Vanderbilt Center for Teaching Podcast

In this episode, we feature excerpts from an interview with Stephen Buckles, Senior Lecturer in Economics here at Vanderbilt. In this interview, Steve describes his use of a classroom response system in his large undergraduate economics courses. This system allows Steve to pose multiple-choice questions to his students during class and his students to submit their answers to these questions using small handheld devices called clickers. The system them displays on an overhead screen a bar chart showing the distribution of student responses. Steve uses this system to engage his students actively during class.

Episode 2 - An Interview with Steve Buckles

[MP3, 16 min 50 sec]

Relevant Links:

• CFT guide to teaching with clickers
• Harvard physics professor Eric Mazur’s home page

If you’ve used clickers in your teaching or have ideas for doing so, we encourage you to leave a comment here. Vanderbilt instructors are also welcome to call the Center for Teaching at 322-7290 to arrange a meeting with a CFT teaching consultant to discuss ways to use clickers effectively in their teaching.

In this episode, we feature excerpts from an interview with Michael Bess, Chancellor’s Professor of History here at Vanderbilt. In this interview, Michael describes his use of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that “anyone can edit,” to help undergraduate history majors learn how to think and reason like historians.

Episode 1 - An Interview with Michael Bess

[MP3, 19 min 58 sec]

Relevant Links:

• Wikipedia
• Wikipedia entry on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Michael Bess’ home page

If you’ve used Wikipedia in your teaching or have ideas for doing so, we encourage you to leave a comment here. Vanderbilt instructors are also welcome to call the Center for Teaching at 322-7290 to arrange a meeting with a CFT teaching consultant to discuss ways to use Wikipedia effectively in their teaching.