What is CIRTL?
The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is an NSF-funded consortium of over 40 universities committed to supporting future faculty and educators. CIRTL offers a series of microcredentials to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who complete national or local programming to enhance their understanding of how research contributes to teaching practice.
Our local CIRTL chapter is coordinated by the Center for Teaching and the Graduate College. As a CIRTL participant, you can engage in workshops, events, and teaching development programs designed to help you strengthen your teaching practice and reflect on your experiences as an educator.
CIRTL at Iowa offers many opportunities to complete all credentials and is free of cost for all Iowa participants.
Get Started with CIRTL
- Join the CIRTL ICON page to connect with teaching resources and local programming.
- Familiarize yourself with CIRTL Center online offerings and register for a CIRTL event.
- Download a CIRTL inventory and track progress toward your microcredentials.
- If you have already completed the requirements for the CIRTL Associate level, claim your Associate credential.
- Check the Black and Gold Bulletin for regular updates about CIRTL opportunities.
- Connect with us and track upcoming events by signing up for the monthly Center for Teaching newsletter.
- Read new research by CIRTL members.
Earn your CIRTL Certification
As you participate in CIRTL at Iowa, you may choose to document your teaching development through one or more nationally recognized certificates: Associate, Practitioner, and Scholar. These certificates recognize your engagement with evidence-based and reflective teaching practices while providing a way to document and showcase your growth as an educator.
1: CIRTL Associate
Earning the CIRTL Associate credential indicates an understanding of evidence-based teaching (that research provides one important avenue for improving teaching practice) and an ability to apply evidence-based teaching ideas to personal teaching practice.
Earn this credential by:
- Completing any semester-length course on teaching
- Completing five teaching workshops at Iowa or CIRTL Central
- Completing a course with CIRTL Central
2: CIRTL Practitioner
CIRTL Practitioners move beyond applying the existing educational research to their teaching and learn to conduct research on their own. Participants who earn this credential will be familiar with major educational research methodologies and study design. Participants are required to create a formal project proposal.
Earn this credential by:
- Completing the Teaching-as-Research (TAR) Workshop Series
- Completing a semester-length course on educational research
3: CIRTL Scholar
Achieve the CIRTL Scholar level by completing your own teaching-as-research project and sharing it via publication or conference presentation. Participants who earn this credential propose and conduct an educational research study on their own or a collaborator's classroom.
The Center for Teaching provides support for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, study design, and analysis. Participants who wish to do so may count the completion of a TAR project as a practicum for the Certificate in College Teaching.
CIRTL Opportunities
CIRTL Workshops and Courses Online
CIRTL Central offers online workshops and courses facilitated by experts from member institutions. There are asynchronous and synchronous offerings; all are free for Iowa graduate students. Take five workshops or one CIRTL course to qualify for Associate.
Find a full list of upcoming events here.
Transforming Your Research into Teaching (TYRIT)
The Transforming Your Research Into Teaching (TYRIT) Workshop Series introduces participants to an evidence-based course design framework and helps them design a course based on their current area of research interest or one they may need to teach in their future careers. TYRIT is open to all graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.
This workshop series takes place annually in the summer over three weeks and utilizes a flipped format. Completing TYRIT earns the Associate Level microcredential.
Learn more here.
Teaching-as-Research Workshop Series
Design your Teaching-as-Research (TAR) study in this hands-on workshop series for graduate students and postdocs. You will learn the basics of educational research methodology and how to propose a research question. Reflect on your teaching, explore evidence of student learning, and earn CIRTL Practitioner level certification. During this workshop series, you will develop a teaching-focused research question and design a brief study to investigate it.
Participants may choose whether to carry out their TAR studies after the workshop series. If you are close to graduating, simply designing and proposing a project is a valuable opportunity for reflective teaching practice.
This workshop series runs every semester, with two meetings a week for three weeks. Register for the fall 2026 TAR series.
Certificate in College Teaching + CIRTL
Students participating in the Certificate in College Teaching and CIRTL may count the completion of a CIRTL Scholar educational research project for both programs. These students should enroll in GRAD: 7400 Practicum in College Teaching with a Center for Teaching staff member. The project must be carried out in the same semester as the enrollment.
Completing a Teaching-as-Research project
A TAR project is an opportunity to use your disciplinary research skills to develop and answer a research question relating to teaching. You may investigate this question in a class you are teaching or a TA for, with a data set available through your department or other university offices or departments, or with a faculty member in their class. These projects can be small or large scale and can help you develop your reflective teaching and research skills.
You may carry out the project you proposed during participation in the TAR Workshop Series or a different project.
To express interest in beginning your TAR project, email cirtl@uiowa.edu.
Meet the CIRTL Team
Katherine Beydler, Ph.D.
Jen Teitle, Ph.D.
Allie Brandriet, Ph.D.
