The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) seeks to enhance excellence in STEM undergraduate education through development of a national faculty committed to implementing and advancing evidence-based teaching practices for diverse learners. CIRTL was founded in 2003 as a National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education. CIRTL uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop a national STEM faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of successful professional careers. The goal of CIRTL is to improve the STEM learning of all students at every college and university, and thereby to increase the diversity in STEM fields and the STEM literacy of the nation.

The C.R.E.A.T.E. (Consider, Read, Elucidate the hypotheses, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment) method is an innovative teaching approach that uses intensive analysis of primary literature to demystify and humanize research science for undergraduates. Our goal is to use the real language of science—the journal article—as an inroad to understanding “who does science, how, and why?” At the same time, we wish to help students (1) experience authentic processes of science, in particular discussion/debate about experimental data and their interpretation (including ‘grey areas’), (2) recognize the creativity and open-ended nature of research, and (3)see the diversity of people who undertake research careers (i.e. not just the genius/geeks of popular culture). As a complement to teaching based on textbooks, which tend to oversimplify the research process, C.R.E.A.T.E. teaching focuses on authentic published work - peer reviewed journal articles - with students reading either series of papers produced sequentially from individual labs or series of papers from different labs focused on a single line of research.

The National Institute on Scientific Teaching is a non-profit organization devoted to empowering and inspiring the transformation of STEM education through evidence-based teaching practices. The Institute is dedicated to STEM education reform by improving science literacy and increasing diversity in the academia in universities across the United States. NIST draws scientific teaching principles from models supported by peer-reviewed research and support participants to directly apply these principles in their classrooms and in their course development. The curriculum includes core elements of active learning strategies, effective assessment development, and inclusive teaching practices. Institute alumni continue to actively transform STEM education on their home campuses, contribute to national STEM education initiatives, and disseminate their evidence-based teaching efforts and research through peer reviewed publications.

The Promoting Active Learning and Mentoring (PALM) Network was established to increase the use of active learning in undergraduate lecture courses. PALM guides instructors to put into practice effective methods of active learning under the sustained mentorship of other instructors with experience in evidence-based active learning. Each Fellow works individually with a mentor chosen to help the Fellow reach specific goals and objectives, but there are also shared resources, conference calls, and Network gatherings with workshops in which Fellows and mentors can learn from each other. This network of Fellows and their mentors are recruited and supported in their professional development by a network of life science professional societies. Fellows and mentors also disseminate information about their mentorship experiences and products through their professional society meetings, websites, and social media.

SABER is a scientific community whose members develop theory and generate evidence with the goal of improving post-secondary biology education. SABER fosters Biology Education Research (BER) and its dissemination. SABER goals include promoting the generation of evidence-based knowledge to inform and advance post-secondary teaching and learning in biology; facilitating the dissemination of BER findings to education researchers, classroom practitioners, and other stakeholders; supporting faculty as they implement evidence-based methodology in their post-secondary teaching; and fostering the development of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and emerging scholars as they pursue professional development and career opportunities in BER.