Update: Belmont Teaching Center Symposium Canceled
Jan. 9, 2011—Due to the projected inclement weather tomorrow, Belmont University’s January Teaching Symposium (which we mentioned here on the blog a couple of weeks ago) has been canceled. We’ll be sure to let you know if the event is rescheduled for later in the spring semester. Image: “Snow in Crookes,” Paolo Margari, Flickr (CC). That’s England,...
Call for Proposals: The Cumberland Project – Due January 15, 2011
Jan. 7, 2011—In this time of environmental change and uncertainty, institutions of higher education play a vital role in helping the public meet the numerous challenges to sustainability. Many individuals and institutions have taken up this challenge, as evidenced by the development of organizations such as the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and...
Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow Spotlight: Chris Bennett
Jan. 6, 2011—Each month, the CFT Newsletter highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. In December 2010, Chris Bennett, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics talked about his teaching philosophy and interests. Since joining the Department of Economics in the Fall of 2008, I have had the opportunity to teach classes in statistics and...
New CFT Guide on Making Better PowerPoint Presentations
Jan. 5, 2011—by Derek Bruff, CFT Assistant Director Ever seen a bad PowerPoint presentation? Ever given one yourself? Although some have said that PowerPoint is evil (“Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.”), I assert that PowerPoint is merely a tool, one that can be used well or used poorly. Ways to use PowerPoint effectively aren’t always obvious, however....
New CFT Guide on Teaching with Ecological Footprints
Jan. 3, 2011—As part of the CFT’s ongoing work on sustainability across the curriculum, particularly the fall 2010 workshop “Sustainability in the Classroom: Ecological Footprints,” we’ve developed a new teaching guide titled “Teaching with Ecological Footprints.” What are ecological footprints? Ecological footprints are calculations of natural resource use that assess environmental impacts. Typically they measure levels of...
Tackling Grade Inflation through Data and Transparency
Dec. 31, 2010—by Derek Bruff, CFT Assistant Director The New York Times published an article earlier this week titled “A Quest to Explain What Grades Really Mean” that reports on efforts at a few schools, notably the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to tackle the problem of grade inflation. UNC-Chapel Hill sociologist Andrew Perrin is...
Belmont University’s January Teaching Center Symposium
Dec. 30, 2010—Our colleagues down the street at Belmont University are hosting their 5th Annual January Teaching Center Symposium on Monday, January 10th, just before classes start for Vanderbilt. The theme of the event is “Creativity and Invention in Teaching.” The Belmont Teaching Center director, Merrie King, has extended an invitation to interested Vanderbilt faculty and graduate...
Call for Proposals – NSF Ethics Education in Science and Engineering – Due March 14, 2011
Dec. 29, 2010—The National Science Foundation is requesting proposals for the Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) Program. From the call for proposals: The Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) program aims to deepen the understanding of ethical dilemmas in science and engineering, and provide cutting edge, effective research and educational materials to train the...
Call for Applications – THATCamp Southeast 2011 – Due January 9th
Dec. 27, 2010—THATCamp Southeast is a free “unconference” for anyone working at the intersection of the humanities and technology. (THATCamp = The Humanities and Technology Camp.) It will be held at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 4-6, 2011. We’re currently accepting applications from students, faculty, librarians, technologists, museum professionals, archivists, and anyone else who is...
Teaching about WikiLeaks
Dec. 16, 2010—by Derek Bruff, CFT Assistant Director You’ve probably seen a news story or two about the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks recently (or perhaps a few hundred). Given that the WikiLeaks story is relevant to so many disciplines (political science, computer science, business, journalism, law), it’s not surprising that college and university instructors are including discussion of...