Graduate Students

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As a graduate student, you are navigating the unique space between student and educator, building your teaching skills while pursuing your own academic journey. Whether you are preparing to teaching your first class or have been in the classroom for several semesters, this collection of resources is designed to support you as you develop your teaching identity. Our resources and programming will help you gain confidence in the classroom, develop your authentic teaching voice, and build foundational skills that will serve you throughout your academic career.

Getting Started

Graduate School Website

The mission of the Graduate School is to transform students into leaders. To achieve this student-centered mission, we are governed by a three-part guiding principles: Advocating and innovating for graduate student success, access, and the overall student experience

Strategies and Tools for Graduate Teaching Assistants

Join us for a series of dynamic workshops and level-up your teaching journey. Learn cutting-edge effective teaching strategies, how to translate teaching techniques in the classroom and find ways to flourish as a teaching assistant.

Syllabus Design

A syllabus is likely the first point of connection between faculty and students around a course. Through the pages here, we will reflect on the purpose and message for various parts of a syllabus. There are also some alternative approaches to syllabi to explore.

Deepening Practice

Graduate TA Learning Community

Are you a Grad student teaching assistant who is looking to deepen your inclusive and effective teaching practice in a community of motivated graduate student instructors? This fall, we will be forming a learning community for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) at URI.

Faculty Vitality & Well-being

There is always a lot going on in higher education. But there’s A LOT MORE going on in the current moment. As you are navigating the uncertainty and trying to teach, manage any research, and work with students and colleagues, here’s a little help from your ATL friends.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

We support faculty efforts to engage in scholarship of teaching and learning at URI. Find some guides and resources here.

Fall Writing Retreats

Writing Across URI (now housed in ATL) invites all writers to join our Fall Writing Retreats. Keep the momentum going on your academic article, grant proposal, or creative project! There’s no formal program: just bring your laptop and other materials, plus your own lunch/snacks. We will provide coffee and tea!

Teaching With ChatGPT & Other AI

This curated resource collection introduces Generative AI and its uses in education, with an option for deeper exploration. Open AI’s ChatGPT is only one of many AI-powered tools in use across dozens of sectors. While AI has great potential, human expertise, critical thinking, and social connection remain vital.

Teaching Your Own Class

ATL’s Single Session Workshops

Fun-sized faculty development: Are you looking for a quick hit of professional development this semester? ATL has a series of short sessions that are packed with tips you can use in the classroom right away. These sessions are perfect for those who are feeling time-crunched. • Strategies for a great first day of class • AI workshops • Active learning that supports inclusivity • Gathering feedback for mid-course corrections

Difficult Dialogues

Are you worried about the potential for “hot button” issues to create uncomfortable situations in your classroom? Or are you interested in planning ahead to facilitate class discussions that will tackle challenging content to enhance your course objectives and deepen student learning? The purpose of these guides is to provide instructors with concrete strategies that they can use to orient their class towards meeting learning outcomes through difficult discussions rather than to allow them to disrupt learning.

CIRTL

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) seeks to transform higher education through implementing innovative, culturally responsive pedagogy that benefits all learners. CIRTL was founded in 2003 as a National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education. CIRTL uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop future faculty committed to implementing and advancing evidence-based teaching practices to enrich undergraduate education that is accessible to all learners. (About CIRTL, 7/21/25)

About CIRTL

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) seeks to transform higher education through implementing innovative, culturally responsive pedagogy that benefits all learners. CIRTL was founded in 2003 as a National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education.

CIRTL Event Calendar

View the CIRTL event calendar for their latest offerings. For the past 20 years CIRTL has taught thousands of hours of courses and workshops on evidenced-based teaching development and through that practice has developed a collection of refined, cutting-edge practices and content to advance teaching and learning for all.

Why CIRTL

The CIRTL Network is a growing collaboration of universities dedicated to improving teaching and learning in higher education. Our teaching development work is rooted in decades of practice and research, and reaches thousands of future faculty dedicated to becoming effective practitioners.

CIRTL Resources

How to Attend CIRTL Programs

CIRTL offers a range of online programming to our cross-Network learning community. Drop-in events are open to anyone, while courses and workshops are limited to participants from a CIRTL Network institution or CIRTL Network alumni. CIRTL’s online programming comes in addition to what our member institutions offer locally for their own students.

Inclusive Teaching

While many bias interventions are aimed at faculty, scientific trainees (graduate students and post-docs) are a powerful group with the potential to enact future change.

Instructional Materials

This page includes links to materials from select courses and workshops that have been offered previously in synchronous online environments through the CIRTL Cross-Network Learning Community.

Job Board

Want to share an academic or education related job post? Submit a title, description, contact information, and link via our CIRTL Job Posting Request form, and we may choose to include it here and in our newsletter.

Teaching as Research

The improvement of teaching and learning is a dynamic and ongoing process, just as is research in any STEM discipline. At the core of improving teaching and learning is the need to accurately determine what students have learned as a result of teaching practices.

Graduate Student Programs

Graduate TA Learning Community

Are you a Grad student teaching assistant who is looking to deepen your inclusive and effective teaching practice in a community of motivated graduate student instructors? This fall, we will be forming a learning community for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) at URI.

Strategies and Tools for Graduate Teaching Assistants

Join us for a series of dynamic workshops and level-up your teaching journey. Learn cutting-edge effective teaching strategies, how to translate teaching techniques in the classroom and find ways to flourish as a teaching assistant.

ATL Programming Calendar

ATL Programming

View the full programming schedule offered by the ATL, including events, workshops and unique professional and personal development opportunities.