Teaching Circles Program

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is seeking RIT faculty and/or teaching staff (full-time and part-time, visiting, lecturer, academic support specialist, tenured, tenure-track, adjunct, etc.) who are interested in proposing a topic and facilitating a teaching circle in Spring semester 2025. Circles can be offered in an on-campus space, via Zoom, or a combination of these modes. More information on facilitating and participating in a teaching circle follows below.

Please submit your Qualtrics proposal form as early as possible but no later than December 23, 2024. Applicants will be notified on a rolling basis.

CTL will announce the roster of Spring 2025 teaching circle topics and facilitators to the RIT community on January 7 and 14, 2025. Interested participants will be strongly encouraged to contact circle facilitator(s) as early as possible but no later than January 20, 2025.

Each Fall and Spring semester, CTL will release a call to form a teaching circle approximately six weeks prior to the start of the semester. An individual or small group of faculty/teaching staff who want to explore a specific topic will make a brief proposal. After facilitators and topics have been confirmed, CTL will release a call to join a teaching circle approximately two weeks prior to the start of the semester; the call will list semester(s) and the respective facilitators, titles, and descriptions of every circle offered. Prospective participants should directly contact facilitators of their interest prior to the end of Week 2 of the semester. Circles typically hold their first meeting around Week 3.

Teaching circles can be about just about anything you wish, so long as it is related to teaching and learning. For example, some teaching circles might focus on interdisciplinary work (e.g., Technology/Art/Design, teaching about/with AI, or methods to encourage interdisciplinary undergraduate research), while others may focus on a specific cohort (e.g., new faculty, students in gateway math course). Some groups may explore relatively narrow pedagogical topics (e.g., contemporary research on project-based learning), while other circles may select broader topics (e.g., burnout and resilience, mentoring students)

Teaching circle meetings and other activities can take a variety of forms to stimulate conversation and help members investigate teaching/learning topics. Teaching circle members may make use of one or more methods for sharing knowledge, including, but not limited to:

• Guided discussion: Members come prepared to discuss an item (article, chapter, video, etc.) or issue selected by the group.
• Round-robins: Members share personal experience and knowledge on a topic of interest to the group.
• Ask the expert: An “expert” (or expert panel) is invited to share insights on a topic. This can include an outside guest speaker or bringing in experts from across RIT and beyond.
• “Progress” reports: Members report on experiments they have conducted with new ways of teaching. This can be especially helpful as a support mechanism while trying a new teaching strategy or project.
• Peer tutoring: Members of the group take responsibility for learning different aspects of the topic being explored by the group. At each meeting, one or two members report back on the material they have researched.
• Open discussion: Meetings can be occasions for informal conversations about the circle’s general topic. There is no set agenda. Participants bring in issues, questions, and/or problems that are of interest to them.

Each teaching circle will be organized by one or more facilitators drawn from the RIT community, with support from the CTL. The facilitator(s) is more of a champion of the circle topic than a leader with specialized knowledge. Once formed, circles should devote sufficient time to discuss and establish their collective goals, participant responsibilities, sharing of findings, and organizational structure. Circles are intended to be egalitarian with all members playing an equal role in their success.

Circles can be as large as 15-20 members (though 6-12 is ideal), including the facilitator(s). If more people are interested, the circle can be split into two circles. Members are expected to attend and contribute to the majority of meetings. Circles may decide to produce a brief final report or other output on what the group discussed and found that could be shared with the RIT community.

CTL supports teaching circle facilitators and participants in many ways, including:

• Assisting circle facilitators in the development of titles, descriptions, and meeting options for their circles
• Matching circle facilitators/topics with prospective circle members through RIT-wide communication channels
• Orienting and advising facilitators on group communications and logistics (e.g., scheduling, appropriate and available on-campus or virtual meeting spaces, circle activities)
• The CTL will also consider facilitating the purchase of supporting materials (e.g., books) on a per-request basis

Information about previous Teaching Circles