April, 2016
Graduate students present investigations of teaching tools and approaches on May 18th
Apr. 28, 2016—Several programs at Vanderbilt help graduate students address questions of teaching and learning within their discipline. Among these are the BOLD Fellows program, sponsored by the Center for Teaching and CIRTL, which focuses on creating and assessing online instructional approaches for use in a Vanderbilt course; the TAR Fellows program, a flagship CIRTL program; and...
Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow Spotlight: Melissa Glassfor
Apr. 15, 2016—Each month, the CFT Newsletter highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. This month, Melissa Glassford, Nursing, talks about her teaching philosophy and interests. I teach in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at the School of Nursing, instructing nurses as they develop the skills and knowledge to become primary care providers for individuals...
Biological Sciences Seminar Series features Biology Education Researcher Kimberly Tanner on April 18th
Apr. 14, 2016—Dr. Kimberly Tanner, Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University and 2012 national Outstanding University Science Teacher, will give a seminar in the Biological Sciences Department Monday, April 18, 4:10-5:15 in Medical Research Building III, room 1220. Professor Tanner directs the Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory, which facilitates and investigates the impact of scientist-teacher partnerships...
Campus Invited to Course Management System Vendor Demos in April
Apr. 11, 2016—The Center for Teaching invites Vanderbilt faculty, staff, and students to a series of product demonstrations by the three vendors under consideration for Vanderbilt’s next course management system (CMS). The demonstrations, along with feedback from those who attend them, will inform Vanderbilt’s decision to renew its contract with Blackboard, set to expire in 2017, or...
Making Course Evaluations More Meaningful
Apr. 11, 2016—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director Course evaluations for spring semester courses begin today. When I served on the Provost’s Committee on the Evaluation of Teaching a couple of years ago, I found that instructors commonly face two challenges when it comes to course evaluations: motivating students to complete them (and thus increasing response rates) and...
From the Stacks…
Apr. 8, 2016—Promoting Integrated and Transformative Assessment: A Deeper Focus on Student Learning by Catherine M. Wehlburg Assessment plays a key role in institutions of higher education. However, many colleges and universities simply add their assessment plans onto other teaching, learning, service, and research activities in order to prepare for an impending accreditation visit. In this important...
BOLD Fellows Program is Accepting Applications
Apr. 7, 2016—We are recruiting graduate students to participate in the BOLD Fellows program beginning in August 2016. The BOLD Fellows program is designed to help graduate student/faculty teams build expertise in developing online instructional modules grounded in good course design principles and our understanding of how people learn. STEM faculty members partner with graduate students or postdocs to design and develop online modules...
Apply to be a Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow!
Apr. 6, 2016—We are now accepting applications for 2016-17. The CFT’s Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows program is designed to help you: Learn from the teaching experiences of colleagues at Vanderbilt. • Develop skills that will enable you to analyze and improve your teaching over time. • Enjoy the community of teachers at Vanderbilt. • Learn to balance...
New Blackboard Course Availability and Deletion Policy
Apr. 6, 2016—The Center for Teaching, as the administrative home for Blackboard, is announcing a new Course Availability and Deletion Policy for Blackboard. This policy, recommended by Vanderbilt’s Blackboard implementation team and approved by the Blackboard Faculty Advisory Committee, is intended to reduce the amount of storage space Vanderbilt purchases annually from Blackboard, while also allowing most...
Gender Awareness and Inclusion Forums
Apr. 5, 2016—The Faculty Senate is hosting two Gender Awareness and Inclusion Forums, April 1st in Sarratt Student Center 112, and April 6th in Mayborn 204, both from 4-5pm. The purpose of the forums is to help faculty, students, and staff become more aware of the ways to create a more civil and inclusive campus — but...