Ask Professor Pedagogy: Learning Styles
Mar. 15, 2013—Ask Professor Pedagogy is a twice monthly advice column written by Center for Teaching staff. One aspect of our mission is to cultivate dialogue about teaching and learning, so we welcome questions and concerns that arise in the classroom; particularly those from Vanderbilt faculty, students, and staff. If you have a question that you’d like...
Eric Mazur on the Flipped Classroom and Peer Instruction, April 4th
Mar. 14, 2013—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director If you’re interested in improving student learning in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields or in large classes of any discipline, you won’t want to miss Harvard physics professor Eric Mazur’s talk in Light Hall at noon on Thursday, April 4th. Mazur’s talk is titled “An Alternative Approach to...
Measurement of ‘Learning Outcomes’ Comes to Graduate School
Mar. 12, 2013—“I just know it in my bones” is the rationale some professors might give to explain how they know whether or not their students have learned, writes David Glenn in an article posted in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This article focuses in particular on graduate education, since even those programs that consist of more...
Making Student Thinking Visible: Metacognitive Practices in the Classroom
Mar. 11, 2013—by Nancy Chick (CFT Assistant Director) and Katie Headrick Taylor (CFT Graduate Teaching Fellow) Every Friday, the four CFT Graduate Teaching Fellows and Assistant Director Nancy Chick meet to discuss the week’s activities and then explore something substantive, either through readings or guests. We recently discussed the “Top 12 Teaching and Learning Articles of 2012”...
Ask Professor Pedagogy: Utilizing OAK in your courses
Mar. 8, 2013—Ask Professor Pedagogy is a twice monthly advice column written by Center for Teaching staff. One aspect of our mission is to cultivate dialogue about teaching and learning, so we welcome questions and concerns that arise in the classroom; particularly those from Vanderbilt faculty, students, and staff. If you have a question that you’d like...
Junior Faculty: Visit the classroom of Steve Buckles on March 13
Mar. 8, 2013—A Teaching Visit involves a small group of faculty who observe a colleague’s class (on a selected day), followed by an hour of conversation about what was observed, particularly shared teaching challenges. The Center for Teaching has hosted Teaching Visits for many years and they have been among the most productive and helpful events we...
A Conversation about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Mar. 1, 2013—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director Last Thursday, February 21st, the Center for Teaching and the Library hosted “Teaching to Thousands: A Conversation about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs),” an event featuring faculty panelists Douglas Schmidt (Computer Science) and Jamie Pope (Nursing). Doug and Jamie are participating in Vanderbilt’s Coursera pilot, each offering a MOOC on...
Ask Professor Pedagogy: Assessment Suggestions for Large Lecture Classes
Feb. 22, 2013—Ask Professor Pedagogy is a twice monthly advice column written by Center for Teaching staff. One aspect of our mission is to cultivate dialogue about teaching and learning, so we welcome questions and concerns that arise in the classroom; particularly those from Vanderbilt faculty, students, and staff. If you have a question that you’d like...
Faculty: Visit the classroom of Leonard Folgarait on February 27
Feb. 22, 2013—A Teaching Visit involves a small group of faculty who observe a colleague’s class (on a selected day), followed by an hour of conversation about what was observed, particularly shared teaching challenges. The Center for Teaching has hosted Teaching Visits for many years and they have been among the most productive and helpful events we...
From a Student’s View – Large Classes
Feb. 20, 2013—This is a guest post by Emily Garcia, Vanderbilt Class of 2014, College of Arts and Sciences. The post is part of our ongoing “From a Student’s View” blog series. We occasionally feature guest posts here on the blog as part of our efforts to cultivate dialogue about teaching and learning among Vanderbilt faculty, students,...