The University of Delaware’s Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (UD-CIRTL) is part of an international network of over 40 research universities committed to preparing graduate students for an academic career with the ultimate goal of improving undergraduate education. Our specific mission is to foster the development of future faculty who can design and implement demonstrably effective teaching, learning, and mentoring environments for diverse student communities. Participation in the program – set to start January, 2017 and open to all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows – provides access to local workshops and professional development opportunities as well as a great number of online courses and workshops offered through CIRTL’s national network.
UD-CIRTL is designed to bring together a diverse group of graduate students from across the University who are passionate about their role as a teacher, who want to learn more about effective teaching strategies, or who are interested in improving their teaching portfolio to gain a competitive edge on the academic job market. Participation in the program is flexible and accommodates the intense teaching, and research schedules many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows experience. Participants can browse and choose from a board list of pedagogical workshops and courses, depending on their personal interests and needs. We encourage graduate students to build their own schedules based on the time and work commitment they are comfortable with and to coordinate their participation with their academic advisor. For those who wish to officially document their teaching experience, CIRTL offers three “levels of accomplishment” that participants can reach based on their work within the program. These include the Associate, Practitioners and Scholar level. For example, students who complete the Associate level will begin working on a teaching portfolio which provides evidence about their teaching and its improvement, including a teaching philosophy statement; we expect this statement to become more sophisticated as students develop as instructors and progress through the different workshops, activities, and courses.
The UD-CIRTL staff is excited about the opportunities that joining this national network will bring to UD’s graduate students as they set out to become future faculty and members of a global community of scholars and teachers. We encourage all interested graduate students and postdoctoral fellows – regardless of their department affiliation or degree progress – to attend our official UD-CIRTL info-session on 11 November 2016 at 4:30pm at the Faculty Commons in 116 Pearson Hall. Pizza and refreshments will be provided! We are looking forward to meeting you!
