CV
Summary
With twenty years’ experience as an educator and academic leader in higher education and over ten years as director of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, I bring a deep understanding of teaching and learning and faculty development to my work supporting the teaching missions of institutions. Drawing on and contributing to the scholarship of teaching as well as leveraging my own classroom experience, I work with faculty and programs to implement research-based teaching practices and with academic leaders to foster institutional structures and resources that support effective teaching.
Contact
Email: derek [at] derekbruff [dot] org
Website: derekbruff.org
Bluesky: @derekbruff
LinkedIn: /derekbruff
Education
- Ph.D., Mathematics, Vanderbilt University, 2003.
- M.S., Mathematics, Vanderbilt University, 2000.
- B.S., magna cum laude, Mathematics and Computer Science, Furman University, 1998.
Work Experience
- Associate Director, Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Virginia, 2024 to present
- Responsibilities include recruiting and supporting expert contributors to curate collections of teaching and learning resources for Teaching Hub, supporting programming for faculty on teaching with and about generative AI, and leading and supporting various educational development programming for the campus
- Strategic Advisor, UPCEA, 2023 to present
- As part of the UPCEA Research and Consulting team, duties include consulting with colleges and universities on professional, continuing, and online education, helping devise strategies and action plans to resolve institutional challenges
- Module Expert, Nurse Anesthesia Educator Track, Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia, 2023 to present
- Roles include preparing asynchronous learning materials and synchronous review sessions on topics including theoretical foundations of education, teaching and assessment strategies, and educational technology for future nurse educators
- Visiting Associate Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, University of Mississippi, 2022 to 2024
- Major responsibilities include supporting the adoption of active learning teaching practices by STEM faculty, consulting with faculty and departments as they address student success challenges in introductory courses, providing faculty professional development on the topic of teaching and AI, and contributing to strategic planning for the teaching center.
- Principal, Derek Bruff Consulting, 2010 to present
- Roles include designing and leading interactive workshops and keynotes for higher education audiences aimed at developing intentional, creative, and effective educators; and consulting with higher education leaders around a variety of teaching, learning, and faculty development topics.
- See my speaking and consulting pages for details.
- Assistant Provost and Executive Director, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, 2021 to 2022.
- Major responsibilities included providing strategic leadership for the Center for Teaching (CFT); planning, overseeing, and contributing to CFT programming aimed at helping faculty and other instructors develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching; managing the CFT’s personnel (14 full-time staff) and budget; engaging in significant scholarly work on teaching and learning; consulting with campus leaders and serving on university committees; and overseeing faculty development and educational initiatives for the Office of the Provost.
- Major accomplishments included overseeing the launch of an internal teaching grants program (leveraging new provost funding and existing CFT faculty development structures) and a Digital Media Lab (with technology and staff to help faculty learn to create and use audio and video in their teaching), as well as reaching 29% of full-time faculty annually through CFT consultations, programs, and events.
- Interim Director, Digital Commons, Vanderbilt University, 2021 to 2022.
- Major responsibilities included developing a strategic vision for the Digital Commons as part of the Vanderbilt Libraries’ faculty development efforts, planning and facilitating Digital Commons programming aimed at helpful faculty learn to use digital technologies in their research and teaching, managing the Digital Commons’ personnel and budget, launching partnerships with digital technologies units around campus, and establishing communications and marketing strategies for the Digital Commons.
- Major accomplishments included staffing the Digital Commons with three full-time staff members, offering 30 faculty development events attended by 248 faculty, staff, and students, and partnering with 48 facilitators and panelists for those events.
- Principal Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, Vanderbilt University, 2018 to 2022.
- Responsibilities included teaching one undergraduate course each year, often a first-year writing seminar and always informing my faculty development work, and serving on teaching-related department committees, including a calculus committee charged with increasing student persistence and success across demographic groups.
- Director, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, November 2011 to 2021.
