GUIDELINES

on the use of teaching portfolios

These guidelines are intended for applicants for academic positions and assessment committees.
These guidelines concern only teaching portfolios.
The Faculty’s general guidelines for applicants for academic positions and
assessment committees may be found elsewhere.

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

AARHUS UNIVERSITY
OCTOBER 2008
Contents
1. Introduction of teaching portfolios: background and objectives............................................3
2. Contents of teaching portfolios.............................................................................................3
3. Format and structure of teaching portfolios..........................................................................5
4. Assessment of teaching qualifications on the basis of teaching portfolios...........................5
Faculty of Social Sciences October 2008

1. Introduction of teaching portfolios: background and objectives

All applications for academic positions (advertised after 1 April 2005) at Aarhus University must
include a teaching portfolio. This requirement was introduced to document applicants’ teaching
skills and experience since both teaching and research qualifications should be assessed by
assessment committees in support of management decisions on new appointments.

The general policy of Aarhus University on teaching portfolios can be found at

http://www.au.dk/en/policy/portfolio.

Teaching portfolios also serve other purposes. They may substantiate pay rise applications or form
part of performance and development reviews. In addition, teaching portfolios may serve as a
personal tool for the individual employee for further development of teaching competencies.
Academic staff must therefore keep a continuously updated teaching portfolio. The Faculty of
Social Sciences seeks to encourage this development by offering supervision on the preparation of
teaching portfolios, for instance in the form of courses on teaching and learning issues (provided
by the Centre for Learning and Education).

2. Contents of teaching portfolios

Teaching portfolios must document which teaching tasks the applicant has completed, how these
tasks were performed, why these were handled in this particular manner and the results achieved.
Hence a teaching portfolio represents far more than simply a curriculum vitae of teaching.

A teaching portfolio at Aarhus University must contain the following components:

1. Description and documentation

▫ Teaching experience (number of courses, type and level)

▫ Examination experience

▫ Experience of supervision (theses/dissertations, Master’s students/PhDs, etc.)

▫ Completed university educational courses (or equivalent)

▫ Experience of teaching teams, collegial supervision, etc.

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Faculty of Social Sciences October 2008

▫ Experience of directing study activities and educational development, including

postgraduate teaching as well as continuing and further education.

▫ Contributions to the development of new subject areas, fields or academic disciplines

▫ Contributions to text-books or teaching material

▫ Other experience of teaching or university educational theory (or equivalent)

▫ Examples (including comments) of teaching plans, applied teaching material and

instructions/supervision.

Submitted examples may illustrate the relations between examination form, didactic issues
and general educational objectives in accordance with the academic regulations. Other
factors that may form part of the assessment could be research and development projects,
teaching-related research projects in collaboration with other institutions, novel
collaboration forms and examination methods, interdisciplinary collaboration, information
technology, internationalisation, work placements/internships, continuing and further
education as well as institutional development in general.

2. Assessment

▫ Evaluations by students (at least two different classes)

▫ Statements by director of studies, head of department/school or course managers (e.g. in

connection with development of didactic competence), etc.

Assessment of an applicant’s teaching proficiency should be based on a relevant,

systematic framework of standard teaching evaluations, statements related to course
participation or teamwork, or statements from educational managers.

The assessment committee should also acknowledge the limitations of the informative and
documentary value of statements written by students, colleagues, supervisors or directors
of studies.

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3. Format and structure of teaching portfolios

A teaching portfolio is not a collection of all documents and material produced for teaching
activities. A good teaching portfolio consists of carefully selected items which in combination
provide a clear, well documented and balanced picture of teaching experience, teaching
perspectives and teaching outcome. A teaching portfolio usually consists of 4-8 pages (plus
appendices).

A teaching portfolio is often divided into three major components: description, substantiation and
results, which in combination form the basis for assessment of teaching qualifications.

The description shows the scope and variety of an applicant’s experience with teaching and
development of teaching. The substantiation describes how the applicant teaches and why s/he has
chosen to teach in this particular way. The results should outline the outcome of teaching activities
on the basis of assessments. Assessments and assessment forms that are taken into account must
be seen in context and should include annotations.

The format and structure of a teaching portfolio may vary in accordance with academic position
and teaching experience. Likewise, form and contents of statements and assessments included in
teaching portfolios may differ between assistant professors, associate professors and full
professors.

Please note that the framework laid down by Aarhus University for teaching portfolios allows
teaching portfolios to be drawn up in many different ways.

4. Assessment of teaching qualifications on the basis of teaching

portfolios
There is no one criterion alone which may serve as documentation for teaching qualifications,
which is why the teaching portfolio has been chosen as documentation form. The final assessment
of an applicant’s teaching qualifications will involve a combination of several criteria, just like
assessment of an applicant’s research qualifications. Please see below for details.

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Faculty of Social Sciences October 2008

The following criteria may form part of the assessment committee’s overall assessment:
• Scope and variety of teaching experience
• Development including applicant’s assessed progress (over time) in regard to
▫ acquiring experience with an increasing number of different levels of teaching
(Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD degree programmes, guest teacher at other universities)
▫ acquiring experience with an increasing number of different teaching methods (including
various forms of lecturing, various forms of class teaching, student supervision, collegial
supervision, etc.)
▫ broadening his/her knowledge of teaching/learning and didactic issues
▫ participation in development of teaching forms, subjects/courses, (academic) disciplines
and degree programmes
• Susbtantiation: relevance and consistency
• Results (accomplishments)
Student evaluations illustrating the extent to which the organisation and performance of the
teaching have supported student learning should carry great weight.
Importance should also be attached to the ways in which the applicant has applied feedback
from students, and the ways in which such assessments may have initiated development/
improvement of applicant’s teaching.
Statements by director of studies, head of department/school, course managers and others (e.g.
in connection with educational development) may also form part of teaching qualifications.
The assessment committee should also acknowledge the limitations of the informative and
documentary value of statements written by students, colleagues, supervisors or directors of
studies.

Teaching portfolios will be applied and assessed in consideration of the different requirements for
different job categories.

There is no formal requirement of teaching experience for application to the position of assistant
professor. Many applicants have, however, acquired teaching experience during their PhD degree
programme and/or employment as teaching assistants, and it may be relevant to include such
experience in the teaching portfolio. Some PhD students have unassisted been in charge of courses,
while others have only assisted in courses with a fixed curriculum and specified teaching forms
and examination methods.

There are special minimum requirements of teaching experience and formal education within
teaching for applications to the position of associate professor in accordance with the Memorandum
on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities (of 18 December 2006 by the Danish
University and Property Agency under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and
Innovation) and the general rules and regulations of Aarhus University. The following must be

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Faculty of Social Sciences October 2008

ensured in accordance with the rules and regulations for employment of assistant professors at the
Faculty of Social Sciences:
1. The applicant must have completed the mandatory 4-day teaching course for assistant
professors, which is offered by Aarhus University (or a corresponding course).
2. The applicant must have completed two semesters of teaching, preferably at two different
levels and by use of different teaching methods, including qualified supervision (or
corresponding experience).
3. A report drawn up by the supervisor and a statement written by the director of studies
must have been submitted.

If an applicant does not have any former teaching experience, employment must include an initial
probationary (or trial) employment period of up to 1.5 years during which these minimum
requirements must be fulfilled.

There are no additional formal requirements regarding teaching skills for applicants for (full)
professorships. However, applicants for full professorships must be able to document more
significant development in teaching qualifications than applicants for associate professorships.