Tech to Teaching | Center for Teaching and Learning

The Tech to Teaching program is designed to prepare Georgia Tech graduate students and postdocs for college teaching positions. Participants will develop a pedagogical approach that leverages a thorough understanding of evidence-based teaching with reflection on mentored teaching practice.

To learn more, self-enroll in the Tech to Teaching Canvas site, review the "Welcome" module and then submit the registration form at the end of that module to join the program. Membership is reserved for Georgia Tech graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

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Foundation Level

The foundation level is organized around 10 learning outcomes clustered around five themes. Participants satisfy the foundation level requirements through a variety of academic courses, workshops, and/or online resources.

Capstone Level

After completing the foundation level, participants teach or co-teach a course for the teaching capstone, meeting regularly with teaching mentors and their capstone cohort to reflect on their teaching experience.

Benefits of Participating

Participants develop valuable knowledge and skills to apply to future professional endeavors. While about 75% of our alumni go on to tenure or non-tenure track faculty positions, teaching skills are transferrable to opportunities in other industries.

Because our program goals align with those of the CIRTL Network, you will earn a CIRTL Associate certificate upon completion of the foundation level. The full Tech to Teaching certificate is achieved after the capstone level. Both certificates are awarded annually at TA and Future Faculty Awards Day.

In addition to the printed certificate, participants can request a letter of recommendation detailing their accomplishments in the program. Finally, graduate students completing the coursework pathway (CETL 8713, CETL 8717, and CETL 8718) may work with their advisor to apply those courses toward a minor in higher education.

Capstone Mentors

The Tech to Teaching program collaborates with academic units across Georgia Tech to support graduate student teaching development.

All capstone participants obtain a teaching mentor in their discipline to provide feedback and support during their teaching practice. We invite capstone mentors to reach out to CTL faculty to learn more.

Info for Faculty Mentors

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Participant Reflections

Approximately 600 participants have engaged in the Tech to Teaching program since 2016. Here are some of their reflections.

Vikrant Kamble
2021 Alum

The Tech to Teaching certificate strengthened my confidence that I can teach. The training during these certificate courses enabled me to understand how teaching and learning happen in a classroom environment. I got the opportunity to discuss my ideas about teaching methodologies with faculty, peers, mentors, etc. I received a lot of wonderful feedback and tips to improve my instructions. All this experience made me a better teacher.
Katherine Young
2021 Alum

I am interested in becoming a faculty member at a top-tier research institute. The foundation level courses were instrumental in improving my teaching abilities and gave me many important tools that I plan to use in the classroom in the future. The capstone portion of the program gave me a chance to experiment with these skills and practice implementing these new techniques. I have developed curriculum for my capstone experience that I hope to turn into a full course one day as a professor.
Evan Mallen
2019 Alum

Over the course of the Tech to Teaching certificate, my passion for teaching has only grown. Even if I don't end up in a faculty position, the skills I've learned here are extremely valuable for any profession involving presentations, team-based communication exercises, and educational program development. I will look back at my Tech to Teaching certificate as one of the most influential components of my PhD program.
Sidni Justus
2019 Alum

I already have my first teaching faculty position lined up for this fall. I've taught 3 classes as instructor of record here at GT but know that I didn't learn "everything" there was to know about teaching through those. The foundational outcomes for Tech to Teaching taught me so many things about UDL, technology in the classroom, etc. that I did not know prior. The capstone gave me a greater appreciation for feedback and helped me learn from others' new ideas of how I can improve my teaching going forward. I very much appreciated this opportunity!
Adam Caparco
2020 Alum

I really enjoyed my experience. Having the chance to learn the technical aspects of course design and higher education, and then applying these principals in the classroom during my TA assignments and my teaching practicum, showed me how much I enjoy being an instructor. It also helped me identify what aspects need improvement, and what aspects are my natural strengths. All-in-all, this certification program assured me I want to be an instructor at some point in my career path, ideally as a tenure-track faculty at a university.
Olga Churkina
2023 Alum

I have found Georgia Tech's "Tech to Teaching" program very helpful to start my career in higher education. During my doctoral studies, I have been an instructor of record as well as a TA; however, I did not have enough theoretical background to support my instructional choices at the time. Now, I am much more aware of the variety of teaching techniques and feel more confident to face future challenges in the classroom and beyond. Participating in the program allowed me to receive comments and recommendations on my instruction that I would not be able to obtain otherwise. This feedback helped me to reflect on and improve my teaching style.
Laura Stoy
2021 Alum

When I started graduate school, I still thought like a student—not sure how to learn better, but just muddling through on my own. As a TA, I thought like a TA—interested in helping my students learn better, but again, not sure how. With the teaching practicum, I now think like a professor. I have a much better grasp of how to design activities that are engaging and actually contribute to learning, beyond the standard lecture model. That itself has really opened up my eyes to a world beyond academia.
Rafegh Aghamohammadi
2021 Alum

Tech to Teaching was very beneficial for me. The different modules in the foundation level helped me to acquire skills and knowledge, which will be very helpful in my future teaching plans. In the capstone level, I tried to implement the knowledge that I had learned from the foundations level in teaching a graduate-level course, which I may teach in the future if I pursue an academic career. Furthermore, I fully enjoyed the weekly meetings with my peers and instructor, the conversations that we had on different aspects of teaching, and the feedback from CTL faculty on the teaching plans and other questions that we had during the course of the capstone.
Bilal Iftikhar
2021 Alum

I am now continuing to pursue my passion for teaching in a full-time professional role as an assistant professor. In addition to teaching courses in the fields of water resources management, hydraulic engineering, and hydrology, I also plan to continue to engage with students outside the classroom. The Tech to Teaching certificate helped me to enhance my teaching, presentation, and interaction skills and that will help me to attain my future goals. Since the completion of that certificate, I found myself more confident and I learnt more effective ways to convey my knowledge to students.