Reflecting On and Documenting Your Teaching Experiences
Jun. 10, 2011—Reflecting on Teaching: What? For Whom? Why? Often, the motivation to improve one’s teaching by revising practices or experimenting with new initiatives stems from reflection. This reflection often focuses on feedback received from others, such as student evaluations or peer reviews. Reflection further involves one’s own assessment of experiences, through self-observation and activities that foster...
Mark your calendar: TAO scheduled for August 17 & 18, 2011
Jun. 9, 2011—Teaching Assistant Orientation (TAO) will be held on August 17 and 18, 2011 in Buttrick Hall. TAO is intended for all graduate students who will begin teaching assistant (TA) duties during the 2011-12 school year. Teaching Assistants should register for the event by August 8, 2011. Information about this event is also available on the CFT website or you can...
New Resource on Teaching Outside the Classroom Now Available!
Jun. 8, 2011—The CFT has created a new teaching guide: Teaching Outside the Classroom. Teaching and learning can become inherently spontaneous and student-centered when moved from the confines of the classroom into the world at large. This Web resource provides helpful tips and techniques to consider when preparing these learning experiences, along with the recourses you need...
Changes at the CFT
Jun. 7, 2011—This week, the CFT and Tim McNamara, Vice Provost for Faculty, announced that Allison Pingree, Director, has accepted a position at the Harvard Kennedy School, as Director of Professional Pedagogy, effective September 1, 2011. Allison will be stepping down as Director of the Center for Teaching at the end of July. Allison led the transformation of...
Episode 27 – Teaching Outside the Classroom: Part One
Jun. 1, 2011—On April 5, 2011, the Center for Teaching hosted a “Conversation on Teaching” on the topic of “Teaching Outside the Classroom.” This is the first installment of a two-part podcast. In this episode, we join the discussion as Steve Baskauf from Biology as he reflects on his experiences teaching courses that involve a field component....
Inquiry-Based Biology Labs Give Students a Taste of Research
May. 31, 2011—by CFT Assistant Director Derek Bruff David Salisbury, one of the writers for Vanderbilt’s Research News, recently blogged about the inquiry-based biological sciences lab course designed and taught by senior lecturer Steve Baskauf. The course is an alternative to the standard second-semester lab course. It offers students an opportunity to design their own experiments to...
The Center for Teaching extends an invitation to former staff for a reunion celebration!
May. 19, 2011—Current and former full time staff, Master Teaching Fellows, Graduate Teaching Fellows, and Teaching Affiliates are invited to join us for great conversation and food – celebrating the accomplishments and contributions you each have made to the CFT across the years. Anniversary events will begin at 4:00 pm on Thursday, September 8th, featuring welcoming remarks...
CFT Assistant Director Quoted in New York Times Article on “Backchannels”
May. 17, 2011—by CFT Assistant Director Derek Bruff A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel for a story on the use of “backchannels” in education. A backchannel is a second conversation stream in a classroom or at a conference, typically one leveraging digital tools to complement the lecture or...
Five Ideas for Mobile Learning (#EDUSprint)
May. 9, 2011—by CFT Assistant Director Derek Bruff During the last week of April, EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit organization that promotes and supports the use of information technology in higher education, hosted the Mobile Computing Sprint, a five-day series of online events on the use of mobile computing in higher education. Although some of the discussion was directed...
Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow Spotlight: Lijun Song
May. 6, 2011—Each month, the CFT Newsletter highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. This month, Lijun Song, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society talks about her teaching philosophy and interests. “Social interaction between teachers and students must be reciprocal and cooperative. A teacher should identify...