New Issue of the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
Feb. 17, 2010—The latest issue of the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is now available. The IJ-SoTL is a free, online, peer-reviewed journal in which faculty members from a variety of disciplines share their research into student learning and teaching practices. Although some contributors are education researchers, many are faculty members from outside...
Highlights from Last Week’s Workshop on Digital Writing
Feb. 15, 2010—During last week’s “Digital Writing: Using Social Media to Enhance the Teaching of Writing” workshop, CFT Assistant Director Derek Bruff tweeted some highlights from the panelist remarks and subsequent conversation. For those of you not following the CFT on Twitter, you’ll find Derek’s comments below. Please also visit the online “home base” for the workshop...
One Professor’s Vision of Graduate Student Mentoring
Feb. 11, 2010—On February 2, 2010, the Center for Teaching held a conversation on teaching titled “Mentoring Graduate Students in the Sciences and Engineering” featuring three faculty panelists. After the session, one of the panelists, Isabel Gauthier, professor of psychology, wrote a one-page description of her “vision of graduate mentoring,” which she allowed the CFT to share. ...
Notes from Last Week’s “Mentoring Grad Students in the Sciences and Engineering” Session
Feb. 10, 2010—On February 2, 2010, the CFT held a conversation on teaching titled “Mentoring Graduate Students in the Sciences and Engineering” featuring three faculty panelists. At the start of the session, participants were asked to share questions they had about mentoring graduate students. Each question fell into one of five broad categories, listed below. Also listed...
Highlights from Yesterday’s Workshop on the Technology Horizon
Feb. 10, 2010—CFT Assistant Director Derek Bruff tweeted some highlights of yesterday’s Conversation on Teaching titled “The Technology Horizon at Vanderbilt,” a discussion of the 2010 Horizon Report identifying six emerging technologies likely to impact campuses in the next few years. For those of you not following the CFT on Twitter, here are Derek’s comments. Rhett McDaniel...
What Is the Future of Mobile Computing in Teaching at Vanderbilt?
Feb. 8, 2010—According to the 2010 Horizon Report, a report issued by the the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) identifying emerging technologies likely to impact institutions of higher education in the near future, “mobile computing” is going to play an increasingly important role on campuses in the next two years. (Please note that...
Now is a great time to schedule mid-semester feedback!
Feb. 5, 2010—The feedback students provide about your teaching on their end-of-semester course evaluations can be valuable in helping you improve and refine your teaching. Soliciting mid-semester student feedback has the additional benefit of allowing you to hear your students’ concerns while there is still time in the semester to make appropriate changes. A Small Group Analysis...
Notes from Last Week’s “Teaching First-Year Students” Conversation on Teaching
Feb. 3, 2010—On January 26, 2010, the CFT held a conversation on teaching titled “Teaching First-Year Students: The Myth of First-Year Enlightenment.” About twenty faculty, staff, and students participated in the discussion. This was the description of the workshop: The popular vision of the first year experience is one of personal, ethical, and intellectual awakening. However, in...
Tools for Teaching, 2nd Edition, by Barbara Gross Davis
Feb. 1, 2010—Tools for Teaching, 2nd edition, by Barbara Gross Davis, Jossey-Bass, 2009. From the publisher… “This is the long-awaited update on the bestselling book that offers a practical, accessible reference manual for faculty in any discipline. This new edition contains up-to-date information on technology as well as expanding on the ideas and strategies presented in the...
Snow Day? Keep Class Running with a Little Technology
Jan. 29, 2010—Worried about the effect of today’s snowpocalypse in Nashville on your teaching? This might be a good time to experiment with some technology to help you communicate with your students if you or they can’t come to class. Last fall, CFT Educational Technologist Rhett McDaniel put together a guide for instructors preparing for a widespread...