What Does a Teaching Dossier Do?
A teaching dossier explains not just how you teach, but why you teach, and provides materials that demonstrate your effectiveness in the classroom. A good teaching dossier will include material that addresses as many aspects of teaching at the university level as possible. In reviewing your dossier, a reader should be able to see a “snapshot” of what you have done both in and out of the classroom when working with students and developing teaching materials, and also what you hope to do in the future, in the following areas:
1. Classroom teaching: What do you do in a typical class or lab? What instructional methods do you use? What is the purpose of a classroom session or a laboratory demonstration for students?
2. Student learning: What do you think is most important for beginning learners in your field to know? What should advanced students be able to do in your field? What skills are essential for students to develop in order to master your subject area? Can you identify some common blocks to student learning in your field and do you have strategies for pushing through them?
3. Course assessment: What assessment methods are used both generally in your discipline and specifically by you in your own classes (i.e. how do you measure student learning and how do you know that your students have learned something?)? What sort of consultation do you provide students?
4. Course content: What material and subjects do you teach or are you willing to teach? Are you aware of new developments in your field and do you make an attempt to bring these into your classes?
5. Teaching and learning outside the classroom: What have you done outside the classroom to demonstrate your interest in teaching issues and your interest in developing yourself as an effective teacher? What kind of learning do your students undertake outside of your classroom?
1. Classroom teaching: What do you do in a typical class or lab? What instructional methods do you use? What is the purpose of a classroom session or a laboratory demonstration for students?
2. Student learning: What do you think is most important for beginning learners in your field to know? What should advanced students be able to do in your field? What skills are essential for students to develop in order to master your subject area? Can you identify some common blocks to student learning in your field and do you have strategies for pushing through them?
3. Course assessment: What assessment methods are used both generally in your discipline and specifically by you in your own classes (i.e. how do you measure student learning and how do you know that your students have learned something?)? What sort of consultation do you provide students?
4. Course content: What material and subjects do you teach or are you willing to teach? Are you aware of new developments in your field and do you make an attempt to bring these into your classes?
5. Teaching and learning outside the classroom: What have you done outside the classroom to demonstrate your interest in teaching issues and your interest in developing yourself as an effective teacher? What kind of learning do your students undertake outside of your classroom?