Grading in Red Ink a Bad Thing?
Sep. 10, 2010—According to a study in the European Journal of Social Psychology reported on NPR, instructors who grade with red pens tend to grade more harshly than instructors who grade using blue pens. Here’s Abraham Rutchick from Cal State-Northridge: And just before [the subjects] start, they’re given a pen with which to do the corrections and...
9/15 Workshop: Discussion Leading
Sep. 8, 2010—Time & Date:4:10—5:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 15 Facilitator: Graduate Teaching Fellow, CFT Audience: Graduate and Professional Students and Post-docs Effective discussions can provoke profound learning, yet they can be challenging to create and sustain. In this interactive session, we will explore strategies for initiating discussions and keeping them lively. Questions considered will include: What are...
9/14 Workshop: Wireless in the Classroom: Is a Ban on Student Laptop Use During Class a Good Idea?
Sep. 7, 2010—Time & Date: 4:10 – 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 14 Facilitator:Derek Bruff, Assistant Director, CFT Audience: Faculty, Graduate and Professional Students, Post-docs, and Staff Panelists: Cherrie Clark, Managerial Studies Jim Lovensheimer, Music History and Literature; Pearl Sims, Leadership, Policy, & Organizations Recent stories from the Washington Post and NPR describe choices by university instructors to...
New CFT Guide on Contemplative Pedagogy
Sep. 6, 2010—As part of the CFT’s ongoing work on contemplative pedagogy, including a Contemplative Pedagogy “working group” open to faculty and graduate students, we’ve developed a new contemplative pedagogy teaching guide. The guide includes a discussion of contemplation’s role in teaching and a variety of contemplative activities for the classroom, including guided meditation, listening, beholding, journaling,...
CFT Announces Inaugural Cohort of Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows
Sep. 3, 2010—This year, the Center for Teaching is proud to welcome its inaugural cohort of eight Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. They include Philip Ackerman-Lieberman (Jewish Studies and Law), Kimberly D. Bess (Human and Organizational Development), Chris Bennett (Economics), Shaul Kelner (Sociology), Jinah Kim (History of Art), Haoxiang Luo (Mechanical Engineering), Sean Polyn (Psychology) and Lijun Song...
Visual Presentations and Classroom Response Systems
Sep. 1, 2010—Last week, CFT assistant director Derek Bruff was invited to give a presentation to DigitalVU, a group of web developers and other technology folks at Vanderbilt. They asked Derek to talk about technologies useful for engaging students in a classroom or audience members at a presentation. He talked about some tools for enhancing the visual...
Digital Storytelling, Sustainability, and Preparing for Review Headline CFT’s Fall Workshops
Aug. 30, 2010—This fall the Center for Teaching will offer a variety of events for Vanderbilt faculty, staff, and students. These events are designed to help participants develop and refine their teaching skills and to foster dialogue among members of the Vanderbilt teaching community. Conversations on Teaching Conversations on Teaching focus on emergent teaching and learning issues...
Undergraduates Interested in Working with International Graduate Students…
Aug. 27, 2010—JOIN ITAP, THE INTERNATIONAL TEACHING ASSISTANT PROGRAM! Are you a sophomore, junior or senior who wants a fun and rewarding job for the Fall 2010 Semester? Are you interested in learning about other cultures and languages? Are you interested in English as a second language (ESL)? Do you want to learn more about teaching skills and practices? Are...
Grading Effectively and Efficiently
Aug. 23, 2010—Last week, CFT assistant director Derek Bruff facilitated a faculty workshop titled “Assessment of Student Learning: Grading Effectively and Efficiently.” During the workshop, the participants surfaced a few reasons why grading can be challenging, particularly in small classes and when grading student papers. Grading in Small Classes In a small class, students expect a lot...
Using Visual Thinking in the Classroom
Aug. 20, 2010—As part of training for the CFT’s new Teaching Affiliates and Graduate Teaching Fellows, CFT assistant director Derek Bruff facilitated a workshop on using visual thinking in the classroom. Topics included enhancing one’s presentations with visuals and using visual thinking techniques as part of in-class activities. The visuals from Derek’s presentation can be seen below....