The Mission of the Society of Teaching Scholars (STS) at the University of Florida College of Medicine is to honor and foster teaching excellence and educational scholarship. Each year the STS invites new members to join the Society and help support this mission. Nominees to the STS are asked to prepare an Education Portfolio similar to that used for promotion and tenure, in which they illustrate and emphasize their unique strengths and contributions. More information about educator portfolios can be found here.
This portfolio is a collection of materials documenting educational scholarship, both in terms of productivity and quality. It consists of five sections, each of which addresses a goal of the Society of Teaching Scholars, and the relative weights of each section for scoring are indicated in parentheses. The quality of the elements included in this portfolio is more important than quantity. Please do not exceed 25 pages for the entire portfolio. Portfolios that are missing significant sections (e.g. teaching evaluations) or in excess of 25 pages will not be reviewed.
The STS portfolio is similar to the UF Promotion and Tenure Educational Portfolio (UFPTEP). Comparable sections of UFPTEP are indicated in parentheses throughout the document. There are also several sections that can be abstracted and adapted from the UF Promotion and Tenure Packet (P&T). When possible, we recommend summarizing your accomplishment using the tables provided. We have provided some examples of how tables can be used create a more succinct and reader-friendly portfolio. The UFPTEP portfolio template can be found here.
The UF Promotion and Tenure Packet can be found via my.ufl.edu: my.ufl.edu>Main Menu>My Self Service>Faculty Promotion and Tenure.
Part 1 (15%): Education Narrative
Philosophy of Education. Please provide a brief (1-page) philosophy of education. It is helpful to describe your personal theory of learning, your perspectives on the roles of the learner and instructor and your conceptualization of how you have evolved as a teacher and learner. (P&T 9 can serve as a start for this narrative.) The University Of Minnesota Center for Education Innovation provides a brief synopsis of how to write a philosophy of education (or a philosophy of teaching): Found here.
Letter of Support. Please provide a letter of support from your department chair or an educational supervisor (e.g. clerkship/program director/dean of education). It would be especially helpful for this individual to address the scope of your teaching role(s), evidence of creativity, highlights or major accomplishments, use of novel and varied pedagogical methods, and responsiveness to feedback regarding teaching skills. (UFPTEP 5)
Part 2 (15%): Excellence in Teaching
Please use this section to describe your excellence in teaching and your commitment to the college of medicine’s educational mission. Please use the template below to document your teaching involvement and evaluation by learners and peers (such evaluation may be on a local, statewide or national scale). Summarize your instructional activities since hire, or since your last promotion, whichever is applicable, under the applicable categories. When reporting teaching evaluations, the following template(s) may provide helpful examples of how to effective summarize your teaching activities.
Teaching Evaluations: (P&T 10A)
Summary of Student/Trainee Evaluations
Please collate data and summarize in a single table (as appropriate, evaluation data should be abstracted from GatorRater and New Innovations). Template here.
Include Selected Evaluator Comments:
“Dr. X is absolutely wonderful to have as a small group leader. She is very patient with us and gives great guidance. She is always willing to listen to any problem we may have and she makes herself very available to us at any time should we need her. She also leads discussions very adeptly and gets the whole group to participate in a fun and low stress environment. She has no weaknesses or areas for improvement. She has reached the pinnacle of small group leader ability.” (MS4 student, 2017)
Resident Evaluations
Please collate data and summarize in a single table. Template here.
Learner Outcomes. Describe any objective outcomes for learners, which have resulted from your activities, e.g., pass rates on resident in-service or national examinations
Peer Evaluations. (P&T 10B) The purpose and level of rigor are important aspects of the utility of peer evaluations. This should include a description and appropriate context of what is provided in the packet (i.e., formative vs. summative, trained vs. untrained evaluators, solicited vs. unsolicited review, departmental vs. institutional, explanation of ways that the review(s) affected teaching).
Please collate data and summarize in a single table (Note: Peer assessment format may vary by department). Template here.
