By JOSIE RUSH
Whether you’re a first-time instructor, a veteran teacher, or an educator looking to brush up on research-backed teaching practices, the University Center for Teaching and Learning invites you to explore TEACH@Pitt: Teaching Excellence and Advancement through Certification in Higher Education.
TEACH@Pitt will have a variety of certifications one can earn, but the current module available is called Foundations of Teaching and was launched in August 2025. The course explores fundamental frameworks and strategies you can apply in your classroom. Interested instructors may self-enroll into this asynchronous Canvas-based course via an enrollment link.
The Foundations of Teaching module offers participants opportunities to explore a wide range of topics: Course alignment, assessment, designing classroom experiences, creating an inclusive classroom, strategically using technology, and reflecting on their own teaching. Throughout these units, instructors can watch videos of fellow Pitt instructors and students sharing their own teaching and learning values, strategies and experiences. They’ll also have access to reflections and assessments to help integrate material and practices into their own teaching.
While instructors must complete each module in Foundations to receive a certificate, participants also are welcome to take an à la carte approach and jump to modules of immediate interest to them. An instructor designing a course for the first time might benefit from the “Aligning Course Design with Learning Objectives” unit, for instance, while an individual interested in compiling a teaching portfolio may find the “Reflecting on and Documenting Teaching Effectiveness” unit particularly useful.
Depending on the supplemental readings and activities with which instructors choose to engage, completion of the entire Foundations module takes approximately five hours.
TEACH@Pitt is a resource meant to center and further cultivate Pitt’s culture of excellence in teaching. The Center for Teaching and Learning, in conjunction with the Office of the Provost and the Faculty Advisory Committee on Instructional Excellence, will continue to assess data from the Foundations module and plan future TEACH@Pitt modules.
Keep an eye out for more information on TEACH@Pitt through Teaching Center Today, the center’s weekly newsletter, and consider self-enrolling in the Foundations module to take advantage of helpful pedagogical resources.
Josie Rush is a senior teaching consultant at the University Center for Teaching and Learning.