2010
10/7 Workshop: Digital Storytelling: An Ancient Art Finds a New Age
Sep. 30, 2010—Time & Date: 1:00 – 2:30 p.m., Thursday, October 7 Facilitator: Rhett McDaniel, Educational Technologist, CFT Audience: Faculty, Graduate and Professional Students, Post-docs, and Staff Panelists: Jay Clayton, English; Matt Hall, Information Technology Services; and Jonathan Rattner, Film Studies Digital Storytelling in higher education emerged in the late nineties when UC Berkeley, collaborating with a...
Tools for Grading – Sample Rubrics and Spreadsheets
Sep. 29, 2010—Below you’ll find the sample rubrics and Excel spreadsheets used in today’s Virtual Brownbag session, “Tools for Grading: Rubrics and Spreadsheets.” Example Rubric #1 – Research Paper – Winona State Example Rubric #2 – Opinion Paper – Derek Bruff Example Rubric #3 – Critical Thinking – Northeastern Illinois Sample Gradebook – Empty Sample Gradebook –...
CFT Co-sponsors International Lens Film Series Event
Sep. 29, 2010—Entre les Murs (The Class): Connection and Conflict in the Classroom (Part of Vanderbilt’s International Lens Film Series) Time & Date: 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 5 Location: Sarratt Cinema Facilitator: Derek Bruff, Assistant Director, CFT Audience: Faculty; Undergraduate, Graduate and Professional Students; Post-docs; and Staff The 2008 French film Entre les Murs (The Class) presents...
How Novice Programmers Learn to Code: A Teaching-as-Research Project
Sep. 28, 2010—This is a guest post by Jonathan Wellons, graduate student in computer science and participant in our Teaching-as-Research Fellows program in 2009. Thanks to Jonathan for sharing his experiences in the program. We welcome contributions to the CFT blog by others in the Vanderbilt teaching community! Most computer scientists either remember how frustrating their first...
The Value of Silence in Class Discussions
Sep. 27, 2010—Mary M. Reda’s essay, “What’s the Problem with Quiet Students? Anyone? Anyone?” in the Chronicle of Higher Education a couple of weeks ago offers a revealing look at the reasons some students choose not to participate in class discussions. Reda engaged in a yearlong investigation of the quiet students in her composition courses, asking her...
Clicker Controversy at Johns Hopkins University
Sep. 24, 2010—According to Inside Higher Ed, some students at Johns Hopkins University are protesting the fees associated with using clickers in their classes. The clicker vendor used at Johns Hopkins, eInstruction, charges not only for the clicker device itself, but also charges an enrollment fee each semester the clicker is used. Over the last few years,...
9/30 Workshop: Lecturing
Sep. 23, 2010—Time & Date: 4:10—5:30 p.m., Thursday, September 30 Facilitator: Graduate Teaching Fellow, CFT Audience: Graduate and Professional Students and Post-docs In this session, we’ll explore both the “why” and the “how” of lecturing. What kind of material is best presented in lecture? What should you keep in mind when preparing and delivering a lecture? What...
9/29 Workshop: Tools for Grading: Rubrics and Spreadsheets
Sep. 22, 2010—Time & Date: 12:15 – 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 29 Location: Online Facilitators: Derek Bruff and Kat Baker, Assistant Directors, CFT Audience: Faculty, Graduate and Professional Students, Post-docs, and Staff Interested in learning some tips and tricks for grading more effectively and efficiently? In this Virtual Brownbag, CFT assistant directors Derek Bruff and Kat Baker will...
Teaching through Hot Points: Navigating Bodies in the Classroom, Saturday, October 2
Sep. 20, 2010—CFT Teaching Affiliate Elizabeth Weber, a graduate student in German, is facilitating a workshop on Saturday, October 2nd, titled “Teaching through Hot Points: Navigating Bodies in the Classroom.” The workshop is part of the “Bodies and Oddities” graduate student conference hosted by the Department Spanish & Portuguese, but graduate students not involved in that conference...
Wireless in the Classroom – Highlights from the Conversation
Sep. 17, 2010—On Tuesday of this week, the CFT hosted a Conversation on Teaching titled “Wireless in the Classroom: Is a Ban on Student Laptop Use During Class a Good Idea?” The subtitle was intended to be provocative, and it seemed to have worked. We had over 30 participants in the conversation, including faculty from all around...