How to Contribute to Cross-Network Programming

Anyone who wants to run programming for the cross-Network must submit a proposal for the program they’d like to run, propose a schedule, plan out online sessions, determine grading and completion criteria (for courses), run online synchronous sessions, provide feedback and final grades to students (again, for courses), distribute student evaluations at the end of the semester, and submit a formal reflection to the CNOG.

The CNOG reviews proposals, provides feedback based on past evaluation and assessment materials from similar programming, and then reviews evaluation and assessment materials after the semester is over. Those materials help inform the next round of proposal reviews.

CIRTL staff work with proposers during the proposal process, confirm logistics (mainly setting a schedules) after the CNOG approves proposals, promote programming through different communications platforms, manage registration and enrollment for courses and workshops, help with initial lesson planning, sit in on all online sessions as needed to provide technical support, and develop evaluation and assessment materials for all programming.

Local leaders must be aware of any proposals submitted from their institutions, and at the end of the semester instructors, facilitators, hosts, and organizers are expected to talk through their evaluations and reflection materials with their leaders as well.

Students are responsible for registering to attend courses, events, workshops, and institutes. They are responsible for telling instructors if they are taking a course for a grade. They are responsible for doing all required work and attending online sessions regardless of whether they receive credit for it or not.

Regardless of what you propose, your programming will need to incorporate CIRTL’s learning outcomes, derived from the three core ideas that guide our approach to preparing future faculty. Although we expect most programming to touch on many outcomes at least tangentially, we encourage proposers to focus their courses, workshops, events, and institutes around the specific learning outcomes that you will address intentionally and thoroughly. At the end of your program, you and your students will have to submit evaluations and assessments where you reflect on how well you achieved those outcomes.

Using the Cross-Network Programming Proposal Form, submit a proposal that describes your activity, how you plan to structure it, which of the CIRTL learning outcomes it addresses, and how you’ll assess student learning. The first page of the proposal form includes links to view sample proposals, to help you better understand how to fill out the form itself. Specific planning dates for when key steps in the programing proposal and review process occur are available on our Cross-Network Proposal Timeline page.

We are glad to informally talk with you at any time during this process. If you would like to test an idea, get a sense of what is needed, or solicit help in thinking through a possible contribution, please contact us. It can be useful, but is not required, to pass an idea past us before submitting a proposal to make sure we are building towards a good match. Contact Robin Greenler (rgreenler@wisc.edu) or Kate Diamond (kdiamond3@wisc.edu).

Deadlines for cross-Network proposals are listed below.

CIRTL offers a range of online courses, credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing, designed to help graduate students and postdocs learn how CIRTL’s core ideas can strengthen undergraduate STEM instruction in a way that supports a greater diversity of learners. CIRTL members are strongly encouraged to take these courses, though membership is not required to enroll in a course.

What courses does CIRTL look for?

Every year CIRTL runs a set of core courses that are uniquely suited to teach students about our core ideas and associated learning outcomes. Proposers interested in teaching a core course should contact Kate Diamond at kdiamond3@wisc.edu to receive access to course materials from previous semesters, including proposals, syllabi, assignments, and evaluation results.

Instructors can propose either a full or a short course. A full course refers to an offering that is cohort-based, requires registration, involves 12 or more contact hours, is semester-long (generally between 8-12 weeks), may be graded and may be credit-bearing for students. A short course refers to an offering that involves fewer than 12 contact hours and is not graded or credit-bearing; short courses, like full courses, are cohort-based and require registration. Short courses should have 4-8 contact hours minimum.

We expect all courses will have a minimum class size of at least 25 (though they can be substantially larger, too). Smaller class sizes will be considered if appropriate on pedagogical grounds. Class maximum is determined by the course instructors

CIRTL’s online workshops give graduate students and postdocs an opportunity to get an introduction to a teaching and learning topic of interest, and to develop a specific material, or set of materials, to help advance their career development. Workshops are generally 2-4 hours in length, meet online for one or two sessions, are cohort based, involve pre-session and post-session work, focus on development of a specific concrete outcome.

What workshops does CIRTL look for?

We welcome workshop proposals related to core ideas, associated learning outcomes and professional development. 

While new proposals are always welcome, CIRTL has developed and continues to refine a set of standard core workshops with documentation and support materials that would allow others in the Network to pick up the materials and teach the workshop.

