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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...
Leading Lines Podcast Featuring James Lang
Dec. 10, 2020—In this episode, we talk with James M. Lang about distraction and attention, the subject of his new book. He is a professor of English and the director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University in Massachusetts. Jim talks about laptop bans and classroom norms, the ethics of attention and cognitive diversity, and...
Come Work at the Center for Teaching!
Dec. 9, 2020—Each year the Center for Teaching (CFT) hires a number of graduate students as part of its efforts to mentor and train graduate students, including those serving as teaching assistants or instructors of record here at Vanderbilt as well as those interested in developing teaching skills for future faculty careers. The CFT has several types...
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...
Join us TODAY for a secure testing Q&A Session all about Proctorio!
Nov. 30, 2020—Do you have questions about using Proctorio, Vanderbilt’s secure testing software? If you plan to give a timed, secure exam using the Brightspace Quiz tool, using Proctorio in Brightspace provides a range of security options. Drop in for a Q&A session at noon on Monday, November 30th or on Tuesday, December 1st. The CFT’s Lead Instructional...