience, year and topic

www.mcw.edu

What is in a portfolio (cont.)?

Assessment of Learner Performance - Construction and implementation of examinations/methods of assessment

Adviser - Lists of formal and informal advisees

Educational Administration - Leadership and management in education

www.mcw.edu

Portfolios (cont)

Educational Scholarship - Leadership and management in education

Continuing Education - Evidence of growing knowledge and skills as an educator

Honors and Awards - Recognition by peers and students

Long Term Goals - Reflection on portfolio and future plans

www.mcw.edu

How to get started

Clarify teaching responsibilities. 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

vitae. Physical presentation considerations.

www.utexas.edu

When should you start your portfolio?

On day one of your job Should be a “work-in-progress” Can use as a storage space Should evaluate yearly

Philosophy of education/clinical work

Articles Personal experiences Fiction, quotes Spend some time thinking about why you

are in academic medicine vs. private practice

Can evolve over time

Curriculum Development/Instructional

Materials

Copies of talks (include student groups, CME, community, etc)

Curriculum—paper, online Handouts Manuals

Teaching skills

Resident/student evaluations Lecture evaluations Teaching awards Direct feedback from students and

residents CME evaluations

Assessment of learner performance

Test questions Related to curriculum development Pre and post tests

Advisor

Medical student Resident Colleague PA/NP/Nurse

Educational/clinical administration

Course director Rotation coordinator Med school or residency committees Make notes while you are on committee

(frequency of meetings, outcomes, etc.)

Educational/clinical scholarship

All research goes here—grants, student projects, papers

All innovative curriculum/lectures/new models, etc. should be evaluated.

Study what you do (and document it here)

Continuing education

Conference brochures Specific talks or workshops that directly

relate to your area(s) of interest/expertise Listservs, journals

Honors and awards

Include a description of the award

Long term goals

Re-evaluate annually Work-in-progress Sort of like a professional development

journal

How to get started?

Accordion file Web-based accounts (i.e. file all lecture

evals, e-mail feedback from students, residents) Make 10 electronic folders with the same

headings as the paper ones

Examples

http://medschool.ucsf.edu/academy/membership/categories.aspx#cat1 (UCSF—website has specific examples of how to document material for portfolio)

http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/teachfolio.html (University of Texas at Austin- a handbook of “Preparing a teaching portfolio”