Author
Writing as a Design Process
Jan. 24, 2019—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director On Tuesday, November 6th, the CFT’s learning community on teaching design thinking hosted a lively conversation about writing as a design process. Both writing and design involve knowing one’s audience and being intentional about feedback and revision. We invited Haerin Shin, assistant professor of English, and Matthew Worsnick, assistant professor...
Engaging Ethically and Actively in Online Communities
Jan. 8, 2019—by Chelsea Yarborough, Graduate Teaching Fellow, and Derek Bruff, Director The CFT’s learning community on teaching digital literacies concluded its fall conversation series on November 13th with a discussion of the ways instructors can help students participate productively in online communities. To get the conversation started, Derek Bruff, CFT director, invited each of our three...
A Conversation on Multimodal Assignments
Nov. 5, 2018—by Chelsea Yarborough, Graduate Teaching Fellow, and Derek Bruff, Director On October 16, 2018, the Center for Teaching’s learning community on teaching digital literacies gathered for a conversation about multimodal assignments, those that include more than just the written word. Three panelists joined the growing learning community to discuss the joys, challenges, and overall value...
Education as a Design Process
Nov. 1, 2018—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director At the October meeting of the CFT’s “Teaching Design Thinking” learning community, Peabody’s Kristen Neal and Melissa Gresalfi shared their experiences teaching in Vanderbilt’s Learning and Design M.Ed. program. Students in this accelerated program spend ten months taking classes and working in teams with local partners, including schools and other...
In-Class Activities for Teaching Writing
Oct. 3, 2018—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director, cross-posted from Agile Learning I’ve been teaching my first-year writing seminar on cryptography off and on since 2010, and yet I still feel like a rookie when it comes to teaching writing. I’ve learned a lot, certainly, but there always seems more to learn. That’s why I was excited about...
A Conversation on Teaching Media Literacy
Oct. 1, 2018—by Chelsea Yarborough, Graduate Teaching Fellow, and Derek Bruff, Director On September 14, 2018, the Center for Teaching kicked off its new learning community on teaching digital literacies. With four panelists and a room of ready participants, we engaged in a rich, interdisciplinary conversation about the difficulties and possibilities of teaching media literacy in the...
Vanderbilt Instructors Open Their Classroom Doors on September 24, 25, and 26
Sep. 18, 2018—Would you like to watch one of your colleagues teach to see how they manage the classroom, engage students, or address challenging subjects? Do you ever feel like you toil in private to learn how to teach? You’re not alone. Too often in higher education we instructors do not have the opportunity to watch and...
Syllabus Statements
Aug. 20, 2018—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director It’s that time of year. Time to update the syllabus for your fall course. Or maybe create a new syllabus from scratch. I feel like I’m ahead of schedule this year, since I updated the syllabus for my first-year writing seminar last Wednesday, a full week ahead of the first...
CFT Publications Spotlight: Joe Bandy
Jul. 2, 2018—How can we help students connect what they learn inside the classroom to the world outside the classroom? And, when we do so, how can we know what kind of an impact these experiences have on students and the broader community? These are the questions that drive much of CFT assistant director Joe Bandy’s research...
Celebration of Learning provides snapshot of immersive student learning at Vanderbilt
Feb. 1, 2018—The Vanderbilt Center for Teaching hosted a Celebration of Learning Jan. 29 that featured 34 student projects, posters and presentations from across campus. Students from six colleges and schools exhibited digital timelines, service learning projects, computer games, manufacturing equipment, podcasts, lab research and other products of their work. “The goal of the event was to...