The document provides guidance for postgraduate researchers on preparing an e-portfolio to apply for Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA). It outlines the requirements for the portfolio, including sections on teaching philosophy, self-assessment against the UK Professional Standards Framework, reflective teaching entries, teaching observations, and a narrative on professional practice covering two areas of teaching activity. It provides examples and recommendations for completing each section of the portfolio successfully. Submission deadlines for the 2017-18 academic year are also given.

1. Writing retreat: APP PGR
How to prepare your
portfolio of evidence
for the application for
Associate Fellowship.

2. UKPSF Descriptor 1 –
to gain Associate Fellowship, HEA
D1.1 Successful engagement with at least two of the five Areas of
Activity.
D1.II Successful engagement in appropriate teaching and practices
related to these Areas of Activity.
D1.III Appropriate Core Knowledge and understanding of at least K1
and K2.
D1.IV A commitment to appropriate Professional Values in facilitating
others’ learning.
D1.V Relevant professional practices, subject and pedagogic
research and/or scholarship within the above activities.
D1.VI Successful engagement, where appropriate, in professional
development activity related to teaching, learning, and
assessment responsibilities.

3. E-portfolio for APP PGR contains:
• Portfolio checklist (complete tables)
• Teaching Philosophy statement (500 words)
• UKPSF dimensions of the framework (notes in
table)
• Reflective Practice (5-20 entries)
• Teaching Observations (2 completed forms)
• Narrative of Professional Practice (1400 words; 2
Areas of Activity – can be two pieces)
• Digital badges (uploaded)

5. Submission information
• Submit while you are still at Warwick!
• Once ready, your portfolio is submitted through
Moodle and locked for marking.
• Portfolios are assessed by one of the LDC team,
but could also be second marked by your mentor.
• Two outcomes are possible: PASS (AFHEA) or
REFER (you can amend and re-submit).
• Once you have passed, you can go on to the
Postgraduate Award in Teaching and Learning in
HE – optional.

6. Portfolio submission
deadlines
APP PGR 2016-17:
Monday 9th April
APP PGR 2017-18:
Monday 23rd April

7. Portfolio checklist
• Complete all sections
• Indicate free choice workshop titles, providing details where
there are ‘substitutions’ (even a hyperlink if applicable).

8. Teaching Philosophy
This should be a personal statement reflecting on your
core values, ideas and standpoints as a teacher. Look at
the UKPSF ‘core knowledge’ and ‘core values’ to inform
your statement.
Use examples but try not to simply describe activities you
do in sessions; more ‘approaches’.
Statement is around 500 words but you can
also use other evidence (images etc).
Use your ‘rich picture’ or the TP
handouts as a starting point

9. UKPSF dimensions
This self-assessment table allows you to consider your
position at the start and end of the course, in relation to
the UKPSF.
Not all boxes need to be filled – prioritise the ones
indicated with blue (of most relevance to AF level).
A few lines for each
section is fine.
Use the notes you
wrote in workshop 1.

10. Reflective Practice
Set up ‘journals’ on your e-portfolio so that your entries
are made available on the page.
Use any of the models examined in workshop 1 to help
you get started.
Avoid simply ‘describing what happened’ – try to think
critically.
Write between 5-20 reflective entries – possible topics
could include:
taught workshops you have attended; teaching sessions you have delivered;
trigger incidents’ in your teaching; assessment and feedback to students;
something you have read in a journal/the press; departmental
activities/decisions/directions; national developments in teaching in your field

11. Reflective Practice Models
Schon (1991) models, sourced at:
http://myreflectivepracticejuanes.weebly.com/
uploads/1/1/8/2/11827245/6867837.png?297
(Accessed 12/01/16; 19:15)
Adapted from Boud et al (1985) Reflection:
Turning Experience into Learning London, Kogan
Page

12. Teaching observations
You need to be observed – choose someone who will be able to give
you advice and guidance, who is willing to complete the form and
talk to you about their recommendations. Choose someone in the
same/similar discipline, if possible.
Prioritise aspects of your teaching you want to develop or would like
feedback on.
You need to observe an experienced teacher – choose someone
who you think you will learn from but who could come from any
subject specialism.
Prioritise part 3 of the form (5 themes); complete the others if your
colleague is willing.
Look at the guidelines in the handbook appendix, including critical
questions you can ask about teaching.
Upload the two documents to your e-portfolio

13. Narrative of Professional Practice
Choose two of the five Areas of Activity (many postgrads
who teach will have evidence in A1, A2 and A3).
Divide the text equally between each Area of Activity:
you can have one continuous piece or two short pieces.
This writing needs to contain a balance of description
and examples, analysis and critique and reference to
wider reading from pedagogic and subject specialist
literature.
You can attach additional supporting evidence (e.g.
feedback from students) in this section but it is the core
text which will be assessed.
Make reference to other UKPSF dimensions throughout
the piece.

14. In November, students were provided with the coursework specification. Closer to
Christmas, the emails started arriving from students, and I generally responded on the
same day (V1). Students have praised my fast responses (see appendix A). Recognising
the importance of fast feedback, as well as taking pride in our speed, after submission
the two tutors returned their marks within a week. This led to a faster feedback
turnaround, and gave students longer to take this feedback and use it to prepare for
their examination (K3). Yorke and Longden (2006) [9] detail how a survey of 6000
students felt that feedback was not sufficiently prompt to be constructive, and
therefore by increasing the speed of feedback, both student satisfaction and exam
results may rise (V3). Upon further discussion with some students, it was found that
some were relying on feedback for this coursework in order to implement similar
functionality in their final year dissertation projects. This idea is also presented by
Brown and Knight (1994) [2] who write that feedback should be given whilst it is still
relevant, in order to allow the students to grow elsewhere. I agree with this as I feel
that feedback would be useless if returned too long after the deadlines; Students
would have moved on to other topics and coursework, and have neither the time nor
motivation to take the feedback on board (V1, K3), a problem mentioned by Gibbs and
Habeshaw (1989) [5]. This has been portrayed in other modules, where feedback was
provided around the time of other deadlines, and students told me that they were
unable to really analyse the feedback due to time constraints.

