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The Mindful PhD: Doodling & Knitting

Jan. 22, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director Last week, I had a great conversation about class participation with SoTL Scholar Hasina Mohyuddin and my Graduate-Teaching-Fellow partner in teaching the SoTL Scholars Program Andrew Greer (both PhD candidates in the Department of Human & Organizational Development).  I also serendipitously asked my students to work together to create...

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Upcoming Faculty Teaching Visit with Edward K. Cheng on February 5th

Jan. 22, 2014—Edward K. Cheng Professor of Law Law 735: Evidence Edward Cheng’s research focuses on scientific and expert evidence, and the interaction between law and statistics. Law 735: Evidence is a comprehensive survey of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the rules that regulate the flow of information to juries in the vast majority of trial courts....

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A Conversation on Students as Producers: January 30th

Jan. 17, 2014—The CFT’s “Students as Producers” theme year continues on January 30th with a panel discussion exploring the theme as it plays out in the social sciences.  Panelists include Shaul Kelner, Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies, Leigh Gilchrist, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Human & Organizational Development, and Steve Wernke, Associate Professor of...

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GradSTEP 2014: Students as Producers Sneak Peek at Session 2

Jan. 16, 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.   Integrating Research and Design Projects into Courses Cynthia Brame,  CFT Assistant Director Joel Barnett,  Associate Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering This...

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The Mindful PhD: Enduring Effects

Jan. 15, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director I recently announced on Facebook that I take requests. My friend and former colleague Marnie Bullock Dresser asked the following question:  “I can already tell there are fewer monkeys when I’m in serious monkey mind mode. I can tell my brain is different; I’m just wanting to trust that...

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Grad Students, Come Work at the CFT!

Jan. 15, 2014—The Center for Teaching is now accepting applications for its 2014-15 Graduate Teaching Fellow and Teaching Affiliate positions. These positions are great opportunities for graduate students to refine their teaching and presentation skills, network with graduate students outside of their department or program, and develop expertise in training and supporting new TAs. Every year, our...

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Upcoming Teaching. Writing. Learning: Conversation with Amanda Benson

Jan. 14, 2014—Sponsored by the Center for Teaching, the Writing Studio, and the Heard Library; “Teaching. Writing. Learning.” is a series of monthly lunchtime conversations for anyone who teaches writing at Vanderbilt to gather and discuss specific issues, hear an invited colleague briefly introduce a relevant best practice, hear a bit about other research-based practices, share one’s...

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Recommended Reading: Cheating Lessons by James Lang

Jan. 13, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director. Cross-posted from Derek’s blog, Agile Learning. Last summer, I was honored to be asked to read and review James Lang’s excellent new book, Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard University Press, 2013). James Lang is an associate professor of English and the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence...

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GradSTEP 2014: Students as Producers Sneak Peek at Session 1

Jan. 9, 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 ttttt Service Learning Joe Bandy, CFT Assistant Director Service learning is a pedagogy that combines the learning goals of your courses and the...

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The Mindful PhD: Support for Stressed Students

Jan. 8, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director The new semester started yesterday here at Vanderbilt. My students were bright-eyed and enthusiastic, though I know they were experiencing those first-day uncertainties about their new classes, professors, and classmates. Soon enough, these early jitters will turn to a more significant set of stresses as assignments come due, exams...

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