The CITL Certificate in Foundations of Teaching is designed for graduate students who have limited or no classroom teaching experience at the University of Illinois. It provides an opportunity to explore teaching and helps prepare these students for responsibilities in an academic setting.

Like all of the certificates, the Certificate in Foundations of Teaching requires you to complete a series of requirements at your own pace. If you need clarification of the requirements, want us to observe your teaching or review your teaching philosophy statement, or if you need any other help, contact CITL. You are encouraged to start working on the certificate as soon as possible in your graduate career. However, there is no time limit for completion of the requirements.

Certificate requirements

1. Teaching development: Become familiar with principles of instruction by participating in one of the following:
   • A minimum of 8 hours of campus workshops on principles of instruction
   • A pre-semester teaching development program (the Graduate Academy for College Teaching or equivalent)
   • A university course on college teaching (e.g., EOL 585).
2. Observation of your teaching: Arrange to teach a class session or a mock lesson that is observed by a faculty member or your CITL consultant. Discuss the observation with the observer, and write an essay reflecting on the teaching experience and observer feedback. 
3. Exploration of literature on teaching: Read a book or several articles about teaching and/or learning, and write a reflective summary of them.
4. Observation of an experienced instructor: Arrange to meet with and to observe an experienced instructor teaching an undergraduate class. The instructor should be a professor in your home department who is known for good teaching. Write an essay reflecting on the lesson.
5. Teaching philosophy statement: Write a teaching philosophy statement which incorporates principles and ideas gleaned from participating in the Certificate in Foundations of Teaching.

Get started

All certificate requirements must be documented using the Certificate in Foundations of Teaching Application in consultation with a faculty member and/or your CITL consultant. The application contains more details for completing the certificate. The completed application must be submitted to CITL for review by your CITL consultant. The submission deadline is April 15.