Evidence of Professional Development

Including a description of professional development you’ve undertaken related to teaching demonstrates your commitment to continual teaching improvement and to teaching in general. Additionally, it is a means for you to describe and demonstrate how you have identified and worked to develop as a teacher.

DEFINITELY INCLUDE:

• A list (with brief descriptions) of any workshops, seminars, institutes or courses on teaching in which you’ve participated. This might include workshops or seminars offered by your department, by CTSI or another office of teaching support, or by a professional association, and could include both workshops on technology or teaching strategies and discussions about, for example, the content and structure of introductory courses in your discipline.
• Information on mentorship you’ve sought from colleagues in your department or elsewhere.

YOU MIGHT ALSO INCLUDE:

• A narrative description of your professional development trajectory and goals.
  In particular, if student or peer assessments of your teaching have identified any areas of concern, a narrative overview of your professional development activities can be a good opportunity to demonstrate that you are working to improve your teaching in these particular areas.

For example, you might note that the results of end-of-course or mid-course student evaluations in your first year of teaching identified a challenge with managing student discussions and that as a consequence you participated in relevant workshops. You might then describe any strategies you subsequently implemented in your classroom, and point to any evidence (e.g. improved scores on related course evaluation questions) that your teaching in these areas has improved as a result. Additionally, you might note any ongoing goals that you have for your teaching improvement, and describe the strategies or activities you plan to pursue to meet these goals.