Graduate Student Learning Communities (GSLCs) are cohorts of graduate students regularly gathering to discuss a teaching and learning topic of interest while forming a supportive community. During these learning communities, we ask questions about teaching and learning, try out teaching innovations, reflect on the effectiveness of our practice, and/or create new models of practice. We share a question or an interest, and then deepen our knowledge by interacting on an ongoing basis. GSLCs are part of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning’s (CITL) mission to promote transformative learning experiences for IUB instructors.
Participants will be required to prepare for, attend, and actively participate in learning community meetings (likely to happen twice per month). Participants may be expected to produce certain documents, complete readings, and provide feedback to other learning community participants. After successful completion of the GSLC, participants receive an acknowledgement letter summarizing their accomplishments for their teaching portfolios. Participation in a GSLC satisfies, in part, requirements for the CITL’s Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship Program. Graduate students do not receive any monetary compensation for their participation, unless listed in the description. See specific learning community descriptions for any criteria needed to apply.
We request that individuals apply for only one GSLC per semester. You will be notified shortly after the application closes.
Applications are due Monday, August 28th at 9 AM ET.
White cultural norms pervade all aspects of higher education. That said, in classroom contexts instructors often privilege pedagogy and experiences that treat what is white as “universal” and “normal”. Within this context, whiteness refers to the location of structural advantage and the centering and privileging of white constructs of value and knowledge systems. The goal of this GSLC is to explore how academics can normalize and cultivate a more equitable and just culture throughout the classroom. Specifically, we will center on the process of honoring and affirming the multiple perspectives and lived experiences of people from marginalized communities. From this GSLC, participants can expect to have gained an understanding of how whiteness underscores power and inequity in social relations and institutions, methods to apply the tenets of Critical whiteness studies (CWS) to teaching methods, and equitable approaches to course design (including syllabi).
Prerequisites: None
Document Your Teaching: Developing a Teaching Portfolio
This Graduate Student Learning Community meets six times over the course of the semester to develop a teaching portfolio—a comprehensive representation of your teaching for the academic job market. Each meeting will focus on a particular aspect of portfolio design: curation, reflection, evidence, and structure. Throughout the semester, graduate student participants will attend a combination of synchronous online workshops and group meetings, curate and craft the documents typical to this genre (a teaching statement, diversity statement, syllabi samples, (graded) assignments, qualitative and quantitative feedback), and share drafts of their work and provide feedback to their peers asynchronously via Canvas.
Prerequisites: Participants must have completed at least two semesters of teaching (either as an Associate Instructor or as a Teaching Assistant). Participants must also be able to a) attend the workshops; b) attend the group meetings; and c) participate in the peer review component in the final week. Accepted participants will fill out a When2Meet to decide on best times for all participants.
Intensive Writing for Student Learning and Engagement
Facilitator: John Paul Kanwit and Mary Helen Truglia
Are you interested in learning strategies for creating and teaching an Intensive Writing (IW) course? This GSLC will walk you through crafting effective writing assignments, building the writing process into an IW course, evaluating students’ writing fairly and efficiently, using rubrics effectively, commenting productively on student papers, using a variety of objects as writing prompts, managing the peer review process, and more. For those who are teaching a College of Arts and Sciences IW course, we will discuss those requirements and proposal strategies in some detail. However, this GSLC will be useful to graduate instructors teaching IW courses in any IUB school or department.
Participants will receive opportunities to practice talking about teaching and will leave the community having produced multiple pedagogy-related materials including a draft syllabus/schedule for an IW course of their design.
Prerequisites: experience teaching writing to undergraduates at IU in any capacity (as an AI, TA, etc) and/or a willingness to integrate more writing assignments into one’s courses.
Scholar Activism and Community Engagement for Instructors
Scholar activism refers to the intersection of scholarship and social change, where academics use their expertise and academic platforms to address pressing social issues. Participants will explore the theoretical foundations, historical perspectives, and practical applications of scholar activism across various disciplines. Through collaborative discussions, readings, and experiential learning, participants will develop a deeper understanding of their role as scholar activists and gain the tools and resources to effectively engage in transformative action within their classrooms and academic communities.
