Welcome to the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) at Texas A&M University.  We are a part of a seven institution network funded by the National Science Foundation to promote “the development of a national faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of their professional careers.”  TAMU CIRTL serves as a bridge by (1) contributing TAMU’s unique emphasis on inquiry-based courses to the CIRTL network and (2) network existing TAMU resources and facilitating access to CIRTL resources to the broader TAMU community.

Our goals are simple: 

(1) Prepare graduate students and post-docs as future faculty

(2) Support TAMU’s initiative to infuse courses with inquiry-based pedagogy

(3) Support faculty development in CIRTL pillars and inquiry-based pedagogy

Our local programs include:

Postdoctoral Professional Development:

 Given the new emphasis on providing post doctoral researchers with a quality mentoring experience as a condition of receiving funding for such positions through either NIH or the NSF, there has emerged a target of opportunity on the TAMU campus to assist in providing some central resources for such activities and in so doing to incorporate the CIRTL pillars as part of the program. TAMU-CIRTL joined together with offices of the career Development Center, Center for Teaching Excellence, Budget Development TEES, and several administrators on campus to develop this professional development program for post-docs in STEM disciplines.

This program consists of three components:

1. Teaching and learning: A workshop on “Creating Teaching portfolio and philosophy” was offered by the CTE in spring 2010.

2. Grant writing and proposal development: Workshops offered by administrators on proposal development and the Office of Proposal Development and Budgets, TEES were incorporated into the program in spring 2010.

3. Career development and Mentoring: A couple of workshops on CV and cover letter writing, along with a workshop on mentoring and team work were offered in spring 2010.

Find resources from previous Postdoctoral Professional Development Workshops here. To receive e-mails about upcoming workshop, please subscribe to the TAMUCIRTL-POSTDOC listserv via an e-mail to listserv@listserv.tamu.edu and in the BODY put SUBSCRIBE tamucirtl-postdoc firstname lastname. Join the TAMU CIRTL facebook group - keyword search "TAMU CIRTL".

Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA):

The Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA) is a student led, learning community, focused on graduate student professional development in the area of college teaching. TAMU-CIRTL, along with the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), partnered with the GTA in an effort to enhance graduate student education in teaching. TAMU-CIRTL implemented a GTA program evaluation to assess program effectiveness and progress toward the achievement of GTA program outcomes. The evaluation included weekly and end-of-semester assessments of participant satisfaction and knowledge gains.

For more information, visit GTA website at  http://gta.tamu.edu.  Or find GTA on facebook:  http://tinyurl.com/GTA-Facebook  You may also e-mail GTA Director, Valerie Reiss at gta@tamu.edu to request addition to the GTA listserv to receive e-mails about upcoming workshops and teaching-related opportunities.

Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA) II – Inquiry Based Learning Community:

During the fall of 2009 our CIRTL team assisted in the development of the Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA) II, a senior fellows program that focused on inquiry-based learning (IBL). In the GTA II program, fellows developed the skills needed to utilize inquiry in existing curriculum. Participants developed artifacts and implemented projects designed to bring inquiry into an undergraduate course at TAMU. In moving toward the CIRTL Network goal of establishing graduate-through-faculty learning communities at Network universities, TAMU-CIRTL implemented a GTA II program evaluation to assess program effectiveness. Feedback from this evaluation was used in the development of a new graduate-through-faculty learning community, The College Alignment for Collaboration Program (CAC) that was implemented this past academic year. Over the recent academic year we have focused on two “follow-on” aspects of this GTA II program. The first item was to complete the evaluation of this activity and report our findings to the CIRTL Network and secondly, to assemble the materials and activities used in this workshop into a “guide book” that could be shared with the CIRTL Network.  The evaluation of the GTA II project is being submitted along with this institutional portrait while the work on the guide book is still a work in progress and we hope to be able to bring it to a conclusion during the fall term in 2010.

