“Teaching at Vanderbilt” (TAV) is AdvancED’s annual orientation for all new full-time and part-time faculty. The orientation is an opportunity for new faculty to meet each other and to learn how our team can support them throughout their Vanderbilt careers.
PLEASE NOTE: "Teaching at Vanderbilt" is distinct from and complementary to the general New Faculty Orientation sponsored by the Provost’s Office. Thus, faculty who will play an instructional role at Vanderbilt are encouraged to attend both events.
Program Details
All sessions are located on the first floor of Featheringill Hall.
Concurrent Sessions
- Fostering Deep Thinking: Discussion Strategies
Facilitator: Joe Bandy, Interim Director
In this session we will consider some of the most significant challenges to leading generative and meaningful discussions and how we may overcome. We will explore a variety of techniques for organizing class discussions, effective methods of facilitation, and approaches to assessment that enable critical reflection and improvement. By modeling some discussion leading practices and providing useful resources, this workshop will help you to engage students more fully and find greater joy in teaching.
- Teaching in the Time of Artificial Intelligence
Facilitator: Paige Snay, Instructional Technology Support Manager
Few issues have garnered as much attention from educators in recent months as the growth of AI and its impacts on teaching and learning in higher education. In this session we will discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that AI presents for our students’ learning, and some valuable teaching techniques that we may embrace to help them, both avoid its misuse, and leverage its strengths for their intellectual growth.
- Supporting Student Belonging and Engagement Across Difference
Facilitator: Laura Carter-Stone
To effectively teach the increasingly diverse groups of students at Vanderbilt and beyond, many instructors realize— sometimes long after the semester is underway— that they need to learn new ways of teaching. In this workshop, through a combination of discussion and hands-on practice, we will explore some research-supported strategies for promoting diverse students’ sense of belonging and deeper engagement with course content, including approaches developed by Vanderbilt faculty. We will focus especially on instructors’ experiences of teaching students across lines of racial, linguistic, ethnic, and cultural differences. We will also consider how instructors can share power with their students while supporting them in developing closer relationships with each other throughout the semester and beyond. Participants will be provided with resources and contacts to support their continued personal growth around issues of equity, diversity, and educational justice in higher education.
- Building Your Teaching Team: Working with Teaching Assistants (TAs)
Facilitator: Ransford Pinto, Assistant Director
Great teaching teams must be intentionally created and nurtured. In this session, we will discuss various strategies for building a strong teaching team with teaching assistants.
- The Student Care Network and Supporting Students in Distress Facilitator: Lisa Clapper, Director of the Student Care Network and Student Care Coordinator and Katherine Drotos Cuthbert, Assistant Director of Alcohol and Other Drugs Education and Support Services in the Center for Student Wellbeing
The Student Care Network is a holistic network of wellbeing resources designed to support the health and well-being of all Vanderbilt students. Learn more about the Student Care Network, how to best connect students with these helpful resources, and how to help support students who experience personal challenges and severe distress.
Eligibility
All new Vanderbilt University faculty are eligible to attend Teaching at Vanderbilt (TAV).
Resources
New and returning faculty members are invited to join our ongoing programs and workshops. Topics include leading class discussions, syllabus design, presentation tools, inclusive teaching, educational technologies, and more. Information can be found on our events page.
Consultations
Individual consultations are among the most beneficial services we offer. Faculty are encouraged to schedule a consultation before or after the TAV orientation. More details on our consultations can be found here. Connect with us using the form below.