Building a Portfolio

Create a compelling representation of your teaching!

Sample teaching portfolios

Building a digital portfolio is a requirement for the Advanced Track. But even if you’re planning on exiting on the Foundational Track, the work you do in the TDP can inform a compelling teaching portfolio, should you decide at one point to build one.

Wondering what a teaching portfolio might look like? Some who have completed the Advanced Track have graciously allowed us to share theirs here, in order to help demonstrate a range of approaches – click on one to explore!, You can also access CTL’s guidance for building a teaching portfolio further down on this page.

Sample portfolio

Nicole Mandel
(Chemistry)

Sample portfolio

Milica Iličić
(Slavic Languages)

Sample teaching portfolio

Tim Randolph
(Computer Science)

Sample portfolio

James Callahan
(Chemistry)

Sample portfolio

Mike He
(Environmental Health Sciences)

Sample teaching portfolio

Mary Catherine Stoumbos
(Music)

Sample portfolio

Caroline Marris
(History)

Sample portfolio

Jessie Oehrlein
(Applied Physics and Applied Math)

Sample portfolio

Almudena Marin Cobos
(Latin American and Iberian Cultures)

General teaching portfolio guidance

CTL has created set of modules that offer guidance for starting and revising a teaching portfolio. This guidance is pertinent to anyone building one – whether for TDP credit or not.

Portfolio course screenshot

Click to access guidance for organizing and assembling materials for a teaching portfolio.

Module 1: What is a teaching portfolio? 
Background on the teaching portfolio and an overview of typical structures.

Module 2: Brainstorming and creating the first draft
Strategies for deciding what to include and how to curate your teaching materials into a cohesive whole.

Module 3: Revising and next steps 
Approaches to refining your teaching portfolio, getting feedback on your documents, and preparing other materials for the job market.

Digital Teaching Portfolio support in the TDP

The TDP’s Advanced Track offers a substantial amount of support for building a compelling digital portfolio, including free hosting and a professionally templated site that can be easily customized.

Click to access detailed guidance for setting up your digital teaching portfolio.

If you switch onto the Advanced Track, we will set up a portfolio website for you, supported by CTL and Columbia University Libraries’ Digital Scholarship office. This site is hosted for free while you are at Columbia and for six months after you graduate. After then, you can choose to purchase hosting for a moderate monthly fee, export the site and host it elsewhere, or delete it. You can choose whether to make the site publicly accessible or password-protected. You can customize the URL for your portfolio; otherwise its default URL will be http://yourname.sandbox.library.columbia.edu/.

CTL has developed a Digital Portfolio guidance site that offers Advanced Track TDP participants detailed instructions, templates, and samples that they can draw on when building their own site. Since TDP portfolio sties are built with WordPress software, you have many options about how yours looks and is structured.

If you prefer, you may use a different platform and hosting arrangement in order to complete a digital teaching portfolio. As long as your site includes core elements for the TDP digital portfolio, it will meet Advanced Track requirements.

Intro to the Teaching Portfolio

Whether or not you’re building one for the TDP, here’s detailed guidance from CTL for creating a compelling teaching portfolio.

Request a Portfolio

If you’re on the Advanced Track of the TDP, email us to request set-up of your customizable portfolio.

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