Collecting evidence for your portfolio

There are numerous sources of evidence that could be utilised by academic staff to demonstrate their achievements in education in myEducation Portfolio. To assist you with compiling your portfolio, please refer to online guides titled Promoting Teaching: Making Evidence Count produced by the UK Higher Education Academy (now known as Advance HE) as well as the Australian University Teaching Criteria and Standards (AUTCAS). Those guides outline the types of evidence that could be used to demonstrate excellence in teaching.

Sources of evidence

Evidence related to each dimension of myEducation Portfolio may be derived from personal reflection, student feedback and/or peer evaluation. See for example Table 1 below, which lists sources of evidence within the university.

Personal	Evidence of reflective practice, professional development and/or commitment to innovation; evidence of engagement with educational literature or theory, e.g. how a teaching philosophy/theory informs the academic’s teaching practice.
Students	How students perceive the work of the academic, through scores in feedback surveys and qualitative comments (including unsolicited comments); measurements of student achievements in courses the applicant has taught, developed or led, and how student feedback scores compare with school averages.
Peers	Evidence of recognition by colleagues in their institution including head of school comments, as well as recognition at national or international level. May include peer observations and peer reviews of curriculum development.

Table 1 – Sources of evidence - adapted from Promoting Teaching: Making Evidence Count. Higher Education Academy UK (2013).

The predominant sources of evidence will change over the course of an academic’s career as the scope of their educational activities evolves and their sphere of influence grows (Figure 1). Those proportions will vary based on each individual’s teaching experience and practices.

Figure 1 – Sources of evidence showing changes with level of promotion - from Promoting Teaching: Making Evidence Count. Higher Education Academy UK (2013).

Scope of activities

The scope of teaching activities in the Promoting Teaching: Making Evidence Count guide and the UNSW Academic Expectations Framework for education activities align well with the dimensions of myEducation Portfolio (Table 2). Note that the mix of those activities will vary according to academic level and career pathways.

UK Higher Education Academy	UNSW Academic Expectations Framework	Australian University Teaching Criteria and Standards	myEducation Portfolio
Professional learning & Scholarship of learning and teaching	Impact on student learning (Professional development and disciplinary knowledge) & Impact on educational knowledge	Integration of scholarship, research and professional activities with teaching and in support of learning & Evaluation of practice and continuing professional development	Disciplinary expertise and professional development
Student engagement	Impact on student learning (Delivery)	Teaching and supporting student learning & Developing effective environments, student support and guidance	Teaching and supporting student learning
Curriculum development	Impact on student learning (Course and program design and development)	Design and planning of learning activities & Assessment and giving feedback to students	Design and development of learning activities and assessment
Leadership and collaboration	Impact on educational environment	Professional and personal effectiveness	Educational leadership

Table 2 – Alignment of the scope of education activities outlined by the UK Higher Education Academy, the Australian University Teaching Criteria and Standards, the UNSW Academic Expectations Framework and myEducation Portfolio.

Spheres of influence

All education-related activities are collaborative. Therefore, academics work within multiple spheres of influence (Figure 2). Typically, academics will extend their sphere of influence as their careers progress.

Figure 2 - Leadership and impact in multiple teaching-related spheres of influence - from Promoting Teaching: Making Evidence Count. Higher Education Academy UK (2013).

Examples of evidence for different academic roles

This sample guide (based on Promoting Teaching: Making Evidence Count), which is not intended to be exclusive, sets out a range of evidence that could be used in your myEducation Portfolio from three different perspectives for different academic roles. The shading of each type of evidence indicates the dimension of myEducation Portfolio with which that evidence aligns.

	Senior Lecturer Associate Professor and Professor
	Include evidence from the following list of examples, choosing those relevant to your context and outlining how they demonstrate innovation, excellence and impact:
Personal	Engagement with staff development activities Evidence of reflective approach to teaching Integration of scholarship and research with teaching Courses attended and professional development undertaken Awareness of relevant quality assurance frameworks and benchmarks Membership of relevant professional bodies School or Faculty teaching award	Engagement with professional standards framework e.g. HEA Senior Fellowship or Principal Fellowship, HERDSA Fellowship University and/or national teaching awards External prizes
Impact on students	Excellent student feedback from myExperience course and teacher surveys and other sources Positive feedback from formative and/or summative peer reviews of teaching Student achievement and progression Student recruitment to courses or programs Student retention in courses or programs Successful outcome of supervision of undergraduate research projects (e.g. Honours) and/or research projects in postgraduate coursework programs	Sustained excellent student feedback from myExperience course and teacher surveys and other sources Positive feedback from formative and/or summative peer reviews of teaching Leadership of successful initiatives to improve outcomes of student experience surveys Leadership of successful initiatives to improve student achievement and retention Leadership of successful initiatives to improve student recruitment Improved achievement of student cohorts Leadership of student employability initiatives Successful outcome of supervision of undergraduate research projects (e.g. Honours) and/or research projects in postgraduate coursework programs
Impact on students (continued)	Independent evidence of effective design / review of course curricula / assessments, e.g. internal course reviews Peer reviewed evidence of provision of effective feedback to students, which promotes learning Peer review of teaching materials (e.g. Moodle materials, courseware packages) Prizes and citations for courseware	Independent evidence of effective design / review of course and/or program curricula / assessments, e.g. external course reviews Peer reviewed evidence of development of effective feedback systems for students, which promotes learning Peer review of effective teaching materials (e.g. Moodle materials, courseware packages) Prizes and citations for courseware
Impact on peers	Appointment as a Course Convenor Accreditation of courses by professional bodies Departmental leadership in teaching Membership of departmental learning and teaching committee	Appointment as Program Director / Authority External reviewer for courses / programs Offices of responsibility in relevant professional bodies Invited reviewer/assessor of teaching at comparable institutions (e.g. for program approval, periodic review) National / international reputation evidenced by invited conference presentations Successful mentorship, peer reviewer (formative or summative), chair of faculty/university committees Peer supported evidence of leadership at faculty/ university level initiatives (e.g. policy, staff development etc.) Other national/international impact (e.g. funding body panel member, consultant, editor) Outcomes of cross-university collaborations
Impact on peers (continued)	Primary investigator or co-investigator on grants for pedagogic research or development Publications, presentation or workshops on teaching Contributions to textbooks Referee for journals in the area of teaching Reviewer of pedagogic grant proposals Providing mentorship to colleagues Peer supported evidence of involvement in faculty/university level initiatives (e.g. policy, staff development etc.)	Primary investigator or co-investigator on major grants for pedagogic research or development Significant record of publications, presentation or workshops on teaching Authorship/editorship of textbooks Editorship and membership of journal boards or referee for journals in the area of teaching
Impact on peers (continued)	Adoption of curricula / assessments / courseware within the Faculty	National / international adoption of curricula / assessments / courseware