Certification Overview

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.

Each certificate builds on the previous one. You begin with the Associate level and can then choose whether to continue to the Practitioner and then Scholar levels. All University of Iowa graduate students and postdocs are eligible to participate in CIRTL and pursue certificates.

  • Associate: Explore evidence-based and reflective approaches to teaching through workshops, courses, and other teaching development opportunities.
  • Practitioner: Design a Teaching as Research (TAR) project that investigates a question about teaching and learning using evidence from your own classroom.
  • Scholar: Conduct a TAR project and share what you learn through a presentation or publication, contributing to broader conversations about teaching and learning.

Some participants complete a certificate in a semester, while others spread their learning across several semesters. The Scholar level typically requires the greatest time commitment, and most participants should plan for at least two semesters (maybe longer) to complete it.

The sections below describe the requirements for each certificate and provide guidance for getting started. Certificates are processed periodically throughout the year and sent in batches. Depending on when you submit your request and the number of requests being processed, it may take several weeks to receive your electronic certificate by email.

Associate Level Certification

A CIRTL Associate can describe and recognize the value of evidence-based teaching and apply it to their own context. Participation at this level involves attending workshops, seminars, or classes to increase understanding of evidence-based and reflective teaching practices. The Associate Level can be completed in as little as one semester or workshops can be taken over the course of several semesters.

Once any of these requirements have been met, participants will be required to claim their credential by summarizing the activities comprising the Associate Level requirements and reflecting on their experiences.

Visit the following websites through the University of Iowa Center for Teaching and the broader CIRTL Network to explore and register for opportunities that align with your interests. Be sure to check back regularly as new workshops, programs, and events are added throughout the semester.

To achieve Associate Level:

Participate in five events

Participate in a minimum of 5 qualifying activities or programs. These 5 activities may include Center for Teaching workshops and CIRTL network activities. We encourage you to join at least one local workshop to meet other participants on our campus.

Take a course on teaching

Complete a full-length course focused on teaching. This can be through the CIRTL network (full courses or MOOCs) or an approved UI course.  Many UI pedagogy-based courses can be used to fulfill this requirement.  Some examples of currently approved UI courses are below.  If you have taken a different course you can email grad-cirtl@uiowa.edu(link sends e-mail) with the course name/number and description to see if it qualifies.

  • EDTL/EPLS/GRAD/RCE/PSQF:7385 Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 3 s.h.
  • GRAD/PSQF:6217 Seminar in College Teaching 3 s.h.
  • SOC:7010 Teaching Sociology 3 s.h.
  • PSQF:6205 Design of Instruction 3 s.h.
  • PSQF:6211 Universal Design and Accessibility for Online Learning
  • PSQF:6215 Web-Based Learning 3 s.h.
  • PSQF:6216 Tools and Utilities for Online Teaching 3 s.h.
  • CLAS:5100:0001 Practicum: College Teaching for TAs 1 s.h.

Complete a cohort-based teaching professional development program

Participate in a TYRIT Cohort or the Center for Teaching's Graduate Teaching Fellow Program.

 

Practitioner Level Certification

Practitioners exercise the knowledge they gained at the Associate Level by developing their own skills as educational researchers. The Practitioner Level certificate takes one semester to complete via the Teaching-As-Research (TAR) workshop series, offered spring and fall annually. During the workshop series, participants will learn how to propose and conduct an educational action research study in their discipline and submit a formal project proposal. You must earn an Associate Level certificate before you qualify for Practitioner.

Want to learn more about TAR projects or talk through your TAR project ideas? Book a TAR Project Appointment through the Center for Teaching's consultation request form.

To achieve Practitioner Level:

Participate in TAR
  • Participate in a TAR prep cohort and attend five workshops designed to prepare students to propose a TAR project
  • As part of your work in the workshop series, propose a Teaching-as-Research (TAR) project 

Take an educational research methods course
  • Complete a full-length course or CIRTL MOOC on educational research methods. Check if your course counts by emailing grad-cirtl@uiowa.edu.

Scholar Level Certification

CIRTL Scholars conduct an educational research project (the one they propose during the TAR workshop series or a different one) and add to community knowledge about teaching and learning. They also disseminate their findings via publication or conference presentation.

To achieve Scholar Level, you must earn Associate and Practitioner level certificates.

Funds may be available to help with conference registration and travel to present about TAR projects. Participants who complete the Scholar Level will have the opportunity to mentor graduate students who are designing and implementing TAR projects.

To earn Scholar Level:

Present teaching research at a conference
  • Conduct a Teaching-as-Research study in their own class or in the class of a collaborating instructor.

AND

  • Present their TAR project research and results at a local, regional, or national conference either in their discipline or a Teaching and Learning-related conference.

Publish their teaching research in a scholarly venue
  • Conduct a Teaching-as-Research study in their own class or in the class of a collaborating instructor.
  • Publish an article in a peer-reviewed journal about their TAR project research and results (either in a discipline-specific journal or a teaching and learning journal).

Share teaching research at a CIRTL event
  • Conduct a Teaching-as-Research study in their own class or in the class of a collaborating instructor.
  • Participate in the CIRTL Network Exchange Program and present a talk on their TAR project at another CIRTL institution