The CIRTL Network - Shaping, Connecting, and Supporting the Future National STEM Faculty

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The graduate students trained at research universities flow into the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculties of all undergraduate institutions, dispersing among more than 4,000 research universities, comprehensive universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges. Thus, graduate students at research universities will shape the future of STEM undergraduate education in the United States. The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop a national STEM faculty with the capability and commitment to implement and improve effective teaching and learning practices for all students. A research university can and will prepare STEM graduate students to be both forefront researchers and excellent teachers. Using the University of Wisconsin Madison as a laboratory CIRTL has developed, implemented, evaluated, and institutionalized an interdisciplinary learning community to prepare STEM future faculty in teaching and learning. In 3 years, more than 1,000 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty across all STEM fields engaged in the learning community to improve their teaching abilities. These outcomes arise from three core ideas: (a) integrate improving teaching and learning within a STEM research model (teaching-as-research); (b) embed professional development within a learning community of and for STEM future and current faculty; and (c) enhance the learning of all through the diversity of students (learning-through-diversity). Intellectual Merit. In this project CIRTL seeks to take the successful outcomes of the prototype CIRTL learning community to a national scale. Building on the same powerful ideas, the CIRTL strategy is to create a learning community of diverse research universities mutually engaged in teaching-as-research activities to prepare future faculty in teaching and learning for all students. To prototype this strategy, CIRTL has formed the CIRTL Network of seven diverse research universities: the University of Colorado at Boulder, Howard University, Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Wisconsin Madison. The CIRTL Network is developing the national STEM faculty in three ways: 1) Each university is establishing a learning community to prepare STEM future faculty, with each university building on the successes of the others. Collectively, the seven diverse universities are enhancing learning in STEM disciplines; improving teaching in service courses; developing a framework for professional development; establishing an institute to integrate research, teaching, and learning; integrating the learning sciences; fostering skills in inquiry-based learning; and training effective research mentors. 2) Future faculty are being better prepared for teaching all students when they interact meaningfully with the diversity of undergraduates, graduates, and institutions of the CIRTL Network. A cross-network learning community fosters such experiences through an online community center, distance courses, an exchange program, summer immersion programs, a seed grant program, a learning-through-diversity center, and a joint initiative to prepare faculty to teach preservice K12 teachers. 3) Future faculty are transitioning more smoothly from the CIRTL Network learning community into their new faculty positions through linking the CIRTL Network with Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), a national STEM faculty development initiative. CIRTL and PKAL are adapting PKAL Leadership Institutes to prepare future faculty to succeed in and influence the higher education environment in which they land. CIRTL and PKAL also are pairing future and new faculty from the CIRTL Network with PKAL Faculty for the 21st Century mentors in colleges and universities across the country. Broader Impacts. CIRTL is disseminating broadly tools and strategies for enhancing STEM teaching and learning. Through national CIRTL Forums, Web sites, publications, presentations to STEM disciplines, and collaborations with national higher education organizations, CIRTL continues to be a focal point for the national conversation on the preparation of future STEM faculty. The goal of the prototype CIRTL Network is to prepare 1,200 future faculty annually. Once the scale-up strategy is demonstrated to be successful, the CIRTL Network will increase the number of universities and future faculty involved in the Network. The CIRTL Network also is impacting graduate education in universities beyond the network and is serving as a model for other networks of similar design. Ultimately, the impact of this work will be to provide to every undergraduate institution STEM faculty who enable all students to achieve STEM literacy, whose teaching enhances recruitment into STEM careers, and whose leadership ensures the continued advancement of STEM education. This project is co-funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, the Division of Earth Sciences and the Geoscience Education Program in the Directorate for Geosciences, and the Division of Biological Infrastructure in the Directorate for Biological Sciences.