Workshops & Working Groups

Throughout the school year, the Center organizes workshops and on a variety of teaching topics and issues for Vanderbilt faculty, graduate and professional students, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and others.

See also our list of related programs--relevant workshops, conferences and other events being offered by other organizations around campus. For information on past workshops, please see our workshop archive.

Interested in creating a workshop/working group or having a consultation?

Fall 2009 Workshops

Conversations on Teaching

Conversations on Teaching focus on emergent pedagogical issues in an informal, roundtable format.  Typically co-sponsored with other campus partners, these sessions often begin with perspectives from panelists, and then open up to a larger group discussion.

To Friend or Not to Friend: Connecting with Students Online
Tuesday, October 20th, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., CFT Experimental Classroom
Facilitator: Rhett McDaniel, Educational Technologist, Center for Teaching

Have you been considering “friending” students and not sure how to keep them separate from others on your Facebook account?  Are you currently using social networking tools, like Facebook, to connect with your students?  This short session will help you learn how to avoid some of the pitfalls when developing and maintaining your professional persona online.  We’ll also touch on how to maintain boundaries and set clear expectations for students who may be accustomed to the instant availability of resources via the Internet. This workshop is part of the DigitalVU Month series.

Junior Faculty Teaching Series

The workshops in the Junior Faculty Teaching Series are designed to help tenure-track junior faculty members develop and refine strategies for effective teaching.  The workshops will feature award-winning senior faculty as facilitators and will be engaging, focused, practical, and relatively brief, providing a high return on the investment of your time.

Beyond Memorization: Encouraging Deep Learning In and Out of the Classroom (for humanities and social sciences)
Monday, September 21st, 4:00—5:30 p.m., CFT Experimental Classroom
Facilitator: Kat Baker, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching

Faculty Panelists:
Mark L Schoenfield, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, English
Howard Sandler, Professor, Psychology & Human Development

We often want our students to think critically about the content of our courses, but, unfortunately, some students struggle with this, relying on memorization instead as their primary learning strategy.  Similarly, students often focus on superficial features of our course content instead of seeking to develop the conceptual understanding of those topics we wish them to develop.  How can we encourage our students to move beyond memorization and surface learning to a deeper, more lasting form of learning?  How can we do so during class through lectures, discussions, and other activities?  What kinds of out-of-class activities promote deep learning?  We’ll consider answers to these questions during this workshop, drawing on the experience of senior faculty colleagues as well as research-based best teaching practices to do so.

Beyond Memorization: Encouraging Deep Learning In and Out of the Classroom (for science, engineering, and math faculty)
Monday, October 5th, 4:00—5:30 p.m., Featheringill, Room 200
Facilitator: Derek Bruff, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching

Faculty Panelists:
Ellen Fanning, Professor of Biological Sciences
Ron Schrimpf, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Head of Memorial House

We often want our students to think critically about the content of our courses, but, unfortunately, some students struggle with this, relying on memorization instead as their primary learning strategy.  Similarly, students often focus on superficial features of our course content instead of seeking to develop the conceptual understanding of those topics we wish them to develop.  How can we encourage our students to move beyond memorization and surface learning to a deeper, more lasting form of learning?  How can we do so during class through lectures, discussions, and other activities?  What kinds of out-of-class activities promote deep learning?  We’ll consider answers to these questions during this workshop, drawing on the experience of senior faculty colleagues as well as research-based best teaching practices to do so.

Managing Incivilities in the Classroom (for humanities and social sciences)
Wednesday, October 7th, 4:00—5:30 p.m., CFT Experimental Classroom
Facilitator: Kat Baker, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching

Faculty Panelists:
Bonnie Dow, Associate Professor and Chair, Communication Studies
Dana Nelson, Professor, English & American Studies

This session will explore how faculty can manage incivilities in the classroom—distracting behaviors such as “grade-grubbing,” cheating, rudeness, inattention due to laptops and other media, and “hot moments” of contention or discomfort.  We will consider current research, including the impact of incivilities on students and faculty, and suggest strategies for returning the focus to learning.  Further, Bonnie Dow, Associate Professor and Chair, Communication Studies, and Dana Nelson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English and American Studies, Joe B. Wyatt Distinguished University Professor, English, will provide anecdotes and/or cases from their own experience in managing such situations in their courses. 

The Lecture: Presenting Dynamically and Effectively
Wednesday, October 14th, 4:00 – 5:30 pm, CFT Experimental Classroom
Facilitator: Allison Pingree, Director, Center for Teaching

Faculty Panelists:
Michael Bess, Chancellor’s Professor of History
Katherine Friedman, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

In this session, we’ll explore both the “why” and the “how” of lecturing.  What kind of material is best presented in lecture?  What should you keep in mind when preparing and delivering a lecture?  What are strategies for presenting material with confidence and clarity?  Designed for instructors new to lecturing or who want to reinvigorate their practice.

