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Thank you for visiting the Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education (AdvancED- formerly known as the Center for Teaching).

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Join a CFT Learning Community

Sep. 9, 2020—The Center for Teaching hosts a number of learning communities, intended for members of Vanderbilt’s teaching community interested in meeting over time to develop deeper understandings and richer practices around particular teaching and learning topics.  This year’s learning communities are: Teaching and Race In the midst of racist and anti-immigrant violence in the United States, and...

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From the Director

Sep. 7, 2020—This summer I marked 15 years on staff at the Center for Teaching. Looking back at those 15 years, I can’t remember any season as busy or as fulfilling as this summer. With hundreds of Vanderbilt instructors looking ahead to an uncertain fall, the Center for Teaching launched new programs to help our community prepare...

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What is click tracking? How should instructors use it to improve their courses?

Sep. 3, 2020—Click tracking refers to the ability that both instructors and students have in Brightspace to see where students have clicked within a course. This tool can be very useful for students trying to track their own progress in a course and for instructors evaluating their own course design and learning activities. However, this tool should...

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Upcoming Conversations on Teaching

Sep. 3, 2020—These sessions provide members of the Vanderbilt teaching community a chance to share their teaching experiences and learn from each other in an informal, discussion-based format.   Teaching in a Hybrid and Physically Distanced Classroom For some instructors, the classroom looks very different this fall. Some of their students are in the classroom, but masked...

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Brightspace and Teaching Focused Workshops for the Fall

Sep. 2, 2020—We have several Brightspace and online teaching focused workshops lined up for September. Offerings include: Grades and Feedback in Brightspace Participants in this workshop will learn how to organize their gradebook and about the range of tools available in Brightspace to make grading and feedback more efficient and effective. September 2, 12:00-1:30pm. REGISTER Assignments in...

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CFT Helps Faculty Prepare for Adaptive Teaching

Aug. 31, 2020—Originally posted on myVU. The Center for Teaching launched new programs this summer to help faculty prepare for adaptive teaching this fall. The centerpiece of these efforts was the Online Course Design Institute. A total of 490 faculty and other instructors completed the institute, which was offered every two weeks throughout the summer. Participants came from departments and...

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Celebration of Learning Spotlight: The Smiler: A Case Study in Roller Coaster Safety

Aug. 26, 2020—On February 13, 2020, the Center for Teaching held a Celebration of Learning, an exhibition of students as producers. The event featured students from all over campus sharing what they learned, created, designed, and discovered. Each year millions of riders brave the courses of the world’s 5,000 roller coasters, but should passengers feel unsafe riding these behemoths of twisted...

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