Foundations of College Teaching Certificate Program

The purpose of the Foundations of College Teaching certificate of completion, sponsored by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT), is to prepare ISU graduate students to teach in higher education, whether you are currently teaching college at ISU or another institution or plan on pursuing it as a career after you graduate.

With this goal in mind, The Foundations of College Teaching certificate of completion program is designed to give you the basic pedagogical foundation you need to become an inclusive and equity-minded professor with students who are engaged in the learning process. By the end of the program, you will have the beginnings of a portfolio that you can use for job searches, grant proposals, and teaching awards.

The seven self-paced modules provide you with an overview of evidence-based college-level teaching practices and strategies that are aligned with ISU's Framework for Inclusive Teaching Excellence . Each module will take about 3 hours to complete and contains a

"Learn It!" section to walk you through the basics and help you build skills and knowledge on the topic
"Share it!" section in each sub-module to get assistance from your peers and teaching mentors in the Idea Incubator
"Do it!" section where you will create an artifact or a portion of an artifact for your portfolio

A new module will be released about once per month with the expectation that you will complete the program in an academic year. However, we know that sometimes "life happens" and you may need to take longer than a year to finish. That's okay. As long as you are a student at ISU, you are eligible to complete the program in the time frame that works best for you. That said, keep in mind that the Foundations of College Teaching certificate of completion is the prerequisite for the Instructional Design for Future Faculty certificate and Preparing Future Faculty programs that are currently being developed.

To Access

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Completion Tracks

We offer two completion tracks: The first is an informal cohort with topical co-working sessions via Zoom with the intention of taking a year to complete the program. The second is completely self-paced with non-topic specific co-working sessions via Zoom.

The co-working sessions are an opportunity to join other graduate students who are participating in the College Teaching Certificate of Completion program to work on your artifact. A CTLT staff member will be on hand to answer questions but you need to have completed the "Learn It!" and "Share It!" components before participating in the co-working time. This is simply a time to hang out with others while working on your artifact, getting a little feedback, and sharing a little accountability.

Certificate of Completion Requirements

In order to earn a certificate of completion, you need to:

Complete all seven modules and have your portfolio reviewed by CTLT. More information about the portfolio is found in the introduction module.
In consultation with CTLT, develop a Teaching Professional Development Plan that involves attending three seminars or workshops related to college-level teaching and completing an artifact for each one. You'll complete the plan this during your first semester going through the program. The Teaching Professional Development Plan is found in the introduction module.
Complete the background knowledge assessments (you need to complete these before you have access to the seven modules) and post-completion assignments.

We at CTLT are here to help you achieve your goal of being the kind of professor you want to be! Please contact us if you need any assistance to get started.