February, 2014
Show and Tell: More Visual Presentations
Feb. 10, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director I’m giving a presentation this afternoon on the use of visuals in lectures and other academic presentations. I like to have the slides or Prezi I use for my own presentations available online at the start of those presentations, so I’m sharing my Prezi for this afternoon’s presentation here on...
More & More Accessible Guides from CFT
Feb. 8, 2014—The CFT has quietly rolled out a new organizational structure for our guides, online documents in which we synthesize and condense some of the research and resulting practices of specific topics in teaching and learning. If you go to the CFT Homepage and hover your mouse over the “Guides” drop-down menu, you’ll see five categories ...
From the Director: 2014 Horizon Report, Randy Bass Keynote
Feb. 7, 2014— By Derek Bruff, CFT Director Earlier this week, the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative released the 2014 Horizon Report, an annual report on current trends in technology in higher education. One of the six key trends identified in this year’s report is the shift from students as consumers (of information, of...
The Mindful PhD: Time, the Superbowl, & Bandwagons
Feb. 6, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director This past week brought a kind of harmonic convergence of mindfulness in popular culture. First, Time magazine featured “The Mindful Revolution” on the cover. Then, or perhaps simultaneously, word spread (from ESPN to the blogosphere) that the Seattle Seahawks–then heading for the Superbowl, now winners of the Superbowl–regularly practice mindfulness and yoga. This...
Grad Students, Come Work at the CFT!
Feb. 6, 2014—The Center for Teaching is now accepting applications for its 2014-15 Graduate Teaching Fellow and Teaching Affiliate positions. Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTFs) are employed for the entire academic year, engage in a variety of CFT activities around training and supporting Teaching Assistants across the university, and are paid $20,000 August – May. NOTE: We’ll also...
CIRTL Network Development Opportunities
Feb. 5, 2014—The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is an NSF 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. CIRTL...
Learn to Produce or Produce to Learn?
Feb. 5, 2014—Vanderbilt faculty members have found a variety of ways to engage students as producers in their classes and guided students to produce work for authentic audiences. The CFT celebrated its 16th annual Graduate Student Teaching Event for Professional Development (GradSTEP) by focusing on our theme for this year, “Students as Producers.” The day started with a...
CFT Thanks JFTF Alumni for Hosting Teaching Visits in January
Feb. 5, 2014—The CFT thanks the following faculty members, who are alumni of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows program, for hosting teaching visits this fall by graduate student and post-doc participants in the CFT’s Certificate in College Teaching program.
Helping scientists do science education research: A new resource
Feb. 4, 2014—Scientists who are interested in investigating learning in their classrooms can sometimes feel stymied by the unfamiliar methods and terminology and unsure about effective approaches. To supplement existing guides, the American Society of Cell Biology publication CBE—Life Sciences Education recently added Research Methods Essays to their regular repertoire. In the words of Erin Dolan and...