1. Writing a Teaching Statement
UCET
Careers Workshop
October 11, 2017
Writing a Teaching Statement
Deborah Marr, Department of Biology
Gwynn Mettetal, UCET Director

2. Reasons for writing Teaching Statement
Promotion, Tenure, Reappointment (PTR)
Usually longer statement (~5 pages)
Includes teaching philosophy, background on courses you teach, reflective narrative, highlights teaching accomplishments
Teaching awards
Trustees Teaching Award (TTA)
Teaching philosophy, reflective narrative, highlights teaching accomplishments
Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching (FACET)
Teaching philosophy
Learning episode and reflective narrative
Teacher of the Universe awards
Teaching philosophy and reflective narrative

3. Outline Main goal of any teaching statement:
Document the Quality of your Teaching
Process
Brainstorm/ Organization stage
Teaching statement similar to syllabus in that you need to think about ultimate/end goals for your courses
What knowledge and skills do your students need to master?
How are you going to provide window in your courses?
Write draft
Feedback from colleagues
Revise

4. Brainstorm What are the goals/themes/skills you emphasize throughout your classes?
Content mastery
Engaged citizens
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Communication skills
Inclusiveness/Empathy
Individual fulfillment
Discovery and knowledge generation
Teamwork
Self-directed learning
Experiential learning

5. Brainstorm Organize your teaching accomplishments and types of evidence Internal measures of teaching effectiveness
How does course design fit learning objectives? (syllabus, sample course materials, narrative)
How well do students meet course objectives?
document opportunities students have to work through material
proportion of class showing change over course of semester
other assessment
What do students think of course and instruction?
How do you guide student thinking and behavior?

6. Brainstorm Organize your teaching accomplishments and types of evidence External measures of teaching effectiveness
Peer review of class instruction or course materials
Conference/Workshop presentations, Publications
Curriculum grants
Teaching awards or recognition from other sources noting Instructor’s ability to engage students
Feedback from alumni or employers on student learning (usually rare to have this)

7. Use ideas from brainstorming to address these questions
Write draft
Use ideas from brainstorming to address these questions
What do you believe about teaching?
What is most important in your courses or in the types of students you work with?
How does your approach to teaching facilitate student learning?

8. Write draft to Question 1: 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:
Identify good examples of what you do and why your approach is effective
Commitment to teaching and professional growth as a teacher

9. 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 ….. ”
Example 2: "It is crucial for students of biology to learn techniques for sampling organisms, organizing large data sets, and analyzing data. Examples of labs that I have developed illustrate how students practice these skills over the course of the semester...”
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."
Describe what happens in your classroom?
Is your description specific enough to bring the scene to life?

10. Develop specific examples and support with
Write draft to Question 2: How does your approach to teaching facilitate student learning?
Develop specific examples and support with
Course materials
Student work
Pre-test/post-test
Reflection on what is working and why
Only include course materials that connect to specific points being made in narrative

11. 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)

12. Common weaknesses
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.

13. 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.

14. Throughout Teaching statement: Reflect on what works and why
Do not reduce your teaching to listing techniques
“Good teachers dwell in the mystery of good teaching until it dwells in them...They discover and develop methods of teaching that emerge from their own integrity-but they never reduce their teaching to technique.”
Palmer PJ (1990) Good teaching: A matter of living the mystery.
Change, 22, pp

15. Common pitfalls in teaching statements
Avoid abstract philosophy
Overly emotional language
Empty statements
Lacks examples that pull reader into the classroom and “see” rationale for your approach

16. Strive to highlight your creativity and interest in teaching
Develop argument supported with specific examples
Make your teaching statement stand out
Teaching statement as self-portrait of your classroom

17. For PTR Teaching Statement Include Teaching Accomplishments
Evidence for student-learning outcomes
Teaching-related publications and/or presentations
Teaching awards
Teaching grants (curriculum, technology, online, other?)
Course development
Teaching innovations/curriculum design
Teaching-related service
Professional development relevant to teaching
Discuss trends in student evaluations (or key items you want the committee to notice)
Any additional information related teaching
Example: Evidence of student mentoring
Undergraduate Research?
Undergraduate Student Advising?
Clinical Placements?
Relevant community service?

18. Have faculty outside your field read your statement
Provide enough description so that someone outside of your field can understand the breadth of what you have done and your contributions

19. Fish diversity lab (Biol L474)
Final thoughts
Shape your teaching statement so that it
Highlights your creativity and interest in teaching
Includes reflection on your growth as a teacher
Documents student learning outcomes
Includes specific examples
Course development
Mentoring of students and colleagues
Professional growth
Scholarship
Fish diversity lab (Biol L474)

20. Resources UCET Resources – IU South Bend Journal Articles
Online: One Stop Resources site > Teaching > Career Section
Library: Look at teaching statements written by faculty in other disciplines
Journal Articles
Chronicle of Higher Education (2015) How to write a teaching statement that sings. Retrieved from:
Berk RA (2014) Should student outcomes be used to evaluate teaching? [Editorial]. Journal of Faculty Development, 28, pp
Conrad CF, Johnson J, Gupta DM (2007) Teaching-for-Learning (TFL): A model for faculty to advance student learning. Innovation in Higher Education, 32, pp
Wieman C (2015) A better way to evaluate Undergraduate Teaching. Change: Magazine of Higher Learning, January-February 2015 issues, Retrieved from: