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Brightspace Updates
Dec. 14, 2020—Most of us are using Brightspace more than ever in our teaching. These recent additions and reminders will help you get even more out of your online teaching with Brightspace. Our most recent Brightspace update includes a new quiz setting that will allow students to retake a quiz but only retake the questions they answered...
Leading Lines Podcast Featuring James Lang
Dec. 10, 2020—In this episode, we talk with James M. Lang about distraction and attention, the subject of his new book. He is a professor of English and the director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University in Massachusetts. Jim talks about laptop bans and classroom norms, the ethics of attention and cognitive diversity, and...
Come Work at the Center for Teaching!
Dec. 9, 2020—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...
From the Director
Dec. 7, 2020—As I write this, the second strangest semester of my academic career is drawing to a close. The strangest semester was, of course, last spring, but this fall was certainly unusual and full of challenges for both teaching and learning. I am continually impressed at the creative and skillful ways the Vanderbilt teaching community has...
Instructional Design Consultations through iDesign
Nov. 30, 2020—Vanderbilt University has partnered with the instructional design firm iDesign to make available a number of services to help faculty and other instructors prepare for online and hybrid teaching this fall. iDesign learning specialists are on-hand to assist with your course design and teaching effectiveness questions. If you have a question relating how to best...
Join us for a secure testing Q&A Session all about Proctorio!
Nov. 23, 2020—Do you have questions about using Proctorio, Vanderbilt’s secure testing software? If you plan to give a timed, secure exam using the Brightspace Quiz tool, using Proctorio in Brightspace provides a range of security options. Drop in for a Q&A session at noon on Monday, November 30th or on Tuesday, December 1st. The CFT’s Lead Instructional...
Updated Teaching Guide on Motivating Students
Nov. 19, 2020—One of our most popular teaching guides on the Center for Teaching website is on motivating students. Thanks to the work of Chelsea Yarborough, former Graduate Teaching Fellow, and Heather Fedesco, Assistant Director, the guide has been updated to reflect three popular student motivation theories and models. You can learn more about the Expectancy-Value-Cost model,...
Teaching with Games and Simulations in a Pandemic
Nov. 16, 2020—Games and simulations, both digital and analog, can immerse players in other worlds and give them experiences that help them see their own worlds in new ways. During this pandemic year, our world looks and feels very different. How can instructors use games and simulations to help students understand the world we find ourselves in?...
Learning in Two Time Zones: International Students’ Experiences during Covid-19
Nov. 11, 2020—By: José Luis de Ramón Ruiz and Nazirah Mohd Khairi, Teaching Affiliates, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching During the fall semester of 2020, most students have had to adapt to new models of teaching and learning, with course schedules combining in-person classes––which have looked very different this semester amid safety protocols––and remote classes conducted via Zoom....
Spring Journal Club: Investigating Student Learning
Nov. 9, 2020—In this journal club we will explore different approaches that college instructors can use to investigate how and what our students are learning. We will discuss research articles that illustrate how a range of methods can be used to understand our teaching and our students’ learning, considering benefits and limitations of the methods for answering...