Danielle Berger, a teaching assistant and master's student majoring in Applied Ecology within the Natural Resources Sciences program, recently achieved Associate Status in the CIRTL@Nebraska program.
The CIRTL@Nebraska program is the Nebraska extension of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL), which is a network of research universities across the U.S. and Canada.
As the first to achieve the Associate Status, Berger is able to describe and recognize the value of teaching-as-research, learning communities and learning-through diversity—the core values upon which CIRTL is founded.
"Being a scientist is kind of a worldview, so it makes sense to extend that to teaching as well," Berger said. "There should be a way to evaluate and see if students are actually learning."
Since February 2016, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has championed the CIRTL mission to enhance excellence in undergraduate education through the development of a national faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse learners.
Berger said she used to think of teaching as something only done in the classroom but soon realized that everyday moments can become teaching moments as well.
"If someone disagrees with me, I should assume that it's coming from a place of lack in mutual understanding," she said. "I can approach this a a teaching moment instead of approaching it as a situation coming from a place of malice."
CIRTL@Nebraska consists of three levels: Associate, Practitioner and Scholar. The Practitioner level focuses on exercising the knowledge gained at the Associate level.
After developing and implementing a teaching-as-research plan for a teaching and learning project, and participating in learning communities, Practitioners can begin working on the final level. Scholars are expected to add to community knowledge and disseminate findings on a local, national or international scale.
Before completing her degree, Berger is interested in achieving the Practitioner level in hopes to help students in the classroom and to continue articulating her own teaching style and methods.
"Any time I invest in being a better teacher, I hope that it's helping them as much as it's helping me," she said.
For more information on CIRTL@Nebraska and how to get started on your certification, visit https://cirtl.unl.edu/cirtlnebraska