1. Applying for promotion on learning and teaching 1 Gathering Evidence
Dr. Marita Grimwood
and
Professor Steve Mchanwell

2. Introductions
Please introduce yourself with
Your name
Your department
One thing that makes your contribution to learning and teaching excellent or exceptional
This workshop aims to increase your clarity and confidence around applying for promotion
Marita and steve introduce ourselves

3. What you need for promotion
Achievements
A clearly expressed narrative of achievements
Evidence to support your narrative
A fit between the evidence and the criteria
marita

4. Structure of today’s session
1: What are my key achievements?
2: What evidence do I need for them and how do I gather it?
3. What scope of evidence do I need?
3: How do I match my achievements and evidence to the criteria?
4: Conclusions and next steps
What kind of achievements might you include in an application for promotion based on contribution to teaching and supporting learning? (Discuss; gather on flip chart).
Write down your key achievements in the left hand column.

5. Gathering the evidence

6. What can evidence of teaching achievements look like?
An external examiner’s report
‘Official’ student evaluation data, set in context
Official examinations data
The educational/pedagogical literature
Unsolicited feedback from students and/or colleagues
Solicited feedback on particular modules/initiatives/aspects of teaching
Peer observations
Focus group data
Ask to discuss in pairs what kinds of evidence they might use.
Gather on flipchart if possible in plenary.
Then show this as sample list.

7. Using evidence (1) What to avoid What to aim for
Disappearing into the team (‘We led a project’; ‘A module was created’)
Innovation without impact (‘Students produce their own podcasts and assess each other.’)
Clarity about your role (‘I was part of a team in which my role was… because. I ensured that…’)
Clarity of impact (‘Since developing peer and self-assessment skills on my programme, grades have increased by X and employability....’)

8. Using evidence (2) What to avoid What to aim for
Raw data (‘My evaluation scores average 4.5’)
Unsupported assertions (‘I am an outstanding lecturer’)
(If possible) a single indicator
Showing what data means (‘My scores of 4.5 are the result of…’) and
Evidence-based claims (‘Since taking over the first-year module, student attainment has risen by X, and it has been praised by the external examiner.’)
Corroboration (evidence from two or more sources)

9. Using evidence (3) What to avoid What to aim for
Purely descriptive writing (‘I redesigned the programme over a period of ten months.’)
Reflective writing* (‘After these consistently negative evaluations, it became clear the programme needed rewriting…’
The three-point checklist
What you did
Why you did it
What the impact is/was
*HEALTH WARNING: Promotion and some awards need to be less reflective

10. Moving from evidence to narrative
Data: ‘I have taught an average of 126 students per year.’ Narrative: How did they do? What did they progress to? Is this a large amount of teaching for your subject area? Data: ‘My average evaluation score is 4.5.’ Narrative: What was it like when you took over the module? Has there been an improvement over time? (If not, what has happened that…)

11. Rolfe et al (2001) reflective model
What? What did you do?
So what? Why was it important?
Now (or then) what? What do (or did) I do next?
I set up a project on assessment.
Students were dissatisfied with the limited range on offer and employability was suffering.
Feedback from students has been good, both on their engagement in class and employability. I plan to do follow-up survey over three to four years.
Me to resume here

12. Exercise – identifying evidence
Read the two short case studies. What are the key achievements for these two people? What evidence of impact would you want to see for each of them?
marita

13. Some common errors
Overlooking key achievements (eg. regarding something as part of daily activity)
Failing to recognise evidence (eg. increasingly positive student feedback)
Making unsupported assertions
Assuming good classroom teaching
alone will be enough
So what? What effect did it have?

14. Handout
You’ve already discussed evidence for one achievement. Now fill in column 2 for all the achievements listed.
We will ask you for a question or observation about this process afterwards.

15. Three perspectives on evidence of teaching

16. Scope of Activity Professional learning
Participating in teaching-related workshops and seminars; obtaining (or furthering) teaching qualifications
Student engagement
Includes face-to-face teaching in classrooms; teaching by distance and online; providing support and feedback; research supervision
Curriculum development
Resources for courses; curriculum review, design and innovation; evaluation and alignment to standards
Research & scholarship
Presentations, grants and publications
Leadership & collaboration
Mentorship, governance, peer review, course accreditation.

17. Source of evidence

18. Sphere of influence Global Community University Faculty
Profession Discipline
Industry Government NGO
University
Faculty

19. ADDRESSING THE CRITERIA

20. Approaching the criteria
Highlight those criteria that your key achievements meet.
Self-evaluation: do you need further achievements and/or evidence to make a convincing case against each?
Select the achievement for which feel you currently have the strongest case

21. Developing a narrative
Pick the strongest of your key achievements, and write it up as a narrative, or make notes to speak about. (10 minutes)
Share with a partner and co-coach (5 minutes each)
Does the case withstand serious scrutiny?
Does evidence come from a range of sources?
What evidence is there of impact?

22. Concluding and reflecting…. what will you do next?

23. Thank you and good luck
Please get in touch if you have any queries. Don’t forget there is further support available: a second workshop one-to-ones and web resources.