College Alignment for Collaboration:

The College Alignment for Collaboration (CAC) program is a new discipline-based professional development program for graduates-through-faculty, and current faculty, that is customized for departments and Colleges. This new program offers opportunities to incorporate CIRTL Network activities as well as take advantage of the diversity of the network. This program’s design is based on the 2008 workshop hosted by the CTE on “bringing inquiry into the classroom.” TAMU-CIRTL sponsored workshops and working sessions, facilitated by Dr. Bruce Herbert and Dr. Debra Fowler, in the college of Geosciences. Faculty members and their graduate students are invited to gather on a weekly basis throughout the semester to design a course or upgrade a course to include learning outcomes and assessment components linking their area of research into the classroom. Each faculty member shares an idea of what they hope to accomplish during the sessions and then various aspects of teaching and learning concepts that will contribute to their goal are shared and discussed. The ultimate goal is to conduct educational research on the project that can potentially lead to scholarship of teaching and learning or a publication for the faculty member and graduate student.

K-12 Initiative:

A review of literature was conducted on biology content preparation of K – 12 science teachers.  Applicable documents were collected from ERIC, NSF websites, and TAMU library-based databases. The documents include empirical reports, other literature reviews, and theoretical articles that address the development of subject matter structure and pedagogical content knowledge of pre-service science teachers. The literature review for the initiative is in its final stages of development and should be ready for release in September 2010.

While our focus is on STEM disciplines, we encourage the diversity that accompanies the participation by all disciplines.

Please explore the above tabs.  Your will find content and resources, both at TAMU and beyond, that you may utilize in your courses and/or research.  Please contact us with any questions.  We are here to serve the faculty, administration, and students of Texas A&M University!

Dr. Bob Webb, Campus Network Leader

Dr. Bruce Herbert, Professor and Co-PI

Gurlovleen Rathore; Graduate Research Assistant

Contact us

"This material is based upon work partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0227592.  Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation." 

CIRTL at Texas A&M University focuses on developing future STEM faculty through the integration of CIRTL activities with current university initiatives to bring inquiry-based learning into the undergraduate classroom.  Adapting and developing effective learning activities for the university’s diverse student audience, and integrating them successfully into courses, will require a coordinated effort of graduate students, post-docs, and faculty.  CIRTL will support this initiative through the professional development of graduate-through-faculty in effective teaching practices and instructional material design that fosters learning through inquiry.

TAMU CIRTL provides and/or supplements resources in teaching and mentoring.  Through participation in the national CIRTL network with its member institutions, TAMU benefits from expertise and resources (1) to develop expertise in Teaching as Research (TAR), Learning through Diversity (LtD), and development of Learning Communities (LC), (2) to connect with mentors from other institutions with expertise in these three CIRTL pillars, and (3) to put into practice the CIRTL core values within the context of their academic discipline.  Ultimately, CIRTL provides valuable models for the implementation of these vital core concepts.

For more information, to request assistance with integrating CIRTL pillars into your courses, or learn how CIRTL can be leveraged in your proposals and research efforts, please contact Bob Webb (webb@physics.tamu.edu) or Bruce Herbert (herbert@geo.tamu.edu).

Resources within the local TAMU CIRTL network include (see Resources tab for full descriptions):

Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE)

Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA)

Information Technology in Science (ITS)

Please visit the website of the national CIRTL network for more information in TAR, LtD, and LC. 

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL)

Provides resources and a national network of faculty and graduate students from seven institutions working on issues affecting the preparation of graduate students and post-doctoral researchers as future faculty.  They host a conference bringing together faculty and students from around the country and a summer conference for students to strengthen their preparation as college teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  From their website, you may also access free material focusing on Teaching as Research, Learning through Diversity, and Learning Communities (the three pillars of CIRTL), find a speaker for a special event, or network with faculty who share an interest in these topics.  Member institutions are led by the University of Wisonson-Madison and include Howard University, Michigan State University, Texas A&M University, The Pennsylvania State University, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Vanderbilt University.

Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE)

Provides professional development for faculty who desire to expand their repertoire of teaching strategies and design courses that challenge and support the learning of all students.  The CTE hosts resources, learning communities, workshops, and seminars for faculty development.  In addition, CTE provides professional development for graduate students through sponsorship of the Graduate Teaching Academy and the university sanctioned Teaching Assistant Training Evaluation Program (TATEP).

Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA) 

Supported by CTE and the Office of Graduate Studies, the GTA is a student led organization providing seminar series during the fall semester. The GTA is a one-year voluntary program that can be entered at the beginning of the fall or spring semester.  Participants who complete a series of requirements set forth by the GTA are eligible to obtain a Certificate of Completion designating them as a “GTA Fellow”.

Information Technology in Sciences (ITS)

In its 7^th year of operation, the NSF-funded Information Technology in Science (ITS) Center for Teaching and Learning is an interdisciplinary graduate program that seeks to replenish the nation's supply of science and mathematics education specialists through team-led, learner-centered opportunities involving scientists, mathematicians, education researchers and education practitioners.

iTunes U

iTunes U is a service provided by Texas A&M University in cooperation with Apple, Inc. to provide pod casting content to TAMU and the general public.  Of the 250 participating US institutions, TAMU is one of only 16 schools featured in the Apple Showcase and the only public university from Texas.  TAMU iTunes U receives a weekly average 6,000 hits from US and abroad.  Of the STEM departments, the colleges of Agriculture and Engineering currently have content available on iTunes and the colleges of Science and Veterinarian Medicine have content in development.  In addition, TAMU offers “Research Quick Briefs” as a weekly podcast highlighting research of faculty and agencies of the Texas A&M University System. 

College Teaching Certificate (CTC)

Offered through the College of Education, the primary goal of this area of emphasis is to allow graduate students the opportunity to learn and intern about the theory, practice, and scholarship of college teaching and learning. Individuals are able to obtain the certificate while completing a degree in any department.

University Writing Center (UWC)

Established in 2001 to support writing-intensive courses in all disciplines at TAMU, the UWC provides tutorial services to gradate and undergraduate students as well as faculty development in the teaching of writing. The UWC also consults with faculty who are developing writing-intensive courses, and encourages writing as an active learning technique in all disciplines.

CIRTL PILLARS:

Teaching-as-Research (TAR):  "the deliberate, systematic, and reflective use of research methods by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instructors to develop and implement teaching practices that advance the learning experiences and outcomes of both students and teachers." Resources:  TAR Developmental Framework Chart, Guidebooks, Publications, Delta Program, STEM Education Scholars Program, Speakers, more.

Learning Communities (LC):  "bring together groups of people for shared learning, discovery, and generation of knowledge. To achieve common learning goals, a learning community nurtures functional relationships among its members."  Resouces: LC Developmental Framework Chart, Guidebooks, Publications, Delta Program, Speakers, more.

Learning-through-Diversity (LtD):  "capitalizes on the rich array of experiences, backgrounds, and skills among STEM undergraduates and graduates-through-faculty to enhance the learning of all. It recognizes that excellence and diversity are necessarily intertwined."  Resources: LtD Developmental Framework Chart, Diversity Institute program, Guidebooks, Publications, Delta Program, Speakers, more.

CIRTL GUIDEBOOKS:

OK, you're hooked on CIRTL pillar concepts and want to implement one or all into your courses, or even teach a new course, but don't know where to start.  CIRTL Guidebooks provide complete course materials in a convenient PDF (including discussion and justification of concepts, pedagogical support, detailed weekly Facilitator's guide, etc.) and are real-world tested at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  The guidebooks may be taught as-is or adapted to your discipline: 

CIRTL PRESENTATIONS and PUBLICATIONS:

The next best thing to being there.  Learn from the experts in the CIRTL network as they discuss topics and demonstrate concepts found in the core principles of CIRTL (see Pillars above for more information).  Presentations, publications.