Center for Teaching Excellence - Materials

Teaching Excellence Academy Portfolio Items

This portfolio section fulfills the requirements of the University of Florida's Center for Teaching Excellence Teaching Excellence Academy (Fall 2026). The three assignments below demonstrate quality teaching practices in action, drawn from coursework in the program.

Assignment 1: Relationships and Motivation

Effective icebreakers do more than fill time; they establish a collaborative classroom culture from day one. The assignment below asks for an icebreaker grounded in meaningful course content, designed to help students connect with multiple peers, and intentionally incorporating principles from the Teaching Excellence Academy module on community building. The activity that follows demonstrates how structure and purpose can transform a simple introduction into a learning experience. Below you can see this in action from my course.

Assignment 2: Modular Lesson Plan

This modular learning plan was created for a 75-minute introductory cartography session in GIS 3043, and it responds to the Teaching Excellence Academy’s Option 1 assignment. It is built around five learning objectives covering the purpose of cartography, core map elements, design choices in typography and color, map types, and classification schemes. Each module pairs a short instructional segment with an active learning task, such as a think-pair-share, a “what’s missing?” analysis of a map, a group sorting activity, and a hands-on classification exercise, so students move from listening to applying. The sequence is intentional: students first notice design decisions in a real map, then learn the vocabulary and principles behind those decisions, and finally practice making the choices themselves. A closing synthesis ties the lesson back to the objectives and to professional GIS work. 

Assignment 3:  Quality Rubric 

This rubric was created for the individual final project in GIS 3043, in which students use four variables in a GIS site selection model and report their findings in a StoryMap. It responds to the Teaching Excellence Academy’s Option 1 assignment. The rubric defines eight criteria, weighted to total 100 points, covering the research question, the four-variable model, data documentation, spatial analysis, site comparison, the sustainability component, StoryMap design, and interpretation and communication. Each criterion has four performance levels (Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, and Needs Improvement) with descriptors that specify observable features, such as counts of required map elements, the presence of stated thresholds and weights, and the number of alternative sites scored, so that two graders can apply the same standard. The rubric was designed to assess the project as an individual piece of work and to work with the StoryMap format as the final deliverable. 

Assignment 4: Course Mapping

This course map was created for Week 4, Cartography and Design, in GIS 3043 Foundations of GIS, an online 4-credit course. The module supports four course goals: understanding GIS concepts and workflows, applying GIS software and spatial analysis, analyzing spatial patterns, and communicating spatial information through cartographic design. Its four module objectives cover the history of cartography, design principles for effective and accessible maps, the selection of reference and thematic maps, and the evaluation of how classification and symbolization choices shape interpretation. Each objective is paired with a learning activity, a quiz or lab assessment, and a resource, and the module culminates in a graded invasive species mapping lab and a peer review discussion. The sequence moves from historical context to design principles to map types to classification decisions, so students practice each concept before applying it to their own maps.