Prerequisites: Participants have interest in using academic scholarship or university teaching as a platform for addressing social change. Participants must also be able to attend twice per month
Past GSLCs
Orientation Peer Facilitator (Spring 2023)
Facilitator: Leslie Drane
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the Fall 2023 Associate Instructor Orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills (and get paid to do so)! Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories, making use of class time, and managing classroom authority and boundaries. CITL will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop. This learning community will end with you co-facilitating a workshop at the Fall 2023 Associate Instructor Orientation. This learning community is necessary for those hoping to fulfill the Specialist requirements for the Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship Program (GTAP).
Community Engaged Teaching and Learning
Facilitator: Michael Valliant
Community engaged teaching and learning, AKA service-learning, is a form of experiential learning that combines learning goals and community service in ways that produce multiple benefits for students, community, and instructors. In this GSLC grad students will learn about building curricular partnerships with community entities, using critical reflection for student learning, civic engagement, and community-engaged scholarship. A focus will be on incorporating manageable elements of community engaged pedagogy into classes you may currently be teaching.
Foundational Course Design for Graduate Instructors
Facilitators: Shannon Sipes and Jennifer Turrentine
This GSLC is a modification of the annual Foundational Course Design Institute held annually in the summer. Participants will be asked to choose one course in any modality to develop or revise utilizing the backward course design and universal design for learning frameworks. By the end of the GSLC, participants can expect to have determined learning outcomes for their students, outlined a major final assignment (or exam), and aligned assignments to help students meet the specified learning outcomes. All participants will leave with the foundations of a course syllabus in place. Preference will be given to graduate students developing an IUB course, but students who are interested in developing a course for proposal or job materials are encouraged to apply.
Transforming Your Research Into Teaching Workshop Series – Summer 2023
Facilitators: Leslie Drane, Da’Ja’ Askew, and Maggie Gilchrist
This is a unique, hybrid 7-session workshop series designed to expose you to the basic elements of course design. Over the course of this workshop series, you will design a course syllabus and course unit based on your current area of research interest. You will be matched with peers across the country from different institutions who are developing courses in similar areas for peer review and inspiration. You will also have a learning community, either based out of your institution, or a multi-institution learning community to have weekly synchronous meetings for the discussion of your projects and what you’re learning. The course runs from June 12th – July 28th, has one-hour meeting per week, and requires around 1.5 – 2 hours of self-directed video and project development work per week.
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the Fall 2022 Associate Instructor Orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills. Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories, making use of class time, and managing classroom authority and boundaries. CITL will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop. This learning community will end with you co-facilitating a workshop at the Fall 2022 Associate Instructor Orientation. This learning community is necessary for those hoping to fulfill the Specialist requirements for the Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship Program (GTAP).
Intersections of Identity and Instruction (Spring 2022)
Facilitators: Da’Ja’ Askew and Joan Middendorf
Diverse, historically underrepresented and/or underserved graduate students face particular difficulties as associate instructors (e.g., discrimination, marginalization, isolation, questioning classroom authority, etc.). These challenges can impede AIs’ productive identity formation as both teachers and scholars in higher education. The Intersections of Identity and Instruction Graduate Student Learning Community seeks to promote the engagement and professional development of diverse graduate students as associate instructors. In this GSLC grad students will learn about their own identities and the perception of them and how to apply anti-racist pedagogies. This community will provide a brave space for challenging systematic bias and racism in higher education.
Improving Student Belonging in Classes and Majors (Spring 2022)
Facilitator: Greg Siering
Historically underrepresented and marginalized students may face unique difficulties (isolation, marginalization, discrimination, etc.) that cause them to change majors early in their college careers, decide to transfer to another university, or discontinue their education. This learning community will bring together instructors who want to explore how to help students to develop a sense of belonging in a class, major, and/or discipline. This learning community will meet six times in the Spring 2022 semester—Fridays 10:00-11:30 on Zoom. The group will discuss foundational readings, current efforts at IU and other universities designed to improve sense of belonging, and our experiences as both instructors and students.