The following are areas that should be also documented in a narrative form (if applicable):
Course or Clerkship Director – indicate whether for the College of Medicine, Graduate School, undergraduate course; provide course number and title; semester and year(s) you were course director. (UFPTEP 1.a.i)
Lectures within Courses – Summarize lecture activities in courses, include title, course name and number, semester and year(s) provided. (UFPTEP 1.a.ii)
Lectures in Other Forums – Indicate lecture title and venue, dates, location – if not onsite. For example, CME courses can be included here. (UFPTEP 1.a.iii)
Small Group and Seminar Sessions Led – Provide course name, frequency of meetings, semester and years. (UFPTEP 1.a.iv)
Clinical Teaching of Professional Students (medical students, nursing students, PA students, etc.) – Provide a description of setting, type of trainee, frequency of contact, number of trainees for each rotation. Indicate the number of weeks or months for each academic year you serve as a clinical instructor. (UFPTEP 1.a.v)
Clinical Teaching of Residents or Fellows. Provide a description of setting, type of trainee, frequency of contact, number of trainees for each rotation. Indicate the number of weeks or months for each academic year you serve as clinical instructor. Provide estimates if exact figures are not available, e.g., “I had an average of two [specialty] residents on my service for 3 weeks at a time over 4 months of the year.” (UFPTEP 1.a.vi)
Graduate Committee Activities. Provide a listing of graduate student (masters and doctoral) committee involvement. Indicate your role. (P&T 12).
Awards and Recognition. List of teaching/educational awards and honors (e.g., Exemplary Teacher Awards), by the categories listed below and include title of award(s), descriptions of criteria for award, number and types of learners, and date of award. (P&T 28a-e)
Teaching/Educational Awards Summary Table
Part 3 (40%): Excellence in Educational Scholarship
Please use this section to demonstrate your excellence as an educational scholar. Only the products of educational scholarship, not other types of scholarship (such as evidence of clinical or laboratory research) should be included in this section. A definition of educational scholarship can be found in the Summary Report and Findings from the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs Consensus Conference on Educational Scholarship entitled “Advancing Educators and Education: Defining the Components and Evidence of Educational Scholarship”. Excerpt: “Educational Scholarship: Faculty engage in educational scholarship by both drawing upon resources and best practices in the field and by contributing resources to it. Documentation begins by demonstrating that an educational activity product is publicly available to the education community in a form that others can build on. The product may be available at the local level – in the department, medical school, or university – or at the regional, national, or international level. Once a product is public and in a form that others build on, peers can assess its value to the community applying accepted criteria.”
Grants. Peer-reviewed grant funding to support the development of educational materials or education research. Indicate national, regional, institutional applications. Provide title, agency, date, and indicate whether funded or not. (P&T 18a.2)
Peer-Reviewed Education-Related Publications*. Indicate your role in the project that resulted in the publication and when applicable and appropriate the impact the work has had at the institutional, regional or national level. Citation format is at the candidate’s discretion. (P&T 16.f)
- Jones, N.E. (g), Smith, M.G., Jones, R.W., Anderson, K., Blue E.W., Brown, A.V. (2018). Learner collaboration in a transitional care management clinic: A Qualitative analysis of students’ experiences. Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice, 12, 73-78.
- Smith, N.M., Jones, E.W., & Anderson, S.A. (2014). Implementation of a novel track-based residency-training program. The Journal of Pediatrics, 165(6), 1076-1077.
Education-Related Books and Book Chapters*. Indicate your role in the project that resulted in the publication and the impact the work has had at the institutional, regional or national level. Indicate whether invited. (P&T 16a, b, c, d)
Other Education-Related Publications*. Indicate your role in the project that resulted in the publication and the impact the work has had at the institutional, regional or national level. Indicate whether the work was invited. (P&T 16e, g, i, j)
Educational Presentations*. Presentations (including workshops, lectures, posters at professional conferences) on educational methods, assessments, or other innovations. Indicate whether invited and in what category (international, national, regional, state, local, other). (P&T 17.a-e)
Educational Materials (e.g. curricula and assessment tools)* Describe courses, curricula, workshops that you have developed that are implemented across a local education program or course, or disseminated regionally or nationally. Provide an overview of goals, objectives, assessment methods and a description of the process, rationale for development, and any evidence of reliability. (e.g., MedEdPORTAL publications or other methods that disseminate the content). Indicate whether peer-reviewed. IF available online, provide links (UFPTEP 2.a-d, P&T 14, 16k)
Peer Review Activities Related to Educational Scholarship* Summarize your participation as a reviewer, editor, or member of an editorial board of an education journal. Describe service as an abstract reviewer, grant reviewer or program planner for educational conferences and professional societies, selection to serve on national accrediting and licensing organizations (e.g., LCME, ACGME, NBME) or clinical specialty education committees, and/or grant review committees for national organizations. (UFPTEP 2.e, P&T 22)
*Please use the following “key” to indicate author relationships:
Senior/principal author(s) = Underline.
