Teaching Certificate Participants Sharing Their Work at Friday’s Grad Student Research Symposium
Mar. 24, 2010—Vanderbilt’s annual Graduate Student Research Symposium (organized by the Graduate Student Council) will be held this Thursday and Friday, March 25th and 26th. Seven participants in the CFT’s Teaching Certificate program will be sharing their Cycle 3 “scholarship of teaching and learning” projects at the symposium. These projects all involve intentional and systematic inquiry into...
Educational Components in Your Grant Proposal? The CFT Can Help!
Mar. 24, 2010—“The CFT consultant’s comments and suggestions greatly improved the educational components of my NSF grant proposal, making it a true CAREER one.” – Assistant Professor, Arts & Science Many research grants now require faculty members applying for them to consider educational initiatives that will broaden the impact of the grant. CFT consultants are available to...
Ideas for Integrating Visual Thinking in One’s Teaching by Recent Workshop Participants
Mar. 22, 2010—Last week the CFT held a workshop titled “Show and Tell: Ideas for Integrating Visual Thinking in Your Teaching.” At the end the workshop, participants were asked to identify visual tools discussed in the workshop they wanted to try out in their teaching. Participants shared their ideas in words and pictures. Below you’ll find a...
Episode 20 – Teaching First-Year Students
Mar. 19, 2010—In this episode, we feature a panel discussion with Mark Dalhouse, Faculty Head of East House and Director for the Office of Active Citizenship and Service, Joseph Wehby, Associate Professor of Special Education, and Roark Luskin, Class of 2012. During the discussion, panelists answer two questions: Should Vanderbilt faculty and staff try to engage first-year...
Highlights from This Week’s Workshop on Visual Thinking
Mar. 19, 2010—On Wednesday of this week, the CFT held a workshop titled “Show and Tell: Ideas for Integrating Visual Thinking in Your Teaching.” During the workshop, graphic facilitator Peter Durand of Alphachimp Studio captured the presentation and discussion on a virtual white board. See his very visual notes below to learn about some of the ideas...
Derek Bruff Elected to POD Network Core Committee
Mar. 17, 2010—CFT professional staff are members of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network, a national association of higher education staff and faculty members working in the fields of faculty, instructional, and organizational development. The POD Network’s board of directors is called the Core Committee. Committee members are elected from the membership to serve three-year terms...
Professional Development for Future Faculty – Teaching Guide Now Available
Mar. 16, 2010—The Center for Teaching has created an interactive Web guide for graduate students to use as a resource as they prepare for careers in the professoriate. The materials highlight the wide range of faculty roles and responsibilities in three areas of focus: teaching and learning, professional development, and the world of the university. This division...
Laptops in the Classroom – To Ban or Encourage?
Mar. 15, 2010—The Washington Post published a widely cited article last week titled “Wide Web of Diversions Gets Laptops Evicted from Lecture Halls” concerning the banning of student laptops during classes at several universities. Some instructors find that students are too easily distracted by their laptops and feel that banning the devices helps students stay attentive during...
Opportunity for Junior Faculty in Science, Math, and Engineering – STEMES Workshop in May
Mar. 12, 2010—Vanderbilt is a member of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Network, a NSF-funded group of six universities working to prepare future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty members to implement and advance best teaching practices. One of the CIRTL Network’s signature programs is the Science, Technology, Engineering, and...
Derek Bruff Quoted in Associated Press Story on Clickers
Mar. 8, 2010—CFT assistant director Derek Bruff, author of Teaching with Classroom Response Systems, was quoted in an Associated Press story today by AP national education correspondent Eric Gorski on the choice between simple, dedicated classroom response systems (“clickers”) and more sophisticated, smart-phone-based systems. For more on teaching with clickers, visit the CFT’s teaching guide on the...