How can you present your accomplishments in a more visual format?

When you are trying to simplify things for an audience that does not necessarily relate to your discipline, visual presentation of material can allow a multi-disciplinary group to identify patterns that are much harder to explain in text alone. You are most likely to use these strategies to present data in support pages of a teaching award application, or in thinking through your case in a probation/promotion application.

Why bother? Its construction helps you to develop your awareness of trends so you can clearly target your best (and worst) areas of performance.

Visual tips for developing your application:

• Initially when working out your application, focus on your ‘whole’ academic career, prior to honing in on teaching, research, governance and professional activity, so you are thinking outside a potentially narrow view of ‘Teaching/Learning’. Think big activities…You can tag them later, according to the overall balance of your application.
• Use of Tables is strongly encouraged to show patterns of activity over time, as well as roles, subjects and student numbers. Highlight classes for which you have accompanying surveys. This will help you decide which surveys you are going to include. What combination of subjects allows you to tell the story that captures your teaching philosophy?
• Develop diagrams. Diagrams show models or patterns of development where tables do not apply. Sometimes a simple Venn diagram can convey a lot. Other times it’s a simple flowchart to capture developments.
• Analyse your survey results for patterns. What patterns are you highlighting? Are they developmental progression, are they broad and varied, do they change each year, have you had the opportunity to sustain engagement with some key subjects? Pick subjects that fit with the rest of your application, or pick at least one subject that you can explore in great depth from multiple data sources. Can you chart the change in quantitative data?
• Use sub-headings in your commentary. This pushes you to think about the structure/logic flow of this page, and also allows your readers to scan quickly and hone in on the information. Each commentary page is unique so quickly present your structure.
• Connect all the parts of your probation/promotion application. Make sure if you are making a huge statement about a key aspect of your contribution to teaching in your statement of case that you have backed this up consistently throughout your application, giving different levels/kinds of detail in appropriate sections