2017
Junior Faculty Spotlight: Jessica Oster
Mar. 7, 2017—Each month, the CFT highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. This month, Jessica Oster, Earth and Environmental Sciences, talks about her teaching philosophy and interests. Global climate change is among the most serious and complex issues of our time, especially as it is projected to cause serious but uncertain changes in the...
“Students as Producers” Course Design Institute May 8-10
Mar. 6, 2017—The CFT invites Vanderbilt faculty members to apply to its 2017 Course Design Institute on the theme of “Students as Producers.” During the three-day institute (May 8-10, 2017) participants will design (or redesign) courses that engage students not only as consumers of information, but producers of knowledge. This year’s institute will include a track for...
Encouraging Engagement and Enthusiasm– One student’s perspective on online course design
Mar. 1, 2017—By Rachel Biel, Undergraduate Intern My first interaction with the online classroom came in the fall of 2012, my senior year of high school. With my sights set on attending Vanderbilt, I enrolled in four AP courses, each of which my school only taught one section. This left my daily schedule completely inflexible: I had...
Digital Humanities Pedagogy Lunch with Dr. Gabrielle Foreman
Feb. 20, 2017—Professor Foreman is the founding faculty director of the Colored Conventions Project, which since 2012 has made digitally available six decades of Black political organizing that overlapped with and was obscured by the abolitionist movement. The project has involved over 1000 students across the country in undergraduate research through its curriculum adopted by the Project’s national...
New Guide – Teaching Adult Undergraduate Students
Feb. 15, 2017—The Center for Teaching’s recently released teaching guide Teaching Adult Undergraduate Students is a tool for instructors and administrators considering the needs of adult (or non-traditional) students on Vanderbilt’s campus. Adult learners returning to college after military service, parenthood, or other life experiences may approach college in a very different way than their less experienced classmates....
Come Work at the Center for Teaching!
Feb. 6, 2017—Each year the Center for Teaching (CFT) hires a number of graduate students as part of its efforts to mentor and train graduate students, including those serving as teaching assistants or instructors of record here at Vanderbilt as well as those interested in developing teaching skills for future faculty careers. The CFT has several types...
Students as Producers: The Course Design Institute at the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching
Feb. 1, 2017—by Marianna Sharp, CFT Communications Intern The CFT’s Course Design Institute (CDI) is a three-day program at the end of the spring semester (May 8-10, 2017) in which participants learn and apply strategies to design (or redesign) course plans and syllabi for the fall. The institute is centered on the idea of “Students as Producers,” an...
Celebration of Learning: An Exhibition of Students as Producers
Jan. 22, 2017—On Monday, January 29th, the Center for Teaching will hold a Celebration of Learning, an exhibition of students as producers. The event will feature posters, presentations, and performances by students from all over campus, sharing what they have learned, created, designed, and discovered. The event will provide the Vanderbilt community with a picture of immersive...
Brown Bag Lunch Series: LGBTQI Inclusivity & Allyship in Learning Spaces: February (2/1, 2/8, 2/15, 2/22)
Jan. 16, 2017—This month-long series of 4 workshops aims to create an active learning community wherein current and future educators can build their capacity to personally enact and support LGBTQI inclusivity & allyship in postsecondary academic contexts. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: LGBTQI resources on campus and beyond, information on the contemporary LGBTQI...
Learning Communities Provide Ongoing Support for Educators
Jan. 11, 2017—by Marianna Sharp, CFT Communications Intern The Center for Teaching hosts a number of learning communities, groups designed for faculty who are interesting in meeting on a regular basis to discuss the craft of teaching and the specific challenges that come with different types of learning environments. I spoke with Dr. Cynthia Brame, CFT Assistant...