1. IU South Bend Trustees Teaching Award Dossier Preparation Workshop
Spring 2017

2. IU Trustees Teaching Award (TTA)
Awards given to applicants who show evidence of sustained and consistent teaching excellence
Eligibility:
Completed minimum of two full years of teaching at IU South Bend before eligible to apply
Can receive the award no more than once in a three-year period
Faculty rank
Tenured and tenure-track faculty
Full-time lecturers
Clinical faculty whose primary duty is teaching
Website for more information and materials:

3. Dossier Deadline: March 1, 2017
Submit to your College or School
School of the Arts (Marvin Curtis, Dean of the Arts)
School of Business and Economics (Karla Forsythe, Secretary to the Dean)
School of Education (Peggy Geik, Secretary to the Dean)
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Linda Heidrich, Secretary to the Dean)
Library (Vicki Bloom, Dean of the Library)
College of Health Sciences (Karen Clark, Dean of Health Sciences)

4. Sections of Teaching Dossier
TTA Dossier Cover Sheet
1) Teaching philosophy and self-analysis
2) Teaching accomplishments
3) Peer review of teaching
4) Optional types of documentation
5) Appendix
-One page summary of student evaluations
-Student evaluations and comments for past three years
Limit 10 pages

5. TTA Dossier Cover Sheet

6. From The Rubric: Teaching Statement

7. 1. Teaching Philosophy / Self-reflective statement
Narrative
Story Approach about how you have changed or developed
Questions:
How have you developed as a teacher? Why?
How have your strategies changed? Why?
How does the story connect to what you DO in your classroom?
Where are you heading? Why?
Conceptual
Developing a model or conceptualization of your teaching overall
What are the important elements of your teaching?
How do these elements connect to student learning?
What do you do that represents these elements?

8. 1. Teaching Philosophy / Self-reflective statement
What do you believe about teaching/student learning?
Provide context:
What are the needs of your students, department, discipline?
How does student identity and background make a difference in how you teach?
What do you still struggle with in terms of teaching and student learning?
– Include examples that illustrate key points: Good examples of what you do and why your approach is effective
Commitment to teaching and professional growth as a teacher

9. Teaching philosophy: Provide specific examples (take the reader into your classroom)
Example 1: “One of my main teaching objectives is to engage and motivate my students. In lectures, I do this by ….. When I use this technique, students ask more questions…..”
Example 2: "It is crucial for students of biology to learn techniques for sampling organisms, organizing large data sets, and analyzing data. Three examples of labs that I have developed illustrate how students master these skills over the course of the semester... These labs work, as **% of students pass the lab exam…..”
Example 3: "As a teacher of writing, I am committed to using peer review in my classes. By reading and commenting on other students' work in small cooperative groups, my students learn to find their voice, to understand the important connection between writer and audience, and to hone their editing skills. Using peer review, I see students are able to improve their writing. For example, in a first draft, one student wrote…., but in the final version he made the connection by writing….."
Describe what happens in your classroom?
Is your description specific enough to bring the scene to life in a teaching philosophy?
Provide evidence this works

10. Common Pitfalls Too abstract and philosophical Stream of consciousness
Lack of coherence
Lack of specific examples
Lack of reflection or enough detail to understand why this teaching approach is effective.
Example:
In keeping with the objective of having an interactive classroom, I encourage student creativity. Students have engaged in such diverse activities as playing games and analyzing the symbolism in an episode of M*A*S*H.

11. Better example of reflection
… a suggestion was made to, “Work a participation grade into the grading structure. Perhaps add some more formal classroom assessment techniques.” I have since added participation points to … and attendance has improved. This is important because the correlation in my courses between attendance and final grade has been as high as Often, participation is tied to “minute papers” in which students … I call these “got it / didn’t get it” papers, and I have been … They actually state things like, “I probably need to go back and review X,” or … These assignments not only allow me to see what I need to review more thoroughly in class, but also give students a chance for self-reflection on their studies.
Narrative
Activity
Impact on Students
Conceptual
Activity
Impact on Students
Narrative: Impact on my teaching

12. Think about ways to document student learning
Lack of evidence of student learning
Student evaluation data ≠ student learning
95% of my students report that I am knowledgeable
Better Evidence
Student should be able to ……
Skill or concept assessed on each exam
On exam 1: 25% of students succeeded
On exam 2: 57% of students succeeded
On exam 3: 86% of students succeeded
Performance on pre- and post-tests
Improvement in writing assignments (compare assignments early in the semester to those later in the semester)
Qualitative evidence showing change in student behavior
And Many Others!

