Vanderbilt Center for Teaching Podcast

This episode continues our podcast series focusing on time-efficient teaching. Faculty at a research university like Vanderbilt must balance a number of competing demands on their time, including teaching, research, and service. For this series, we’re interviewing senior faculty members at Vanderbilt and asking them to share ways they teach effectively while making good use of their time.

In this episode, we feature an interview with Lynn Ramey, associate professor of French and chair of the Department of French and Italian. In the interview, Lynn describes time-efficient ways to approach lesson planning, course design, and grading. Patricia Armstrong, assistant director here at the Center for Teaching, conducted the interview.

Episode 16 - Lynn Ramey on Time-Efficient Teaching

[MP3, 11 min 6 sec]

Relevant Links:

• Lynn Ramey’s Home Page
• CFT guide to course design
• CFT guide to grading

Please take a minute or two to leave a comment here and share your thoughts about time-efficient teaching. Vanderbilt instructors are also welcome to call the Center for Teaching at 615-322-7290 to arrange a meeting with a CFT teaching consultant to discuss any aspect of their teaching.

In this episode, we feature an interview with Ellen Fanning, professor of biological sciences. In the interview, Ellen describes her methods of helping undergraduate biology students learn to read scientific literature, develop scientific reasoning skills, and gain an interest in science that lasts beyond their coursework. Ellen uses a journal club format that she has adapted from the one typically used with graduate students and post-docs to help them explore current literature in the biological sciences.

Episode 15 - Ellen Fanning on Undergraduate Journal Clubs

[MP3, 22 min 11 sec]

Relevant Links:

• Ellen Fanning’s lab home page
• Community of Scholarshome page
• CFT online resources on motivating students

Please take a minute or two to leave a comment here and share your thoughts about Undergraduate Journal Clubs. Vanderbilt instructors are also welcome to call the Center for Teaching at 615-322-7290 to arrange a meeting with a CFT teaching consultant. We’re glad to help you reflect on and explore the various choices you make as a teacher and to connect you with resources you’ll find useful as you design, implement, and assess learning experiences for your students.