Teaching Difference, and Power Symposium: Class Matters
Apr. 5, 2017—This year, the Center for Teaching hosted a learning community of faculty and graduate students focused on social class, particularly the challenges faced by lower income and first generation students in the classroom, and class-conscious methods of teaching. On April 25th, join the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching for an end-of-year symposium in which we’ll share...
How is the current political climate impacting your interactions with your students?
Apr. 3, 2017—A group of about 35 current and former Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows recently met at the Center for Teaching to discuss this question, looking for ways to promote dialog and learning that can help students navigate our highly polarized world. The participants teach classes across the university, within Peabody School of Education, the School of...
“Refreshing and Rethinking Course Goals”: Two Educators Share Their Experiences With the CFT’s Course Design Institute
Mar. 27, 2017—by Marianna Sharp, CFT Communications Intern This spring, the CFT will once again offer the Course Design Institute (CDI). In this three-day program, running May 8-10, participants learn and apply strategies to design (or redesign) course plans and syllabi for the fall. The Institute focuses on the theme of “Students as Producers,” the idea of...
Assessment, Implicit Bias, and the Impact on Student Learning, Grad Student & Postdoc Workshop
Mar. 20, 2017—Implicit bias, in its simplest form, describes prejudicial judgment that affects social behavior. Despite its relatively unconscious nature, it is still possible to identify specific attitudes that reflect our predispositions toward socially marginalized groups. In this workshop, we will discuss the ways in which implicit bias, when left unchecked, can adversely affect our teaching and...
Learn About Vanderbilt’s New Course Management System
Mar. 14, 2017—In these hands-on workshops, participants will learn about Vanderbilt’s new course management system, Brightspace. Bring your own laptop computer so you can explore and build content in our test course! By the end of the session, users will be able to: Confidently navigate the different areas of a Brightspace course Post, edit, and copy content...
CFT Offers Summer Intensive Grad and Postdoc Programs
Mar. 13, 2017—The Center for Teaching is happy to announce that we are offering two Summer Intensive programs this May for Vanderbilt graduate students and postdocs. The first Summer Intensive program is for the Certificate in Humanities Teaching & Learning (CHTL) and is open to humanities graduate students and postdocs. Similar to our academic year-long version of the CHTL,...
Microaggression Teaching Workshop March 16
Mar. 8, 2017—When teaching, it is almost guaranteed that microaggressions will take place. These seemingly small, ostensibly singular manifestations of oppression can deleteriously effect the teaching-learning environment, our students, and ourselves. As common as microaggressions are, it is equally common that educators are at times unsure of the best way to intervene, particularly in ways that maintain...
Junior Faculty Spotlight: Jessica Oster
Mar. 7, 2017—Each month, the CFT highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. This month, Jessica Oster, Earth and Environmental Sciences, talks about her teaching philosophy and interests. Global climate change is among the most serious and complex issues of our time, especially as it is projected to cause serious but uncertain changes in the...
“Students as Producers” Course Design Institute May 8-10
Mar. 6, 2017—The CFT invites Vanderbilt faculty members to apply to its 2017 Course Design Institute on the theme of “Students as Producers.” During the three-day institute (May 8-10, 2017) participants will design (or redesign) courses that engage students not only as consumers of information, but producers of knowledge. This year’s institute will include a track for...
Encouraging Engagement and Enthusiasm– One student’s perspective on online course design
Mar. 1, 2017—By Rachel Biel, Undergraduate Intern My first interaction with the online classroom came in the fall of 2012, my senior year of high school. With my sights set on attending Vanderbilt, I enrolled in four AP courses, each of which my school only taught one section. This left my daily schedule completely inflexible: I had...