Self = bold
Fellow = f
Graduate Student = g
Other = &
Post-Doctoral Associate/Fellow = p
Resident = r
Part 4 (15%): Self-Improvement, Educational Leadership and Service
Use this section to demonstrate a commitment to high quality teaching and learning, plus continuous quality improvement process of the educational program by providing leadership and evidence of growth as an educator. Please organize according to the headings below. Examples of possible activities are listed.
Self-Improvement. (This section is not a component of the P&T packet or UFPTEP)
List any additional training in education, whether a formal degree program or CME activities specifically taken to improve skills in education. Describe your participation in faculty development in medical education (e.g., seminars, workshops, longitudinal programs focusing on faculty development). Please describe the time commitment to these programs, the content learned, and where appropriate, include descriptions and/or examples of work products that resulted from these activities.
Major Educational Leadership Responsibilities. Indicate role, title, and inclusive dates (e.g., clerkship director, program director, residency director, vice chair for education, assistant/associate dean, etc.). (UFPTEP 3.a)
For educational administrative roles, please include evidence of effectiveness of leadership (e.g., program accreditation, program or course evaluations, innovations, successful learner outcomes, evaluation by learners, supervisors and peers).
Membership or Leadership in Local Institutional Educational Committees, Task Forces or Panels, etc. (P&T 20, 27.A.e & 27.B.e)
Describe your participation in in the Graduate Medical Education, Curriculum, Admissions, and Departmental Education, course/clerkship directors committees or other similar committees.
Please describe role with concrete descriptions of contributions. Examples of work products that resulted from this committee work may be included in the portfolio, noting your role in developing them.
Membership or Leadership in Extra-Mural (regional, national, international) Educational Committees, Task Forces or Panels, etc. (P&T 27.A.a-d & 27.B.a-d)
Describe your active participation in national or international committees or organizations dealing with education in general (such as the LCME, AAMC Group on Educational Affairs, Group on Student Affairs, etc.) or specifically within a discipline (Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine, Society of Teachers in Family Medicine, Program Directors of Surgery, or similar organizations). List services as an editor/review of educational submissions for journals or educational meetings/conferences.
Part 5 (15%): Contributing to Academic Excellence by Mentoring (UFPTEP 4.a-d, P&T 26)
Use this section to describe how you enhance the college’s educational mission by serving as a mentor and/or role model to junior faculty, residents, and/or students, and an assessment of the outcomes of mentorship. Describe individuals and groups mentored by category below. Indicate, if available, the achievements and accomplishments of mentees. Include research mentees (whether educational or other forms of researcher mentorship). Describe any group mentees, e.g. residency interest groups. Examples include:
- Serving as a resident advisor
- Longitudinal counseling/remediation of a learner with difficulty
- Speaking at a “career night” or discipline-specific student interest group
- Performing peer evaluations
- Mentoring activities within and outside of the department and/or institution
When possible, describe the context of your mentoring activity (including number of mentees, duration of mentoring relationships, type of mentoring [assigned advisor, mentoring a research project, overall career mentoring]), the impact your advisor/mentor activities have had on learners, and/or mentee accomplishments and successes related to the mentoring, such as tenure achievement, grants obtained, new courses developed. Please use the table below to summarize.
NOTES:
Members of the Society of Teaching Scholars are happy to assist you, should you have questions regarding the application and/or selection process or the preparation of your application Portfolio. Please feel free to contact any member of the STS nominating committee listed below for broad guidance:
Carol Diachun, David Winchester, Elisa Sottile, Carma Bylund, Matt Ryan, Colleen Kalynych