Managing Incivilities in the Classroom (for science, engineering, and math faculty)
Monday, October 26th, 4:00-5:30 p.m., Stevenson Center, Room 6333
Facilitator: Derek Bruff, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching

Faculty Panelists:
David Weintraub, Professor, Astronomy
Bridget Rogers, Associate Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

This session will explore how faculty can manage incivilities in the classroom—distracting behaviors such as “grade-grubbing,” cheating, rudeness, inattention due to laptops and other media, and “hot moments” of contention or discomfort.  We will consider current research, including the impact of incivilities on students and faculty, and suggest strategies for returning the focus to learning.  David Weintraub, Professor of Astronomy, and Bridget Rogers, Associate Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, will share their experiences managing such situations in their courses. 

Teaching Workshops

These workshops focus on issues particularly relevant to first-time teachers. Drawing on research-based approaches, workshop facilitators will enable participants to identify and address common challenges and opportunities in their teaching practice. 

Grading 101 for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Tuesday, September 15th, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m., Buttrick Hall, Room 302
Christopher T. Paris , Graduate Teaching Fellow, Center for Teaching

The focus of this workshop will be to provide you with strategies and tips on establishing grading criteria and rubrics for a variety of assignments, such as grading participation, reflection papers, grading essays as well as oral presentations. Since being a graduate student also includes handling an extensive and a lot of times stressful work load, we will talk about additional strategies on how to make grading more time efficient.

Grading 101 in Quantitative Disciplines
Thursday, September 24th, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m., CFT Experimental Classroom
Kezia Shirkey, Graduate Teaching Fellow, Center for Teaching

Grading can be a source of stress for TAs, especially at the beginning of your graduate career.  In order to familiarize yourself with a variety of grading strategies this hands-on session will address questions like What kind of feedback should you provide on student work?  How do you know if you’re being fair in your assessment? What do you do when a student questions a grade? Which specific strategies can you use to grade problem sets? And mostly, How will you find the time to grade all of them?  This workshop will address these and similar questions specifically designed for TAs in the quantitative disciplines — math, science, engineering, economics, etc.

Leading Effective Discussions
Wednesday, October 14th, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m., Buttrick Hall, Room 302
Deanna Matheuszik, Graduate Teaching Fellow, Center for Teaching

Effective discussions can provoke profound learning, yet they can be challenging to create and particularly to sustain. In this interactive session you will pursue strategies for getting discussions going and for keeping them lively. You will discuss questions like What are effective questions?  What can I do if a discussion seems to fall flat? What can I do about students who dominate or withdraw from a discussion? And finally, How can I encourage students to share diverse viewpoints with both respect and candor for each other?

Writing a Teaching Statement
Monday, November 16th, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m., CFT Experimental Classroom
John Morrell , Graduate Teaching Fellow, Center for Teaching

Since going on the job market often enough includes that you will have to be able to articulate your principle teaching values for a search committee of some kind, this session will help you identify your core teaching principles and how they influence your teaching practice (current and anticipated). You will engage in questions such as What is a teaching statement?  What purpose does it serve on the job market and beyond? And finally, How can I create an effective teaching statement tailored to my specific purposes?

Virtual Brownbags

Have a little time over lunch for a CFT workshop, but can’t get away from the office or lab to visit the CFT?  If so, the CFT’s Virtual Brownbags are designed for you.  Each session is held online over the lunch hour using Elluminate, a Web conferencing platform.  Log on between 12:00 and 12:15, participate in the formal part of the workshop from 12:15 to 12:45, and (optionally) stick around afterwards for informal discussion.  You’ll be able to hear the CFT facilitators and see their slides, and you’ll be invited to participate during the session via a text-based chat room.

To Friend or Not to Friend: Connecting with Students Online
Wednesday, September 16th, 12:00 – 12:45 p.m.
Facilitator: Rhett McDaniel, Educational Technologist, Center for Teaching

Have you been considering “friending” students and not sure how to keep them separate from others on your Facebook account?  Are you currently using social networking tools, like Facebook, to connect with your students?  This short session will help you learn how to avoid some of the pitfalls when developing and maintaining your professional persona online.  We’ll also touch on how to maintain boundaries and set clear expectations for students who may be accustomed to the instant availability of resources via the Internet.

Gathering and Making Use of Midsemester Student Feedback
Friday, October 9th, 12:00 – 12:45 p.m.
Facilitator: Derek Bruff, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching

Why wait until the end of the semester to gather feedback from your students about their experiences learning in your courses?  Now is the time to find out what aspects of your course are helping your students learn and what aspects might be changed to enhance their learning and to make “course corrections.”  In this session, we’ll discuss strategies for gathering and making sense of mid-semester student feedback.

Interested in creating a workshop/working group?

The Center for Teaching designs tailored workshops or working group for individuals or departments on a variety of topics, including (but not limited to):

• course design
• classroom dynamics
• diversity in the classroom
• motivating students
• teaching with technology
• cooperative learning activities
• assessing student learning
• grading
• interpreting student evaluations
• the scholarship of teaching and learning
• documentation of teaching effectiveness

In addition to workshops and working groups, the CFT offers the following services for individuals and groups:

• consultations with departments or other administrative units
• consultations with individual instructors, based on

• observations of instructors in the classroom
• video recordings of instructors teaching
• feedback from students via focus groups

Contact the CFT at 322-7290 or via our web site www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/contact.php.

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