Dear colleagues, partners, and friends,
2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Center for Teaching. With help from Steven Gentry, collections archivist for the University of Iowa’s University Archives, I recently spent an afternoon in the Main Library exploring news articles and records from the Center’s early days.
Although much has changed in higher education over the past three decades, many of the questions instructors bring to the Center remain the same: how can we support students’ writing, lead effective discussions, and conduct meaningful assessment amid technological change. This year, often in partnership with the Writing Center, we facilitated popular sessions focused on designing writing assignments in the age of AI and building assignments that teach students about process as well as products. Leading discussion was the most popular breakout session in our New TA Orientation, an annual event that drew 397 registrants last year. Today’s questions about academic integrity, authentic assessment, and a changing workforce in the context of generative AI echo earlier conversations about the advent of broad access to the Internet.
The Center’s role as a place where instructors can explore these ideas also continues. Just as previous cohorts of instructors engaged with thought leaders like Eric Mazur, Edward Zlotkowski, and John Zubizarreta, we saw tremendous enthusiasm for 2025 Rocklin Speaker Sarah Silverman, author of a new book on teaching and neurodiversity, and 2026 SoTL Institute keynote speaker James Lang, author of the modern classic Small Teaching.
The archives also revealed another enduring theme: the power of instructors to shape teaching culture across campus. A 1997 press release described how consultations with inaugural associate director Carolyn Lieberg not only strengthened a graduate TA’s teaching but also empowered her to spark conversations about teaching among her colleagues. Founding director Tom Rocklin summed up the impact: “That graduate student has gone from being scared to death about teaching to being a leader of educational improvement in her department.... She’s gotten the message that she will be supported in her efforts to become a better teacher.”1 Nearly 30 years later, the mission of the Center remains: to be a welcoming space where instructors can learn, support, and inspire one another.
I often like to remind people that the Center for Teaching is YOUR Center for Teaching. To celebrate our milestone anniversary, we issued a call for proposals this spring for a curated Iowa Research Online collection showcasing teaching ideas from across the University of Iowa. The collection launches in November, and we hope it will serve as a resource that inspires instructors and helps shape the future of the Center for Teaching’s work.
Reflecting on the past year—and the past 30 years—it is clear the Center’s impact has always been rooted in the creativity, generosity, and dedication of Iowa instructors and campus partners.
Whether you are preparing to teach your first course or you’re an award-winning instructor with a long list of publications about teaching, thank you for your commitment to our students and for being part of our story. We look forward to continuing this work together.
Anna Flaming
Assistant Provost for Teaching & Learning and Director, Center for Teaching
1Scott Hauser, “UI Center offers training and support to professors and graduate students,” news release, Mar 10, 1997, RG 23.0005.001, University News Service Records, Box 48, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University of Iowa Libraries.
2025-26 Key Teaching Topics
- Assessment/assignment design
- Course design/curriculum design/syllabus design
- Developing materials for a teaching dossier/teaching statement
- Gathering meaningful student feedback
- Generative AI in teaching and learning
- Student engagement/active learning
Selected 2025-26 Campus Partnerships
- Academic Advising Center
- All UI Colleges
- Division of Student Life
- Scanlan Center for School Mental Health
- International Programs
- Office of Assessment
- ITS Office of Teaching, Learning, and Technology
- Living Labs
- Office of Community Engagement
- Office of the Provost
- Office of Student Accountability
- Office of Student Learning
- Office of Undergraduate Research
- Office of Writing & Communication
- Pomerantz Career Center
- Stanley Museum of Art
- University Counseling Service
- University Libraries
- Writing Center
Breadth of Impact
The Center for Teaching is elevating the campus culture of teaching and learning excellence by:
- Engaging with and leading national and international conversations about teaching and learning.
- Supporting faculty and student success by adapting evidence-based practices for Iowa faculty and students.
- Advocating for structures and policies that allow teachers and learners to thrive.
12
80 +
1,005
32,127
Impact on Campus
“It means a lot that the Center for Teaching is investing in me to develop my role as an educator and to help me connect teaching with community, excellence, and professional worth and success. Because of my work with the Center, I have additional confidence in thinking innovatively about course design and implementation. I feel like what I do matters at the UI, and their programming has left me feeling energized and committed to facilitating continuous change that supports the success of students and faculty.”