Transforming Your Research Into Teaching Workshop Series (Summer 2021)
Facilitators: Leslie Drane, Madeleine Gonin, and Rajagopal Sankaranarayanan
This is a 7-session workshop series designed to expose you to the basic elements of course design. Over the course of this workshop series, you will design a course syllabus and course unit based on your current area of research interest. This workshop series is open to MFAs, PhDs, and Post-docs from any academic discipline. At the end of the workshop series, you will present your course to the group.
Orientation Peer Facilitator (Spring 2021)
Facilitators: Leslie Drane
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the Fall 2021 Associate Instructor Orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills. Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories; making use of class time; managing classroom authority and boundaries; and classroom climate (e.g., teaching controversial topics; engaging in group work; strategies for equitable classroom participation). CITL will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop. We are planning to offer Fall 2021 Associate Instructor Orientation online and we can help you become confident in leading presentations over Zoom.
Reflecting on Your Inclusive Teaching Practice
CITL Facilitator: Greg Siering
Inclusive teaching practices help us ensure that all students have equitable opportunities to learn, and that they feel valued and supported in their learning. These practices can vary in focus, as well as the knowledge and time required to implement them. This learning community will utilize a series of reflective teaching checklists devised by the University of Michigan as a framework for exploring our teaching and identifying ways we can make our classes more inclusive. The research-based principles we will explore include Critical Engagement of Difference, Academic Belonging, Transparency, Structured Interactions, and Flexibility. The ultimate goals of this work are 1) to identify some easily implementable changes we can make to our teaching; and 2) to set longer-term goals for learning and instructional development.
Improving Course Accessibility for All Students through Universal Design for Learning
Facilitators: Madeleine Gonin and John Paul Kanwit
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn” (http://udlguidelines.cast.org). The UDL framework helps instructors make their course material accessible to all learners by providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and ways for students to demonstrate what they have learned. This learning community will provide an introduction to UDL and then move to more specific discussions of course accessibility, assumptions about ability/disability, and neurodiversity. Re cognizing the particular challenges that instructors will face this semester and beyond, we will also consider the application of UDL to online courses. Finally, we will ask participants to discuss how UDL could be used in various disciplinary settings.
Intersections of Identity and Instruction
CITL Facilitator: Charmian Lam, Megan Betz, and Leslie Drane
Diverse, historically underrepresented and/or underserved graduate students face particular difficulties as associate instructors (e.g., discrimination, marginalization, isolation, problems with classroom authority, etc.). These challenges can impede AIs’ productive identity formation as both teachers and scholars in higher education. The Intersections of Identity and Instruction Graduate Student Learning Community seeks to promote the engagement and professional development of diverse graduate students as associate instructors. This community will provide a safe space for engaging instructors in strategies for holistic and equitable education
Community Engaged Learning
CITL Facilitator: Michael Valliant
Community engaged teaching and learning, AKA service-learning, combines learning goals and community service in ways that produce multiple benefits for students, community, and instructors. Students can demonstrate improved application of knowledge, greater interpersonal development, and improved social responsibility and citizenship skills. Instructors can discover new avenues for research and publication via new relationships between faculty while the community benefits from student participation as valuable human resources needed to achieve community goals and potentially building capacity for positive social change. This learning community will bring together instructors who want to explore how to use community engaged pedagogies in their classrooms. Through the fall 2020 semester, members will discuss foundational readings to understand the key elements of community engaged learning.
Transforming Your Research Into Teaching
Facilitators: Charmian Lam, Madeleine Gonin, and Leslie Drane
This 7-session workshop series will expose you to the basic elements of course design. Over the course of this workshop series, you will create a course proposal based on your current area of research. The workshop series is open to graduate students and post-doctoral scholars from any academic discipline. At the end of the series, you will have designed a full course syllabus and you will present your course to the group.