CIRTL’s active-learning workshop model includes several key components. Workshops are designed around the development of a concrete skill or product. This development is achieved by scaffolding pre-session, in-session and post-session materials and activities into the workshop. Workshops should be backward designed with a clear set of learning outcomes and should model good pedagogy including active and inclusive learning techniques that promote student engagement, discussion and feedback.

Functionally, CIRTL Workshops are generally 2-4 hours in length, meet for one or two sessions, are cohort based, and may use Moodle or other learning management system for posting resources and assignments. When two sessions are offered, students might be introduced to a new concept in the first session, develop or refine a draft work product in between sessions, and peer review their work products or practice a new skill in the second session. That said, we welcome experimentation with the workshop model.

Event series are open to the public and run on a drop-in basis. Events within a given series revolve around a single theme related to STEM teaching and learning. Event sessions are synchronous, take place in Zoom, and can be recorded.

What event series does CIRTL look for?

Cross-Network events should relate to our core ideas and associated learning outcomes.

All events should be designed to be interactive, inclusive, and promote student engagement, discussion and feedback. They can be led by a single individual, several people or a panel. Participants may drop in on as many or as few sessions as they desire, and all sessions are open to the public.

As an event organizer, it is your responsibility to recruit and schedule speakers, to determine series themes and specific topics, and to either moderate or designate a moderator for every event in your series.

Every year, CIRTL institutions host a variety of in-person institutes where grad students and postdocs can attend multi-day, intensive sessions aimed at improving their STEM teaching. Graduate students and postdocs from across the CIRTL Network are invited to attend these institutes, and institute hosts reserve a certain number of spots specifically so that CIRTL members can attend. Institutes typically take place in the summer, but that isn’t a requirement.

Cross-Network institutes should relate to our core ideas and associated learning outcomes.

As examples, the Johns Hopkins University has recently hosted an in-person institute and Louisiana State University & Yale University have collaborated to host an online cross-Network institute.

Institute Expectations

Institutes should model good pedagogy. This includes creating sessions that are interactive, inclusive, and promote student engagement, discussion and feedback.

Institutes are backward designed with well articulated learning goals and outcomes assessments. Workshop design should clearly identify learning goals, should be aligned with CIRTL learning outcomes whenever possible, and should include an assessment of participant learning or outcomes.

In-person institutes must serve at least 10 CIRTL participants and participants from at least three member institutions, including the host institution. Because institutes take place locally, institute hosts are required to manage their own registration process. Hosts are also responsible for advertising their institute to ensure that they meet this participation requirement (CIRTL Central can provide some outreach assistance).

Institute organizers are expected to provide a level of hospitality to participants traveling to attend, including providing hotel recommendations; hosts may also want to provide directions from the nearest airport. If meals are not provided, organizers are strongly encouraged to provide a brief list of nearby restaurants. Institute hosts can refer to webpages from previous in-person Network meetings for ideas.

CNOG Review

Once proposals are submitted, CIRTL’s Cross-Network Operations Group (CNOG) reviews them and makes recommendations, approves, or denies them. This review process typically takes 1-2 months and involves a back-and-forth dialogue with the CNOG as they consider your proposal, review evaluation materials from similar programming in the past, and work with you to improve your proposal based on that past experience.

Scheduling

Once the CNOG approves your proposal, CIRTL Central will work with you to confirm the schedule for your course, event, workshop, or institute. Please note that any schedule submitted as part of the proposal process should be considered tentative. All programming must fall within CIRTL’s semesters, and within the workday for all timezones in the CIRTL Network (12:30-5PM AT / 11:30AM-4PM ET / 10:30-3PM CT / 9:30-2PM MT / 8:30-1PM PT).

Additional Resources

The How to Attend CIRTL Programming page describes how students can register for our courses and how CIRTL processes enrollment.

The CIRTL Central Support page confirms what is required of instructors and the various ways in which CIRTL staff support cross-Network courses throughout the semester. CIRTL Central typically manages the registration process for all cross-Network programming except in-person teaching institutes. CIRTL staff begin each course, workshop, and event with a brief introduction to CIRTL; beyond that, CIRTL staff can attend additional online sessions to provide technical support as needed.

Visit the Evaluation page to learn about CIRTL’s evaluation requirements for all cross-Network programming.

If you’re a new instructor, we strongly recommend that you review materials from previous courses to see what works, what doesn’t, and what you could apply to your own course. Look at the CIRTL Instructor Materials and contact Robin Greenler at robin.greenler@wisc.edu with any questions.