Staff Achievement
6
Who are experts and leaders in their field
3
From July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026
10
Held by full-time staff members in national and international organizations and academic journals
What We Do
How the Center for Teaching supports academic success and leads strategic teaching initiatives across campus
Highlighted Programs and Initiatives
Scholarly Teaching Program
Funded by the SPARC Strategic Initiatives Fund, the Scholarly Teaching Program provides opportunities for teaching-focused faculty members to explore evidence-based teaching strategies, build a network of colleagues at Iowa and beyond, and attend a national teaching and learning conference.
By the numbers
- 5 cohorts
- 39 faculty participants
- 30 departments
- 8 colleges
- 10,017 total student enrollment in participants' courses during semester of participation
- 1 peer-reviewed article by cohort faculty and Center for Teaching staff published in Teaching & Learning Inquiry
"The conference exposed me to several new teaching techniques I was not previously aware of. Overall, the program provided valuable opportunities to reflect on and improve my own teaching practices."
- Spring 2025 cohort member
"The interdisciplinary cohort was my favorite part of the program. There were multiple times when we realized that all of us, across disparate fields, grapple with the same pedagogical questions (tech, AI, discussions, grading)."
- Spring 2026 cohort member
2026 SoTL Institute
With support from the SPARC Strategic Initiatives Fund, the 2026 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Institute brought together faculty, staff, and graduate students from across campus to share, discuss, and celebrate SoTL and scholarly approaches to teaching and learning with a keynote by internationally known teaching and learning expert James Lang.
- 95 SoTL Institute attendees
- 20 poster presenters
- 8 campus experts on the SoTL Institute Advisory Board
SoTL Advisory Board
To support the Institute’s poster session, the Center for Teaching assembled the 2026 SoTL Institute Advisory Board, a group of faculty recognized for their leadership and expertise in SoTL, to conduct a collegial and open peer review process. Serving as thought partners, Advisory Board members provided constructive, formative feedback that helped faculty, staff, and graduate student presenters refine and strengthen their work prior to sharing it with the campus community.
Through this collaborative review process, reviewers and authors engaged in meaningful conversations about evidence-based teaching and learning.
SoTL Scholars
The SPARC-funded SoTL Scholars Project has engaged a cross-disciplinary cohort of teacher-scholars representing Instructional, Clinical, and Tenure Track faculty across the social sciences, STEM, and humanities focused on designing, implementing, and disseminating a SoTL project. Additional scholarly opportunities for the SoTL Scholars cohorts have included:
- Sharing SoTL project process and outcomes with the campus community at the UI SoTL Institute.
- Engaging with national and international SoTL experts and learning about SoTL advancements.
- Participating in the SoTL faculty learning community, which is open to faculty interested in learning about SoTL or who are planning to conduct a SoTL project in their teaching practice.
By the numbers:
- 26 faculty members
- 21 departments
- 8 colleges
“The program is very well run and has great leadership and support."
- Roxanna Curto, associate professor, French
“This study wouldn’t have happened without the Center for Teaching. They have been so collaborative, and the additional funding available to SoTL scholars through the P3-funded program will further support my project. I am looking forward to presenting my research to both dance and SoTL communities, and I’m getting closer to publishing it.”
- Kristin Marrs, associate professor of instruction, Dance
ArtInfuse
In collaboration with the Stanley Museum of Art, ArtInfuse invites faculty to join a small, interdisciplinary cohort to explore ways to integrate arts authentically into their teaching, including assignments, lessons, or other course components. Participants identify course bottlenecks, develop an arts-integrated component into their course design, and engage in scholarship about the impact of their approach.
This year, the ArtInfuse approach and the individual projects have received national and international attention, including multiple conference presentations and AAC&U’s Academic Minute podcast.
