CFT 25th Anniversary

On September 8 and 9, 2011, the Center for Teaching hosted a series of events to celebrate 25 years at Vanderbilt University. Shown above, many former staff returned to Vanderbilt to celebrate alongside current staff, and Chancellor Zeppos joined more than 80 individuals at the CFT’s keynote on September 8.

“Over the years it has struck me as how important it is to systematically – with all the resources and intellect of the university – to really create a Center for Teaching. So it’s great to be celebrating 25 years.” – Chancellor Zeppos in his opening remarks September 8, 2011.

The keynote, provided by former CFT Director Ken Bain, challenged attendees to consider new ways to foster deep learning in their classrooms. Bain discussed how to use ‘expectation failures’, how current classroom practices impact deep learning, and provided many thought-provoking examples of exceptional teaching.

“People learn deeply when they engage problems that they personally find important, intriguing, or just beautiful.” – Ken Bain in his keynote presentation, How to Foster Deep Learning on September 8, 2011.

The following day, attendees at the CFT’s Symposium on the Future of Teaching grappled with specific challenges impacting Vanderbilt; including the economy, technology, and social responsibility. Outcomes from conversations at the symposium will be evident in the coming years at the Center for Teaching.

Faculty panelists Marshall Eakin, Cynthia Paschal, and Cecelia Tichi joined Tim McNamara and the CFT’s Derek Bruff, Joe Bandy, and former director Allison Pingree in discussing these challenges with faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students throughout the day while graphic notetakers recorded the conversations as they occurred.

In the weeks following the 25th Anniversary events, several blog posts have been written about the event, including these:

	Guest Post by Doug Fisher: The University’s Social Responsibilities – A Faculty View of the CFT’s 25th Anniversary Symposium“I believe that the feeling of the breakout was that there could be no better way of manifesting a concern with societal issues than to practice it within campus communities; what better environment is there than a college campus like Vanderbilt to model the diverse, yet tight knit communities that we would like to see in the larger world?”
	Guest Post by Kim Lomis: Economic Challenges and the Future of Teaching – A Faculty View of the CFT’s 25th Anniversary Symposium“[I]t is readily apparent that any enterprise will benefit from young men and women who can think critically, creatively, broadly yet deeply, in a variety of content areas. Vanderbilt will contribute to the future of teaching by fostering these skills and by elucidating their inherent value to all stakeholders.”
	Guest Post by CFT Graduate Teaching Fellow Dan Morrison: Tweeting the #CFT25Ann – Expanding Participation at the Center’s 25th Anniversary Symposium“In addition to public note-taking, tweeting at the symposium allowed me to discuss presentations and sessions using the “backchannel”. Backchannel refers to the conversation that is happening in real time on Twitter that runs parallel to the spoken conversation in a room. Often, these backchannel conversations raise questions or engage new ideas while a presenter speaks.”
	The Future of Teaching Blog post written by the graphic notetakers present for the symposium on the AlphaChimp Studios blog
	Teaching Social Responsibility at Vanderbilt – A Report from the CFT’s 25th Anniversary Symposium (By Joe Bandy)
	Changing Technologies – A Report from the CFT’s 25th Anniversary Symposium (By Derek Bruff)
	Responding to Changing Technologies – A Report from the CFT’s 25th Anniversary Symposium (By Derek Bruff)
	The Future of Teaching – A Report from the CFT’s 25th Anniversary Symposium (By Derek Bruff)
	Fostering Deep Learning – A Report from the CFT’s 25th Anniversary (By Derek Bruff)