Course Portfolios

An accessible version of the documents on this site will be made available upon request. Contact cte@ku.edu to request the document be made available in an accessible format.

A course portfolio represents an instructor's most effective practices. It frequently takes the form of a stand-alone website or a section of a website. Sometimes it encompasses all an instructor's courses; other times, it highlights only one or two. Whatever the form, though, a portfolio allows instructors to explore how effectively the goals of student learning are being achieved by providing evidence and reflection.

A strong portfolio should provide an extensive explanation of work in at least one class: what the course goals were, how goals were implemented, how student performance was achieved, and the teacher’s reflection on what was achieved and what can be bettered in future offerings. A richer portfolio tracks a course’s evolution, showing what was learned and what skills improved over time. In contrast to other reviews, students’ voice and performance is evident through student work, not through student ratings. In order to publish student work in a course portfolio, you must have them consent to the representation of their work. You can have students fill out a consent form (.pdf) for granting consent. Finally, instead of a generalized teaching statement, the reflections of the teacher are encompassed in an in-depth analysis of his or her teaching and future teaching goals (Bernstein 2006).