Recent Georgia Tech Ph.D. graduate from the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dominic Sirianni has his goals set on a faculty position that combines equal parts research and teaching. The Tech to Teaching certificate was instrumental in expanding his professional development in teaching.

Says Sirianni upon receiving the certificate this month, “I had never learned about evidence-based best practices in course design, lesson design, and especially assessment — let alone how to incorporate them effectively into my teaching.”

He will take these skills with him into his next position as a postdoc at the University of Richmond, mentoring undergraduate students in quantum chemistry.

Georgia Tech launched the Tech to Teaching program in 2009 in response to the nationwide call to expand graduate student and postdoc training in teaching. Originally an NSF-funded project, the design of the certificate program was evaluated, revised, and relaunched in fall 2016. At the same time, Georgia Tech joined the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), a 37-institution network whose mission is to improve undergraduate STEM education through the development of future faculty.

Tech to Teaching participants complete 10 learning outcomes that are organized around major pillars of evidence based teaching: how students learn, the impact of student diversity on learning, effective teaching techniques, creating and assessing learning goals, and integrating technology into teaching. Participants select from multiple pathways to achieve the foundation-level learning outcomes, including 3-credit graduate level courses, on campus workshops, or online resources. Upon completing the 10 foundation-level outcomes, participants receive the CIRTL Associate Level certificate.

In the Tech to Teaching Capstone, participants practice and receive feedback on their teaching either as instructor-of-record or as a co-instructor with a faculty mentor. The CTL seminar that accompanies and supports the teaching experience provides cross-disciplinary opportunities for participants to give and receive feedback about teaching, expand their faculty network, and prepare their teaching statement.

Recent capstone participant Cristian Crisan says, “this has been a wonderful experience for me that has exceeded my expectations and made me learn many new skills. I would highly recommend the program to anyone interested in academia.”

This year, a record 49 graduate students and postdocs received the Tech to Teaching certificate and 68 participants received the CIRTL certificate. The Center for Teaching and Learning has awarded 114 Tech to Teaching certificates and 170 CIRTL certificates since 2016.

Graduate students and postdocs interested in learning more should start by submitting a Tech to Teaching interest form.

The Center for Teaching and Learning congratulates all of this year’s CIRTL and Tech to Teaching certificate recipients.

2020 Tech to Teaching Certificate Recipients

Mayank Agrawal, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Kera Allen, History and Sociology
Beste Basciftci, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Mario Bianchini, History and Sociology
Joshua Brooks, Aerospace Engineering
Sammie Buzzard, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Paloma Casteleiro Costa, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Jingdao Chen, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Cristian Crisan, Biology
Simone Douglas, Biomedical Engineering
Terri Dunbar, Psychology
Kenton (Blane) Fillingim, Mechanical Engineering
April Gadsby, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Archana Ghodeswar, Economics
Xin Gu, Economics
Anthony Harding, Economics
Blake Hayes, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Junqi Hu, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Bilal Iftikhar, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Adrian Ildefonso, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Qingxu (Bill) Jin, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Logan Kageorge, Physics
Youngeun Kim, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Sung Hoo Kim, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Chung Jae Lee, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Cynthia Lee, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Laura Mast, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Emily McGuinness, Materials Sciences & Engineering
Madeline Mei , Biology
Anish Mukherjee, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Larissa Novelino, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Sunjae Park, Computer Sciences
Firaz Peer, Literature, Media, & Communication
Elaine Rhoades, Physics
Chase Rock, Applied Physiology
Travis Rotterman, Biology
Michael Ryan, Physics
Abhilasha Saroj, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Darshan Sarojini, Aerospace Engineering
Richard Savery, Music
Aarohi Shah, Aerospace Engineering
Dominic Sirianni, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Gabi Steinbach, Physics
Alexander Stroh, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Shu Tang, Architecture
Umesh Unnikrishnan, Aerospace Engineering
Xiaoxi Wang, Economics
Yue Xu, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Jiwon Yeon, Psychology

2020 CIRTL Certificate Recipients

Qandeel Almas, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Beste Basciftci, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Aradhya Biswas, Computational Science & Engineering
Joshua Brooks, Aerospace Engineering
Garrett Bunyak, History and Sociology
Drew Capone, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Paloma Casteleiro Costa, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Stevie Chancellor, Interactive Computing
Jialei Chen, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Olga Churkina, Public Policy
Shlomi Cohen, Physics
Maria Coronel, Mechanical Engineering
Cristian Crisan, Biology
Ezgi Dogan-Guner, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Xiaoyu Dong, Economics
Wilson Espinoza, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Kenton (Blane) Fillingim, Mechanical Engineering
April Gadsby, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Leonardo Garcia Bottia, Building Construction
Miguel Joao Gois Ferreira Gaspar Neves, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Shawn Gregory, Materials Sciences & Engineering
Xin Gu, Economics
Mohit Gupta, Aerospace Engineering
Edward Yuhang He, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Junqi Hu, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Nene Igietseme, City and Regional Planning
Alison Jenkins, Mechanical Engineering
Prakirt Jhunjhunwala, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Qingxu (Bill) Jin, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Elizabeth Jones, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Evanthia Kallou, Aerospace Engineering
Esma Karagoz, Aerospace Engineering
David Kent, Interactive Computing
Sharjeel Khan, Computer Sciences
Sajad Khodadadian, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Taisuke Kojima, Biomedical Engineering
Arvind Krishna, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Theodore (TJ) LaGrow, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Chung Jae Lee, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Yunping Liang, Civil & Environmental Engineering
David Loughrey, Biomedical Engineering
Marguerite Matherne, Mechanical Engineering
Madeline Mei, Biology
Shauna Morrisey, Music
Hassan Mortagy, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Alexander Murphy, Mechanical Engineering
Sean Najmi, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Derek Nichols, Mechanical Engineering
Sunjae Park, Computer Sciences
Firaz Peer, Literature, Media, & Communication
Hathaichanok Phuengkham, Biomedical Engineering
Toyya Pujol-Mitchell, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Katily Ramirez, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Abhilasha Saroj, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Heriberto Solano, Aerospace Engineering
Krzysztof Stopka, Mechanical Engineering
Alexander Stroh, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Shu Tang, Architecture
Timur Tankayev, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Udaya Lakshmi Tattamangalam Ananthanarayanan, Interactive Computing
Casey Vantucci, Biomedical Engineering
Tyler Vollmer, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Kerisha Willaims, Materials Sciences & Engineering
Liyan Xie, Industrial & Systems Engineering
Yue Xu, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Jiwon Yeon, Psychology
Boni Yraguen, Mechanical Engineering
Stephanie Zhu, Aerospace Engineering