{"id":19741,"date":"2014-08-14t07:00:21","date_gmt":"2014-08-14t12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?p=19741"},"modified":"2014-08-13t22:32:19","modified_gmt":"2014-08-14t03:32:19","slug":"from-the-director-teaching-difference-and-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/2014\/08\/from-the-director-teaching-difference-and-power\/","title":{"rendered":"from the director: teaching, difference, and power"},"content":{"rendered":"

by derek bruff, cft director<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>several years ago, i read about a line of research in mathematics education that immediately captured my attention.\u00a0 the research indicated that reminding female students of their gender before they took a math exam tended to decrease their exam performance in a statistically significant way.\u00a0 the reminder could be very subtle, such as having students check a box at the top of the exam indicating their gender. i was amazed that such a small trigger could have this kind of effect.<\/p>\n

the term for this phenomenon is stereotype threat<\/em>, the idea that in certain moments we may fear confirming a stereotype about a social group to which we belong.\u00a0 there\u2019s a stereotype that female students aren\u2019t as good at math as male students.\u00a0 simply reminding female students of their gender before they start a math exam \u201cactivates\u201d that stereotype.\u00a0 the worry that she will confirm that stereotype produces enough anxiety in the student to inhibit performance\u2014even among very capable, highly confident students.\u00a0 this phenomenon is not limited to women in math\u2014any group that is negatively stereotyped can experience stereotype threat.<\/p>\n

this summer, several members of the cft staff read whistling vivaldi<\/em>, a comprehensive and engaging overview of stereotype threat by one of the leading researchers in the area, claude steele.\u00a0 the book is an excellent reminder that the social environment of a classroom has a significant effect on student learning.\u00a0 universities like vanderbilt are reminded frequently by students, faculty, and the public that they should provide meaningful and equitable learning opportunities for their increasingly diverse student populations.\u00a0 for these reasons, we are exploring the theme of \u201cteaching, difference, and power\u201d<\/strong> at the cft this year.<\/p>\n

in the coming year, the cft will share and explore ways that all instructors can create more inclusive classrooms, ones in which every student is welcome to fully participate in learning, as well as strategies for teaching about difference and power when those issues are on the syllabus.\u00a0 look for a series of activities on this theme, including teaching visits and workshops, blog posts and online 2022年世界杯预选赛赛程表, faculty and graduate student reading groups on race and teaching, and a spring semester symposium.<\/p>\n

we hope you\u2019ll join us for these important discussions, the first of which will take place next tuesday, august 19th<\/sup>.\u00a0 we\u2019re offering two faculty teaching workshops on the theme next week: \u201cfacilitating difficult discussions\u201d and \u201cteaching human beings: strategies for reducing students\u2019 classroom-based anxieties.\u201d\u00a0 click here for more information or to register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

then, on september 2nd<\/sup>, sociology professor larry isaac will host a faculty teaching visit in his course \u201cchange and social movements in the sixties,\u201d during which larry\u2019s students will consider the nashville civil rights movement.\u00a0 in the post-visit discussion, we will discuss how larry\u2019s combination of discussion, lecture, and documentary film footage provides a model of how to approach teaching issues of difference and power.\u00a0 click here for more information or to register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

be sure to check our newsletter<\/a> each month for details on further \u201cteaching, difference, and power\u201d activities and resources.\u00a0 and, as we look ahead to the coming academic year, please let me know if the cft can be of service to you or your department or program on issues of difference and power in the classroom or any other aspect of teaching and learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by derek bruff, cft director several years ago, i read about a line of research in mathematics education that immediately captured my attention.\u00a0 the research indicated that reminding female students of their gender before they took a math exam tended to decrease their exam performance in a statistically significant way.\u00a0 the reminder could be very…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":451,"featured_media":18781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[86,257,256],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2018\/07\/09154839\/derek1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19741"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/451"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19741"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19743,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19741\/revisions\/19743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}