“As an economics faculty member who is also a concert pianist, I always wanted to bring some form of creative arts into my economics classroom. The ArtInfuse Program was the catalyst for realizing my dream, because it created the perfect opportunity for me to take my students outside of the ‘discipline box’ and show them how visual strategy lessons from art can help build understanding and confidence in reading complex macroeconomics graphs. I could not be more grateful to the Center for Teaching and the Stanley Museum of Art, who, together with my cohort colleagues, have provided me with valuable insights and amazing support throughout the process of creating and implementing my ArtInfuse project.”
- Alexandra Nica, professor and director of undergraduate studies
Highlighted Programs and Initiatives
Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL)
The Iowa chapter of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), a collaboration between the Graduate College and the Center for Teaching, is a key resource for graduate student teaching development. CIRTL focuses on creating scholarly teaching practice through planning and conducting teaching-as-research projects.
We have recently expanded the number and frequency of CIRTL offerings—driving record-high attendance. Efforts to better connect the campus community with CIRTL offerings have resulted in a 60% increase in the use of CIRTL online resources over last year. Full details and opportunities to earn the Certificate in College Teaching are available on our new website.
By the numbers:
- 41 CIRTL certifications awarded
- 2 Scholar-level projects
Students as Partners
With funding from the Division of Student Life and the Excellence in Teaching and Learning (ETL) Network, the Center for Teaching’s nationally recognized Students as Partners Program allows students and faculty to work together to increase student engagement, provide more opportunities for active learning, and create multiple channels to encourage students to communicate with each other and their instructors.
By the numbers:
- 15 undergraduate student partners
- 11 faculty members
- 11 courses
- 6 departments (Math, biology, engineering, chemistry, microbiology, and health, sport and human physiology)
- 3 colleges
- 5,075: total number of student enrollments in courses with student partners
- 3: peer-reviewed scholarly works; 2 presentations and 1 publication
In partnership with Iowa GROW, student partners reflect on the experience:
“I’ve learned to always look for opportunities to better the classroom that can aid in bringing out the best in the students there.”
- Nora Zimmermann, student partner
“I’ve been given the opportunity to experience and collaborate with others and I’m learning to navigate different professional connections that will help me in my career.”
- Andrea Lopez, student partner
A model for other institutions:
As members of the SCIENCE Collaborative, a multi-institutional collaborative committed to developing sustainable, evidence-based learning experiences in undergraduate STEM education, Iowa Center for Teaching staff and partners have provided training and mentorship for the launch or development of student partnership programs at five other institutions, including co-leading a popular Community of Practice.
K-12 and Students as Partners Connections
The Connecting K-12 and Higher Ed through the Students as Partners initiative linked three campus priorities to improve student learning: centering student perspectives, connecting with K-12 educators, and fostering scholarly teaching. In Spring 2026, the Center for Teaching and the College of Education collaborated on a program to pair UI faculty teaching large-enrollment STEM courses with K-12 faculty teaching the same subjects. They were joined by undergraduates from the Students as Partners program, including pre-service teachers from the College of Education.
This group connected in several meetings across the semester to discuss the barriers current students face as they transition from secondary to postsecondary coursework. The faculty members then designed teaching interventions intended to address the challenges uncovered during their dialogue and will measure their effectiveness through SoTL projects in the 2026-2027 AY.
Iowa faculty participants:
Dr. Kelli Taeger, HSHP, Human Anatomy
Kelli plans to foster students’ motivation and preparation through the addition of instructor-led sessions on effective study strategies and model timelines for ways to effectively use time to engage in out-of-course preparation. Students may then choose to fill in their own structured timeline for each week of the course.
Dr. Krista Osadchuk, Biology, Foundations of Biology
Krista is helping students study effectively by introducing a framework for the best methods to use for the learning goals of each course unit. She will implement structured opportunities for students to engage with these methods, reflect on their own outcomes and plan intentional next steps for success.
Teaching and Learning Outdoors
In partnership with Living Labs at Iowa, the Center for Teaching brought together instructors from across campus for the Teaching and Learning Outdoors: Showcase and Roundtable at the Lagoon Shelter House. Instructors analyzed real case studies of outdoor teaching and learning at Iowa, shared experiences with colleagues, and reflected on ideas for their own courses. They also discovered campus outdoor learning spaces and resources that can help make outdoor and experiential learning possible.