Faculty-led Inquiry into Reflective and Scholarly Teaching (FIRST)
Date of this Version
2014
Document Type
Portfolio
Abstract
I have been teaching for a few years, in different universities and different courses. I have taught large classes (over 100 students) and small classes (approximately 10 students), introductory courses and advanced courses, and in 4-year programs as well as 2-year programs. Although I believe that principles of good teaching can be applied to any course, I feel that teaching methods may need to be adjusted to different courses, different student population and distinct class size. So I welcomed the opportunity to participate in the “2013-2014 Peer Review of Teaching Program” because it gave me a chance to join a forum where I could systematically discuss and learn with (and from) my peers ideas that will lead to the improvement of my course material and teaching techniques, along with the development of new approaches and concepts that can be incorporated to my course in the future.
My main purpose with this portfolio is to share my course and my ideas with people inside and outside the academic world and hopefully contribute to the discussion of how to improve teaching. When I applied to participate in the “2013-2014 Peer Review of Teaching Program” I had the overall objective of becoming a better teacher and improving my course. Sharing my experience with this course in the spring of 2014 will allow others to understand how and why I structured the course the way I did, and get insights from what worked and what did not work. And hopefully it will also allow me to receive comments and suggestions that can help me improve the course in coming years.
Comments
Course portfolio developed as part of the UNL Peer Review of Teaching Project (peerreview.unl.edu)
Copyright (c) 2014 Fabio Mattos