15. Balance description, analysis
and theory

16. Coherent markers in writing
In November, students were provided with the coursework specification. Closer to Christmas, the
emails started arriving from students, and I generally responded on the same day. Students have
praised my fast responses (see appendix A). Recognising the importance of fast feedback, as well
as taking pride in our speed, after submission the two tutors returned their marks within a week.
This led to a faster feedback turnaround, and gave students longer to take this feedback and use it
to prepare for their examination. Yorke and Longden (2006) [9] detail how a survey of 6000
students felt that feedback was not sufficiently prompt to be constructive, and therefore by
increasing the speed of feedback, both student satisfaction and exam results may rise. Upon
further discussion with some students, it was found that some were relying on feedback for this
coursework in order to implement similar functionality in their final year dissertation projects. This
idea is also presented by Brown and Knight (1994) [2] who write that feedback should be given
whilst it is still relevant, in order to allow the students to grow elsewhere. I agree with this as I feel
that feedback would be useless if returned too long after the deadlines; Students would have
moved on to other topics and coursework, and have neither the time nor motivation to take the
feedback on board, a problem mentioned by Gibbs and Habeshaw (1989) [5]. This has been
portrayed in other modules, where feedback was provided around the time of other deadlines,
and students told me that they were unable to really analyse the feedback due to time constraints.

17. Evidencing Area of Activity 1:
Design and plan learning activities and/or
programmes of study
You may wish to reflect on:
1. The main ways in which you design and plan learning activities and/or
programmes of study;
2. The reasons for your choice of:
a. subject material;
b. activities and techniques;
c. the particular learning technologies included in your plan.
3. How you make choices to facilitate learning in general and within your
learners’ subject area;
4. How you incorporate other Dimensions of the Framework, for example:
• relevant Core Knowledge that you utilised and why;
• relevant Professional Values that you utilised and why.

18. Examples you could include

19. Curriculum design
Different ways in which you can conceive of the
notion of ‘curriculum’
Curriculum as ‘knowledge’
Curriculum as ‘product’
Curriculum as ‘process’
Curriculum as ‘praxis’
Curriculum which is ‘hidden’
Curriculum Theory and Practice (Infed): http://infed.org/mobi/curriculum-theory-
and-practice/ (Accessed on 12/01/16; 20:40)

20. Taking student skills higher
https://expertbeacon.com/sites/default/files/Blooms%20Taxonomy.jpg (Accessed on 30/11/15: 20:30)

21. Curriculum example

22. Evidencing Area of Activity 2:
Teach and/or support learning
You may wish to reflect on:
1. The main ways in which you teach and/or support learners;
2. The activities or techniques you use and why;
3. How you came to use them and why you think they were successful
in supporting student learning. Give reasons for your choice of
activities and techniques and how they relate to developing the
learners’ understanding of the subject/discipline;
4. How you incorporate other Dimensions of the Framework such as:
• relevant Core Knowledge that you utilised and why;
• relevant Professional Values that you utilised and why.

23. Examples you could include

24. Broad theoretical approaches to
teaching and learning
Behaviourist (Watson, Skinner)
Cognitivist/Constructivist/Active
(Vygotsky, Dewey, Petty)
Humanist (Knowles, Maslow, Rogers)
Social/Ecological (Vygotsky, Bandura)
For a helpful summary/starting point, go to:
http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/learningmap.html

25. Evidencing Area of Activity 3:
Assess and give feedback to learners
You may wish to reflect on:
1. The main types of formative and/or summative assessment that you use
with learners, whether formal or informal;
2. How and why you choose the particular approaches and methods you
employ, in so far as this was your own decision;
3. How you ensure your assessments are valid indicators of what you want
your learners to learn, that your marking is reliable and the standards you set
are appropriate;
4. How you give feedback to learners and ensure it supports and improves
their understanding of the subject, their performance and/or their
development as learners;
5. How you incorporate other Dimensions of the Framework for example:
• relevant Core Knowledge that you utilised and why;
• relevant Professional Values that you utilised and why.

26. Examples you could include

27. Look at the following…
Bloxham and Boyd (2007; 2012) – general guidance on the development of
assessment techniques in HE
https://www.mheducation.co.uk/openup/chapters/9780335221073.pdf
QAA – relationship between formative and summative assessment in HE
http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancement-
themes/completed-enhancement-themes/integrative-assessment
HEA Assessment Review Tool – to help you to reflect on your assessment
processes https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/marked-improvement-
transforming-assessment-higher-education-assessment-review-tool
Reinventing Education (Dr Will Curtis, Warwick CLL)
https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/will_curtis_final.pdf

28. Assessment and/or feedback
examples

29. Incorporating theory
Broad theories about learning and
teaching (e.g. Vygotsky, Knowles)
HE teaching texts (e.g. Gibbs, Race)
Practice-based knowledge (e.g. O’Toole)
Reflective practice (e.g. Schon, Brookfield)
Subject-disciplinary pedagogy
Other sources (e.g. blogs, THE)