CIRTL Network Teaching as Research programming brings together graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from across 45 CIRTL research universities through Zoom meetings and events to discuss design and methodology for classroom research projects, share useful resources, present preliminary results, and get constructive advice. Recordings will be available on YouTube for some events.

Upcoming Events

CIRTL Network Teaching-as-Research Presentations

• Wednesday, April 9, 2025 from 12:00-1:30pm ET
• Hear graduate students and postdocs from across the CIRTL Network share the results of their Teaching-as-Research (TAR) projects in this online Zoom mini-symposium event.
• Speaker registration will open in January 2025, and speakers will be announced in late March.
•  

  Participant registration opens Monday, January 13 and closes on the day of the event.

Recent Events

CIRTL Network Teaching as Research Presentations: Past Events and Cornell Presenters

• Thursday, April 11, 2024 from 2:00-3:30pm ET
• Wednesday, April 26, 2023 from 3:00-4:30 pm ET
• Wednesday, April 13, 2022 from 3:00-4:30 pm ET –  PhD alumni Doga Yucalan from Cornell University and Christine Georgakakos presented. See agenda and abstracts
• Thursday, April 15, 2021 from 3:00-4:30 pm ET – Cornell’s Janani Hariharan presented her work with Sue Merkel from Microbiology.
• Thursday, April 2, 2019 from 5:00-6:30 pm ET – Arielle Johnson, Eugene Law, and Christine Georgakakos presented from Cornell.
• Wednesday, April 17, 2019 from 5:00-6:30 pm ET – Andrew St. James presented from Cornell.
• Wednesday, November 28, 2018, from 5:00-6:30 pm ET – Kathleen Hefferon presented from Cornell.
• Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 5:00-6:30 pm – Lucy Xiaolu Wang presented from Cornell. Recording of Lucy’s presentation
• Wednesday, November 29, 2017, 5:00-6:30 pm – Christine Georgakakos presented from Cornell.

Planning Your Teaching as Research Project Course (Summer 2023, 2022, and 2021)

• The CIRTL Network offered a six-week version of the popular online course, Planning Your Teaching-as-Research Project in Summer 2023. Most recently, Brian Smentkowski from the University of Idaho and Colleen McLinn from Cornell University instructed this course, which paired asynchronous online modules with weekly peer feedback on draft planning work. You can explore related resources at this link.

Using Teaching as Research to Advance Equitable Educational Experiences (Summer 2023)

• A two-part workshop that invites participants to consider how they might use CIRTL’s “Teaching as Research” framework to advance equitable educational experiences.

How Completing a Teaching as Research Project Impacted My Career: Reflections from CIRTL Alumni (Spring 2021, Fall 2020)

• Session description: Are you thinking about taking on a Teaching as Research (TAR) project? Join us to hear from a panel of CIRTL Network alumni who will share their experience doing a TAR project – not the research they conducted, but what they learned from the process and how they leveraged their TAR project in their career. Alumni from University of Iowa, Michigan State University, University of California-Irvine, University of North Carolina, and Texas A&M University will reflect on the ups and downs of the TAR process, discuss how the experience impacted their career and instructional approach, and answer questions from the audience. This event is intended to be interactive, with most of the time devoted to panelists answering questions, so please come to the event prepared to ask questions!
• Recording: This event will be recorded and CIRTL may share that recording on our public YouTube channel.

Introducing Teaching as Research: A Systematic Approach to Improving Your Teaching (Fall 2020)

• Session description: Hear Teaching as Research (TAR) program leaders from around the North American CIRTL Network describe Teaching as Research, a mentored experience that applies the process of inquiry to teaching and learning. By translating skills that you already have as researchers, you can investigate, reflect on, and improve your teaching. Leaders will describe TAR programs at their own institutions, and issues such as developing a strong project, finding the right question, doing TAR during COVID, and the professional benefits of doing a TAR project. Come to this informative introductory session and find out if a TAR project is right for you.
• Recording of Introducing Teaching as Research

Getting the Job: How to Frame and Sell Your Teaching as Research Experience in Your Job Search (Fall 2018)

• Session description: This is not about how you present the results of your project, but rather how you communicate what you learned from the process and how you can apply what you learned if you get the job. You will think about how to describe the skills you developed in your TAR project in a way that is applicable to many types of positions. A two-part workshop requiring pre-registration and capped at 30 participants.

Next Steps: Leveraging Your TAR Project for Future Funding Opportunities (Summer 2018)

• Session description: Learn how to use your Teaching-as-Research project to strengthen grant proposals in this drop-in event.
• Recording of Next Steps

What to Expect from My Teaching as Research Project? A Panel Discussion (Spring 2018)

• Session description: Hear from a panel of CIRTL alumni who will share their experience doing a Teaching as Research project: what they learned from the process and how they use what they learned in their current roles as postdocs and faculty.
• Panelists: Kate Hayden, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Birmingham-Southern College; Jesse McClure, Postdoctoral Scholar at the Broad Institute; Laura Slane, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Trine University
• Recording of Alumni Panel

Digging Deeper: A Focus on Research Using Qualitative Design (Spring 2018)

Why Do A Qualitative Study? (May 3)

• Session description: Explore the fundamental differences between qualitative orientations and more common research designs in STEM. Learn about the theoretical foundations behind qualitative research, and come away with a greater understanding for how and why qualitative research looks and feels different.

Flexible Design and the Rigor Needed for Qualitative Research (May 10)

• Session description: Learn why qualitative research is called “flexible” design, why flexibility is needed in qualitative research, and what research rigor looks like in a qualitative context. Understand what it takes to design a qualitative inquiry question and a qualitative research project, and learn the difference between research rigor in quantitative versus qualitative designs.

Becoming Sherlock: How To Master the Art of Observational Data (May 17)

• Session description: Dig into the tool that is at the heart of qualitative research: the observation. Building off of our previous discussion of research rigor, we will discuss how observational data can add a richness to your research, and participants will learn the basics of observational data collection. Participants will take part in a brief observation exercise and practice the art of taking field notes.