Improving Student Belonging in Classes and Majors
Facilitators: Leslie Drane and Madeleine Gonin
Historically underrepresented and marginalized students may face unique difficulties (isolation, marginalization, discrimination, etc.) that cause them to change majors early in their college careers, decide to transfer to another institute for higher education, or discontinue their education. This learning community will bring together instructors who want to explore how to help students to develop a sense of belonging in a class, major, and/or discipline. This learning community will meet in Fall 2019, with the possibility of extending the GSLC into Spring 2020. The fall semester will include foundational readings. If members wish to continue into the spring semester, they will conduct a research project on the topic of sense of belonging in their class, major, and/or discipline. The results will be documented and shared to extend the impact of these transformations.
Introduction to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
Facilitators: Shannon Sipes and Leslie Drane
For many instructors, the classroom can be a source of interesting questions about students’ learning. For example: what is the impact of a specific active learning technique on my students’ understanding of course material? How do my students prepare for exams, and how does that correlate with their performance? Does my students’ prior coursework or academic background correlate with their performance in my class? In seeking answers to these kinds of questions, instructors can use the research methods of their own discipline to examine their teaching and their students’ learning. This is the premise underlying the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), a program that helps instructors take a scholarly approach to their teaching and share the results of their inquiry with their colleagues. In this GSLC, participants will engage in SOTL by formulating a research question, applying their disciplinary expertise to identify methods to investigate the question, and gathering evidence to address it.
Orientation Peer Facilitator
Facilitators: Leslie Drane and Madeleine Gonin
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the Associate Instructor Orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills. Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories; making use of class time; managing classroom authority and boundaries; and classroom climate (e.g., teaching controversial topics; engaging in group work; strategies for equitable classroom participation). CITL will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in the Classroom
CITL Facilitator: Shed Siliman
Diverse, historically underrepresented and/or underserved graduate students face particular difficulties as associate instructors (e.g., discrimination, marginalization, isolation, problems with classroom authority, etc.). These challenges can impede AIs’ productive identity formation as both teachers and scholars in higher education. The Intersections of Identity and Instruction Graduate Student Learning Community seeks to promote the engagement and professional development of diverse graduate students as associate instructors. This community will provide a safe space for engaging instructors in strategies for holistic and equitable education.
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the AI orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills. Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories; making use of class time; managing classroom authority and boundaries; and classroom climate (e.g., teaching controversial topics; engaging in group work; strategies for equitable classroom participation). We will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop.
Talking About Teaching
CITL Facilitator: Leslie Drane
This graduate student learning community will promote the engagement and professional development of graduate students as they prepare to talk about their teaching in a variety of settings and to multiple audiences. Through workshops, readings, and the creation of pedagogy-related materials, members will learn about strategies on how to share what they have learned about teaching with others. Topics will include: backward course design, writing course syllabi, creating diversity statements, organizing a teaching portfolio, and approaching an academic interview. Participants will receive opportunities to practice talking about teaching and will leave the community having produced multiple pedagogy-related materials.
Classroom Inquiry
CITL Facilitator: Katie Kearns
Graduate student participants will engage in evidence-based and reflective teaching practice. Grounded in discussions of literature about learning and pedagogy, participants will develop, implement, and assess an innovative approach that addresses a learning challenge for their students. Graduate students will also gain experience communicating professionally about their teaching. This community of inquiry and encouragement will foster an evolution in teaching techniques and a greater attentiveness to scholarly teaching.
Evidence-Based Teaching in Science, Technology, Informatics, and Math (STIM)
CITL Facilitator: Francesca White
How do people learn? What are the most effective approaches to teaching scientific reasoning skills? How do we create spaces that ensure lasting learning in STIM disciplines? How do we ensure access and inclusivity in our teaching approaches? How do we know students are learning in our classes? Graduate students in STIM and SBE disciplines (e.g., astronomy, biology, chemistry, computing, informatics, math, medical sciences, and physics, as well as social, behavioral, and economic sciences) are invited to join a community to find answers to these questions through local and national discussions of evidence-based methods in teaching.
Intersections of Instruction & Identity
CITL Facilitator: Rachel Boveja
Are you interested in learning strategies for teaching with diversity? Do you identify as a member of a marginalized group? The Intersections of Identity and Instruction Graduate Student Learning Community (I3 GSLC), a partnership of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning and the University Graduate School, seeks to promote the engagement and professional development of diverse graduate students as associate instructors. This community provides a welcoming space for unpacking diverse identities, teaching, and education.
