News Category
Students as Producers: Incorporating Research and Design in Science and Engineering Courses
Oct. 7, 2013—by Julie Lapidot, CFT Student Assistant, and Derek Bruff, CFT Director On September 25th, the Center for Teaching hosted a conversation on teaching on the theme of “Students as Producers” organized by CFT assistant director Cynthia Brame. The conversation centered around one idea: How can we help students in a science or engineering course engage...
Wrapping a MOOC: CFT Study Published in the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT)
Sep. 30, 2013—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director Last fall, Vanderbilt computer science professor Doug Fisher “flipped” his graduate-level course on machine learning. Instead of having his students read their textbook before class or watch lecture videos that he created, as is typical for a “flipped” classroom, Doug asked his students to prepare for class by taking another...
CFT Offers New Guide: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
Sep. 24, 2013—The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL, pronounced “sō-tul” in the US) is a synthesis of teaching, learning, and research in higher education that aims to bring a scholarly lens—the curiosity, the inquiry, the rigor, the disciplinary variety—to what happens in the classroom (brick-and-mortar, virtual, co-curricular, et al.). SoTL involves asking meaningful questions about student...
Last Week’s “T.W.L.” Conversation on Teaching Writing: “Grading Is Teaching”
Sep. 24, 2013—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director Scott Juengel (English) talked about “Managing the Paper Load: Grading Writing Efficiently and Effectively” with approximately 30 faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students on September 18. This lunchtime gathering was the second in the “Teaching. Writing. Learning.” series of conversations on teaching writing. Although he’s been at Vanderbilt...
Medical Education Grand Rounds, Tuesday, October 1st, Featuring CFT Associate Director Cynthia Brame
Sep. 23, 2013—The Office for Health Sciences Education, Educator Development Core and the Academy for Excellence in Teaching presents “Flipping the Classroom” In a recent article, this month’s speaker, Cynthia Brame, Ph.D., Assistant Director, at the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching, characterized “flipping the classroom” as providing students with initial exposure to new material outside of class, usually via...
SoTL Spotlight: Special Issue of Teaching & Learning Inquiry
Sep. 19, 2013—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director Nancy is the author of a variety of SoTL articles and book chapters, as well as co-editor of two books on signature pedagogies and co-editor of Teaching & Learning Inquiry, the official journal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), with the Center for Teaching as its...
Upcoming “Students as Producers” Conversation on Teaching, September 25th
Sep. 18, 2013—As part of our “Students as Producers” theme year, the Center for Teaching will share and explore ways that instructors can teach for this kind of learning. Students, particularly undergraduates, are often seen as “consumers” of knowledge, memorizing information delivered to them by professors during class and then simply repeating it back on exams and...
Upcoming Faculty Teaching Visit with Christopher Loss on September 24th
Sep. 17, 2013—The Teaching Visits program is an important way by which the CFT promotes collaborative inquiry and reflection. Specifically, the Teaching Visits program provides case-based opportunities for Vanderbilt teachers to consider choices they have when constructing their classes. A small group of visitors observes a host’s class on a selected day and then engages in an hour...
Upcoming Teaching. Writing. Learning: Conversation with Scott Juengel
Sep. 11, 2013— Sponsored by the Center for Teaching, the Writing Studio, and the Heard Library; “Teaching. Writing. Learning.” is a series of monthly lunchtime conversations for anyone who teaches writing at Vanderbilt to gather and discuss specific issues, hear an invited colleague briefly introduce a relevant best practice, hear a bit about other research-based practices, share one’s...
Conversations on Teaching Writing Under Way
Sep. 5, 2013—“Teaching. Writing. Learning.,” the new series of conversations on teaching writing across the campus, began last Wednesday. Emily King (English), Richard Lloyd (Sociology), and Jonathan Gilligan (Earth & Environmental Sciences) were the invited guests for kick-off event entitled “Starting the Conversation: A Panel on Inspiring Your Students to Write.” Emily emphasized the need to define...