Twelve tips for creating an academic teaching portfolio

Abstract

An academic teaching portfolio is not only a requirement at many academic teaching institutions, but it is also important in a medical educator's growth and development through documentation, reflection, evaluation, and change. Creating an academic portfolio may appear daunting at first but with careful advanced preparation, organized evidence collection of your educational work, proof of scholarship, and thorough documentation of self-reflection and change, you can produce a successful product that accurately represents your educational beliefs, accomplishments, and growth throughout your career. This article provides medical educators with twelve steps for creating a successful academic teaching portfolio.

A Systematic Scoping Review on Portfolios of Medical Educators

“…First, medical educators use MEPs to highlight professional development. They record their appraisals, 1,2,4,18,23 revalidations, 1,3,4,23 accreditations, 3,23,70,73 and promotions 1,2,4,5,14,15,[17][18][19][20]68,70,73,74 in an MEP, and this can also be used for applying for specific roles within educational settings. 1,6,18 Second, they serve as a form of documentation, where medical educators document their competencies [1][2][3][4]8,14,[17][18][19]75 certification of standards of professional performance 3,4 , illustrate accomplishments and educational activities, [1][2][3][4]7,17,18,25,70,71,76 demonstrate desirable character traits,…”

“…8 Third, medical educators use MEPs as a learning tool to guide professional and personal improvements. They highlight experiences 8,24,76,77 and reflections, 4,6,14,70,74 capture feedback from learners, peers, mentors and supervisors, 4 set learning objectives and guide work towards the achievement of learning objectives, 4,78 and help to plan future lessons based on past experiences. 4,8 On the other hand, institutions employ MEPs for assessment purposes.…”

“…MEPs attempt to capture longitudinal development. Design of prevailing MEPs occur in a stepwise fashion beginning with an understanding of prevailing use of portfolio [16][17][18]73,76 and the guiding principles behind these design structures, [16][17][18]73,74,76 and its benefits and limitations. 8,70 To contextualise MEPs to the particular setting, speciality, and the desired role, 3,4,8 designers often consult intended users 77 and experts.…”

“…The dominant guiding principle for the design of the prototype is the need to balance structure 1,3,4,7,77 and flexibility. 8,25,73 Structure takes the form of including 'critical' domains to be curated 1 and a consistent format is employed to ensure that practical 23 and local institutional needs, 17,74 as well as minimum standards of MEPs are met. 77 Flexibility 8,25,73 revolves around the contents of the MEP where aspects are sought to effectively capture inventiveness and learning 73 and documentation and reflections.…”

“…This may be achieved by developing a novel scoring criteria 4 or using existing standards or analysis tools 7,16 Providing details regarding how each criterion is rated 19 Addressing reliability issues by ensuring a fair and standardised assessment 4 Encourages transparency and objectivity 74 Can be utilised by different institutions 19 Need for review and revision of assessment criteria Assessment rubric may be reviewed by educational experts to improve reliability 19 Revision/updating of assessment rubrics after feedback and discussion by users 19,74 Assessment should be tailored to each institution Rating system should be contextual and relevant to institutional needs 69 Weightage of each component varies according to needs 19 Agreed upon by own team of expert educators 19 Assessors of portfolio Institute 69,73,74 use of a team of assessors to ensure comprehensive assessment 74 Can be coaches/mentors 74,77 Longitudinal engagement improves validity of assessment 77 Peer 1,2,6,73 Self 74 Needs to be trained 19 Assessors need to be clear regarding rating system 19…”