13. Teaching Philosophy Brainstorming
Goals and Themes
Student Outcomes
Content mastery
Engaged citizens
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Communication skills
Inclusiveness
Individual fulfillment
Discovery and knowledge generation
Teamwork
Self-directed learning
Experiential learning
Mentorship
Innovation
And many more
Student evaluations
Testing
Writing assessment
Classroom behavior
Peer review of student outcomes
Student communications
Assessment of assignments
Class discussions
Student feedback and satisfaction surveys
Pre- and Post- assessments
Student qualification or certifications
Student projects
Student publications and presentations
And many more

14. Teaching Accomplishments

15. 2. Summary of Teaching Accomplishments (focus on past 3 years)
Use headings and follow order listed in guidelines
(can leave out categories if nothing to list)
Courses taught with enrollments
Teaching-related publications and/or presentations
Teaching awards
Teaching grants
Course development
Teaching innovations/curriculum design
Teaching-related service
You should think about how these accomplishments relate to your teaching statement. You can also include brief statements explaining major accomplishments, but keep in mind the 10-page limit.

16. Peer Review

17. 3. Peer Review Letter
Letter from peer who has had direct classroom observation or reviewed your course materials
If reviewer is looking course materials, be sure it is a substantial review of material and not just an overview of their impressions.
Letter should include date/time frame of peer review
No more than 2 pages
Included as part of the 10-page limit
You need to talk with peer reviewer about
Teaching philosophy
Goals for course
Teaching accomplishments (leadership, workshops, peer mentoring)

18. 4. Optional Types of Documentation
Unsolicited student comments 

Information on student learning outcomes 

Evidence of teaching rigor
Information about course development or curriculum initiatives 

Attendance at workshops, seminars, or conferences related to teaching 

Additional letters from peers who have had direct classroom observation or reviewed 
course materials of the candidate 

Student work samples 

Quality of advising and/or mentoring of students outside of classes taught
Any additional information related to teaching Any additional information related teaching
Example: Evidence of student mentoring
Undergraduate Research?
Undergraduate Student Advising?
Clinical Placements?
Relevant community service?

19. Overall Impression

20. 4. Optional Types of Documentation
Once again, you can briefly comment on this documentation and how it demonstrates excellence and/or fits with your teaching statement rather than just list them if needed. Keep in mind, it is part of the 10-page limit.
Provide enough description so that someone outside of your field can understand the breadth of what you have done and your contributions

21. Student Evaluations

22. 5. Appendix: Teaching Evaluations (not included in 10-page limit)
2-page summary of student evaluations (text and table). Helpful to provide context
Explain rating scale; How evaluations administered
In summary table, include number of students completing evaluation and class size
Point out trends
Highlight different levels of instruction
Attach evaluations. Include all evaluations and comments from courses taught at IU South Bend in the past 3 yrs

23. Table 1. Summary of student evaluations for courses taught between Rating scale ranges from 0-4 with 4 being the highest ranking.
In summary table could
Organize chronologically
Organize by course so can see trends over time
Organize by level of course (Introductory level, Upper level, Graduate level?)

24. Summary of Student Evaluations Over the Past Three Years
Below are the averages I received for five questions on the student evaluations. A score of "1" represents strongly disagree (poor performance) whereas a score of "5" represents strongly agree (excellent performance). Modes for each question are in parentheses. Generally, these evaluations demonstrate that …..(give trends) An important component of my teaching philosophy is to encourage students to be independent learners, which is reflected in the evaluation for providing helpful feedback. Learning how to use feedback to become both better at writing and more independent is also reflected in the written comments. One student noted, “****.” AND SO ON………
Class
Semester
Sample/ Enrollment
Overall Instructor
Explains Well
Learning Environment
Helpful Feedback
Welcomes questions
Parenting, B190
Fall,
2016
17/23
4.2 (4)
4.7 (5)
Methods of Experimental Psychology, P211
13/13
Psychology of Childhood & Adolescence, P316
Spring,
16/21
20/25
Marriage & Family, B399
28/30
Advanced Lab, P471
17/20
Mean Overall Courses
Percent Modes are 5
Any other row which makes your case!!
Tell us what you want us to see! Tell us where to look! Tell us what this means!!

25. Final thoughts GOT IT IN THE BAG! Independent Learning?
Shape the dossier so that it
Highlights your creativity and interest in teaching
Your philosophy about teaching and student learning
Reflection on your growth as a teacher
Student learning outcomes
What makes you excellent and special
Include specific examples
Course development
Mentoring of students and colleagues
Professional growth
Scholarship
Directs us to your excellence!
Tell us what we are seeing
Independent Learning?
GOT IT IN THE BAG!