Resource Category
Upcoming Workshop: Teaching with Top Hat: Synchronous & Asynchronous Strategies
Jan. 12, 2021—The folks at Top Hat have identified specific strategies to build community and engage students in online and hybrid courses. Erin Vaianisi from Top Hat will share ideas about how best to incorporate Top Hat into your class, demonstrate the platform’s newest features, and answer your questions. If you are simply Interested in learning more about Top...
Brightspace Workshops
Jan. 11, 2021—CFT staff offer Brightspace workshops for instructors interested in learning how to use Brightspace tools effectively and efficiently. We are also available during the academic year to facilitate Brightspace workshops on topics both general and specific for departments, programs, and schools, upon request. Email brightspace@vanderbilt.edu to ask about these offerings or the possibility of an invited...
Overcoming the “busywork” dilemma
Jan. 11, 2021—by Julaine Fowlin, CFT assistant director What is the busywork dilemma? The busywork dilemma is where students perceive that assigned learning activities or assessments are not meaningfully contributing to their learning. Instructors put a lot of effort and time into the design and implementation of these activities, which can be very frustrating. Sometimes activities are...
CFT Now Offers Instructional Design Consultations
Jan. 8, 2021—The Center for Teaching is pleased to offer instructional design consultations to the Vanderbilt teaching community. Julaine Fowlin, assistant director for instructional design, is available to consult with instructors on the design of online courses, moving an existing course online, or the development of online programs. As an instructional designer, Julaine collaborates with faculty and...
Lessons from teaching in Fall 2020: what to keep, what to ditch, and what to change
Dec. 18, 2020—by Cynthia Brame, CFT associate director This fall, I got the opportunity to teach online for the first time. I had been thinking about online teaching for several years because of my work in developing Vanderbilt’s BOLD (Blended and Online Learning Design) Fellows program. But although I read about, thought about, and helped others with online teaching,...
Instructional Design Consultations through iDesign
Dec. 17, 2020—Vanderbilt University has partnered with the instructional design firm iDesign to make available a number of services to help faculty and other instructors prepare for online and hybrid teaching this fall. iDesign learning specialists are on-hand to assist with your course design and teaching effectiveness questions. If you have a question relating how to best...
Spring Journal Club: Investigating Student Learning
Dec. 15, 2020—In this journal club we will explore different approaches that college instructors can use to investigate how and what our students are learning. We will discuss research articles that illustrate how a range of methods can be used to understand our teaching and our students’ learning, considering benefits and limitations of the methods for answering...
Brightspace Updates
Dec. 14, 2020—Most of us are using Brightspace more than ever in our teaching. These recent additions and reminders will help you get even more out of your online teaching with Brightspace. Our most recent Brightspace update includes a new quiz setting that will allow students to retake a quiz but only retake the questions they answered...
Making the Most of In-Class Reading Days
Dec. 8, 2020—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director Last week, the university approved four “in-class reading days” for the spring 2021 semester: February 23-24 and April 7-8. These days in the undergraduate and graduate school schedules are meant to encourage students and instructors to practice self-care and avoid burnout during this exceptional academic year. In this blog post,...
From the Director
Dec. 7, 2020—As I write this, the second strangest semester of my academic career is drawing to a close. The strangest semester was, of course, last spring, but this fall was certainly unusual and full of challenges for both teaching and learning. I am continually impressed at the creative and skillful ways the Vanderbilt teaching community has...