News Category
Students as Producers: Initiatives at Other Universities
Mar. 3, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director Last month, I reported that the 2014 Horizon Report on current trends in educational technology identified as one of its six key trends a shift from students as consumers (of information, of content, of knowledge) to students as creators. From the report: “A shift is taking place in the focus...
Upcoming Faculty Teaching Visit with William Collins on March 20th
Mar. 1, 2014—William Collins Terence E. Adderley Jr. Professor of Economics & Professor of History (by courtesy) and Department Chair ECON 266: Topics in the Economic History of the US Professor Collins is an economic historian whose research concentrates on twentieth-century labor market and urban history. His recent work has studied changes in racial disparities in earnings...
I’ve Flipped My Classroom. Now What?
Feb. 17, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director “A few years ago if I had said flipped classroom to them, most faculty would have given me a blank stare,” said Derek Bruff, director of the center and a senior lecturer in mathematics. “Now they are coming to us wanting more detail. The speed of that change and the...
Students as Producers of Disciplinary Habits
Feb. 14, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director The CFT’s recent Teaching Visit hosted by Phil Ackerman-Lieberman illustrated our 2013-14 theme of Students as Producers in a way that’s different from our previous examples. These other instances typically focus on specific course assignments that engage students in actively creating something, often directing their work toward authentic audiences...
The Power of Design: What design projects can teach our students—and us
Feb. 13, 2014—By Cynthia J. Brame, Assistant Director This year, the CFT has adopted a “Students as Producers” theme, exploring ways that instructors can scaffold their classes to help students do meaningful, creative work. Design projects, the linchpin of any engineering curriculum, illustrate some of the key benefits and lessons of helping your students be producers. I’ve...
How to (Re)frame Your Teaching for Non-academic Jobs
Feb. 12, 2014—By Andrew Greer, Graduate Teaching Fellow Attention fellow graduate students: Eventually we will seek employment outside of our programs. If you’re like me, your search is in full force. With the majority of academic applications behind me, I’ve switched my strategy to applying for non-academic jobs. This switch not only requires transforming my CV into...
The Growing Pains of the MOOC
Feb. 11, 2014—by Bernadette Doykos, Graduate Teaching Fellow [book id=” /]Over the last twenty five years, enrollment in institutions of higher education has expanded across all demographics; however, critical disparities in access persist. As a result, scholars and practitioners alike have been in search of the mechanism to enhance equity in education. Massive open online courses (MOOC)...
More & More Accessible Guides from CFT
Feb. 8, 2014—The CFT has quietly rolled out a new organizational structure for our guides, online documents in which we synthesize and condense some of the research and resulting practices of specific topics in teaching and learning. If you go to the CFT Homepage and hover your mouse over the “Guides” drop-down menu, you’ll see five categories ...
From the Director: 2014 Horizon Report, Randy Bass Keynote
Feb. 7, 2014— By Derek Bruff, CFT Director Earlier this week, the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative released the 2014 Horizon Report, an annual report on current trends in technology in higher education. One of the six key trends identified in this year’s report is the shift from students as consumers (of information, of...
Grad Students, Come Work at the CFT!
Feb. 6, 2014—The Center for Teaching is now accepting applications for its 2014-15 Graduate Teaching Fellow and Teaching Affiliate positions. Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTFs) are employed for the entire academic year, engage in a variety of CFT activities around training and supporting Teaching Assistants across the university, and are paid $20,000 August – May. NOTE: We’ll also...