Fostering Student Engagement- NSSE Annual Results 2011
Nov. 18, 2011—Last spring, about 2.1 million students at more than 750 colleges and universities were invited to report on their in- and out-of-class learning experiences by completing the NSSE survey. The near-record number of participating institutions signifies continued interest in student engagement as a useful and informative way for institutional leaders, faculty, and others to gain...
Derek Bruff Named Director of the Center for Teaching
Nov. 16, 2011—Tim McNamara, Vice Provost for Faculty and International Affairs, announced yesterday that Derek Bruff has agreed to be the Director of the Center for Teaching. From the announcement: This appointment is the culmination of several weeks of consultation with faculty, staff, and academic leaders throughout the university, and has the enthusiastic support of the Provost....
Everyone’s a Visual Learner – A Conference Report
Nov. 15, 2011—by CFT Acting Director Derek Bruff Jose Vazquez of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and I co-facilitated a 75-minute session at the POD Network / HBCU Faculty Development Network joint conference in Atlanta last month. Our session was titled “Everyone’s a Visual Learner: Using Visual Thinking in the Classroom.” The feedback we received on...
CIRTL Coffee Hour 11/15: Continuing STEM education work as faculty (featuring Vanderbilt’s Robert Webster)
Nov. 11, 2011—The 2011-2012 CIRTL Coffee Hour Series provides an opportunity for STEM (science, technology, engineering, & math) graduate students and post docs to get together online and talk about careers and the academic job search. The series is facilitated by a mix of young faculty who have recently secured positions and more seasoned tenured faculty. This year’s...
From the Stacks…
Nov. 9, 2011—147 Tips for Teaching Sustainability: Connecting the Environment, the Economy, and Society by William M. Timpson, Brian Dunbar, Gailmarie Kimmel, Brett Bruvere, Peter Newman, and Hillary Mizia From the publisher… “We are the first generation capable of determining the habitability of the planet for humans and other species,” writes Anthony Cortese in the Foreword. “Teachers...
Academic Technology Expectations – Highlights from a Conversation
Nov. 8, 2011—By Rhett McDaniel On October 27th, the CFT hosted a Conversation on Teaching titled “Student Expectations: Academic Technology.” The group investigated some of the assumptions and beliefs we might hold regarding student expectations around academic technology. We also discussed various potential conflicts and consequences around the issue. The conversation was exploratory in nature, designed to...
Motivating Students through Authentic Audiences
Nov. 7, 2011—CFT Acting Director Derek Bruff authored an essay titled “A Social Network Can be a Learning Network” that appears in this week’s special issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education on online learning. In the essay, Derek uses the notion of social pedagogies to frame three educational technologies (social bookmarking, backchannels, and collaborative documents) that...
Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow Spotlight: Humberto Garcia
Nov. 7, 2011— Each month, the CFT Newsletter highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. This month, Humberto Garcia, Assistant Professor in the English Department talks about his teaching philosophy and interests: “By using YouTube videos, paintings, e-mail, films, blog websites, etc., my goal is to access my students’ media ecology, the sites in which...
The CFT Welcomes New Assistant Director
Nov. 5, 2011—We’re excited to announce the upcoming appointment of Nancy Chick as a new assistant director at the CFT. Nancy is currently a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Barron County, and will begin here at the Center in January. Nancy received her B.A. from the University of New Mexico and her M.A. and Ph.D....
Writing in Space: Collaborative Writing in a Digital Age, November 7th
Nov. 3, 2011—CFT Acting Director Derek Bruff will be a panelist at a Vanderbilt Writing Studio event Monday, November 7th, from 3:45 to 4:30 p.m. in the Commons Multipurpose Room 237. Details below… How do networked technologies open new, collaborative possibilities for the way we write? Please join us for a virtual discussion on innovative practices in...