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the AI orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills. Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories; making use of class time; managing classroom authority and boundaries; and classroom climate (e.g., teaching controversial topics; engaging in group work; strategies for equitable classroom participation). We will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop.
Talking About Teaching
CITL Facilitator: Leslie Drane
This graduate student learning community will promote the engagement and professional development of graduate students as they prepare to talk about their teaching in a variety of settings and to multiple audiences. Through workshops, readings, and the creation of pedagogy-related materials, members will learn about strategies on how to share what they have learned about teaching with others. Topics will include: backward course design, writing course syllabi, creating diversity statements, organizing a teaching portfolio, and approaching an academic interview. Participants will receive opportunities to practice talking about teaching and will leave the community having produced multiple pedagogy-related materials.
Classroom Inquiry
CITL Facilitator: Katie Kearns
Graduate student participants will engage in evidence-based and reflective teaching practice. Grounded in discussions of literature about learning and pedagogy, participants will develop, implement, and assess an innovative approach that addresses a learning challenge for their students. Graduate students will also gain experience communicating professionally about their teaching. This community of inquiry and encouragement will foster an evolution in teaching techniques and a greater attentiveness to scholarly teaching.
Intersections of Instruction & Identity
CITL Facilitator: Yari Cruz
Are you interested in learning strategies for teaching with diversity? Do you identify as a member of a marginalized group? The Intersections of Identity and Instruction Graduate Student Learning Community (I3 GSLC), a partnership of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning and the University Graduate School, seeks to promote the engagement and professional development of diverse graduate students as associate instructors. This community provides a welcoming space for unpacking diverse identities, teaching, and education.
Orientation Peer Facilitator
CITL Facilitators: Katie Kearns, Leslie Drane, Yari Cruz
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the AI orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills. Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories; making use of class time; managing classroom authority and boundaries; and classroom climate (e.g., teaching controversial topics; engaging in group work; strategies for equitable classroom participation). We will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop.
Talking About Teaching
CITL Facilitator: Leslie Drane
This graduate student learning community will promote the engagement and professional development of graduate students as they prepare to talk about their teaching in a variety of settings and to multiple audiences. Through workshops, readings, and the creation of pedagogy-related materials, members will learn about strategies on how to share what they have learned about teaching with others. Topics will include: backward course design, writing course syllabi, creating diversity statements, organizing a teaching portfolio, and approaching an academic interview. Participants will receive opportunities to practice talking about teaching and will leave the community having produced multiple pedagogy-related materials.
Evidence-Based Teaching in Science, Technology, Informatics, and Math (STIM)
CITL Facilitator: Katie Kearns
How do people learn? What are the most effective approaches to teaching scientific reasoning skills? How do we create spaces that ensure lasting learning in STIM disciplines? How do we ensure access and inclusivity in our teaching approaches? How do we know students are learning in our classes? Graduate students in STIM and SBE disciplines (e.g., astronomy, biology, chemistry, computing, informatics, math, medical sciences, and physics, as well as social, behavioral, and economic sciences) are invited to join a community to find answers to these questions through local and national discussions of evidence-based methods in teaching.
Intersections of Instruction & Identity
CITL Facilitator: Jordan Lynton and Katie Kearns
Are you interested in learning strategies for teaching with diversity? Do you identify as a member of a marginalized group? The Intersections of Identity and Instruction Graduate Student Learning Community (I3 GSLC), a partnership of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning and the University Graduate School, seeks to promote the engagement and professional development of diverse graduate students as associate instructors. This community provides a welcoming space for unpacking diverse identities, teaching, and education.
Orientation Peer Facilitator
CITL Facilitators: Katie Kearns
Learn to be a CITL workshop facilitator for the AI orientation while gaining new pedagogical knowledge and skills. Participants will design and lead AI-specific workshops on topics such as: teaching and learning theories; making use of class time; managing classroom authority and boundaries; and classroom climate (e.g., teaching controversial topics; engaging in group work; strategies for equitable classroom participation). We will provide ongoing training, mentoring, and resources on developing and facilitating a workshop.
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