CIRTL Network Development Opportunities
Feb. 5, 2014—The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is an NSF Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education. CIRTL uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop a national STEM faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of successful professional careers. CIRTL...
Learn to Produce or Produce to Learn?
Feb. 5, 2014—Vanderbilt faculty members have found a variety of ways to engage students as producers in their classes and guided students to produce work for authentic audiences. The CFT celebrated its 16th annual Graduate Student Teaching Event for Professional Development (GradSTEP) by focusing on our theme for this year, “Students as Producers.” The day started with a...
CFT Thanks JFTF Alumni for Hosting Teaching Visits in January
Feb. 5, 2014—The CFT thanks the following faculty members, who are alumni of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows program, for hosting teaching visits this fall by graduate student and post-doc participants in the CFT’s Certificate in College Teaching program.
Helping scientists do science education research: A new resource
Feb. 4, 2014—Scientists who are interested in investigating learning in their classrooms can sometimes feel stymied by the unfamiliar methods and terminology and unsure about effective approaches. To supplement existing guides, the American Society of Cell Biology publication CBE—Life Sciences Education recently added Research Methods Essays to their regular repertoire. In the words of Erin Dolan and...
The Mindful PhD: After the Honeymoon
Jan. 29, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director My class is still in the “honeymoon phase,” those carefree weeks in the beginning of the semester when students and instructor alike enjoy each other’s company and insights, before any major papers or exams complicate the dynamic. Smaller, low-stakes assessments have given me a chance to provide early feedback and...
Review Sessions: A Little Goes a Long Way
Jan. 28, 2014—By Graduate Teaching Fellow, Nayana Bose Teaching assistants (TAs) are often assigned review sessions (RSs) as part of their duties. These review sessions pose some unique challenges, and in this blog post I will focus on two that I think are common across most disciplines. RSs are usually scheduled right before an exam when there...
Last Week’s ‘T.W.L.’ Conversation on Teaching Writing: Low-Stakes, Written Reading Guides
Jan. 27, 2014—Amanda Benson (Biological Sciences) talked about “Writing as Discovery: Using Low-Stakes Writing to Help Students Learn” on January 21. This lunchtime gathering was the fifth gathering in the “Teaching. Writing. Learning.” series of conversations on teaching writing. To start the conversation, Amanda acknowledged that writing can be intimidating to scientists–faculty and students alike. Her pedagogical...
Students as Producers + Educational Technology
Jan. 25, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director I’m presenting this morning during the first set of concurrent sessions at the CFT’s GradSTEP event for graduate students and post-docs. The session is titled “Using Technology to Support Students as Producers of Knoweldge,” and it combines two of my favorite topics: students as producers plus educational technology. Certainly, technology...
BOLD Fellow Lauren Palladino Develops a Series of Online Astronomy Modules
Jan. 24, 2014—The BOLD Fellows program is designed to bring together graduate students and faculty members interested in blended and online learning. Graduate students develop online learning modules for implementation in a faculty mentor’s course and then gather data on the effects of the modules on student learning. BOLD Fellow Lauren Palladino worked with faculty mentor Dr....
GradSTEP 2014: Students as Producers Sneak Peek at Session 3
Jan. 22, 2014—GradSTEP 2014 will focus on Students as Producers: Developing dynamic learning in a virtual and real-world setting and will be held: Saturday, January 25th, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in Light Hall. Why Wiki Jessica Riviere, CFT Graduate Teaching Fellow In this workshop we will explore the basics of using Wiki technology for students...