- Major responsibilities included providing strategic leadership for the Center for Teaching (CFT); planning, overseeing, and contributing to CFT programming aimed at helping faculty and other instructors develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching; managing the CFT’s personnel (14 full-time staff) and budget; engaging in scholarly work on teaching and learning; consulting with campus leaders about pedagogical issues; and directing communications and marketing for the CFT.
- Major accomplishments included reaching approximately 30% of full-time faculty through CFT offerings each year; overseeing the launch of a two-week Online Course Design Institute in 2020 completed by 500 faculty and other instructors; securing sustainable funding for the CFT’s Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows program as a way to support early-career faculty and build teaching capacity among future university leaders; building a “students as producers” approach to course design into CFT programming as a way to help faculty at a research university rethink their teaching and engage their students in deep learning; overseeing a robust set of faculty development opportunities on the theme “teaching, difference, and power” while collaborating with multiple equity, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI) partner units; integrating learning management system and other instructional technology support into the CFT to help instructors teach in a variety of modalities (in-person, synchronous and asynchronous online, hybrid); supporting the design, implementation and assessment of two Quality Enhancement Plans (QEPs) aimed at student learning and success; leading the development of a website with teaching resources that receives almost 3 million visitors each year; and guiding the strategic development of the CFT as it went from 8 to 14 full-time staff positions.
- Acting Director, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, August to November 2011.
- Assistant Director, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, 2005 to 2011.
- Major responsibilities included consulting with individual faculty on course design and teaching challenges, designing and facilitating workshop and other faculty development offerings, redesigning and leading flagship programs (e.g. a teaching certificate program for graduate students), leading orientations and learning communities for faculty and other instructors, and engaging in scholarly work on teaching and learning.
- Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, Vanderbilt University, 2005 to 2018.
- Responsibilities included teaching one undergraduate course each year, often a first-year writing seminar and always informing my faculty development work.
- Vanderbilt Visions VUceptor, The Commons, Vanderbilt University, 2007 to 2009.
- Responsibilities included leading a group of 17 first-year undergraduate students through an extended orientation experience.
- Preceptor, Department of Mathematics, Harvard University, 2003 to 2005.
- Responsibilities included training, supervising, and mentoring graduate students and postdocs teaching in the calculus program, as well as serving as course head and instructor for various calculus courses.
- Teaching Consultant, Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University, 2004 to 2005.
- Graduate Assistant, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, 2002 to 2003.
- Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Mathematics, Vanderbilt University, 1999 to 2002.
- Master Teaching Fellow, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, 2001 to 2002.
Books
- Bruff, D. (2019). Intentional tech: Principles to guide the use of educational technology in college teaching. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press.
Intentional Tech provides seven research-based principles for teaching useful for guiding the adoption and use of educational technologies and illustrates those principles with practical examples from a variety of instructors and disciplines. The book is part of the “Teaching and Learning in Higher Education” series from West Virginia University Press edited by James Lang and Michelle Miller. - Bruff, D. (2009) Teaching with classroom response systems: Creating active learning environments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Teaching with Classroom Response Systems is a pedagogical overview of classroom polling systems, once known as “clickers” and now leveraging students’ own digital devices for engagement and assessment. Filled with example questions and stories from classrooms across higher education, the book has a renewed utility in an era of Zoom polling tools.
Other Scholarly Publications
- Kaplan, M., Wright, M., & Bruff, D. (2024). Centering resiliency: Principles for academic leaders and teaching center directors. In Debelius, M., Kim, J., & Maloney, E. (Eds.), Recentering learning: Complexity, resilience, and adaptability in higher education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Bruff, D. (2023). Assignment makeovers in the AI age. National Teaching & Learning Forum 33:1, 8-9.
- Goldberg, B., Bruff, D., Greenler, R., Barnicle, K., Green, H., Campbell, L., Laursen, S., Ford, M., Serafini, A., Mack, C., Carley, T., Maimone, C., & Campa, H. (2023). Preparing future STEM faculty through flexible teaching professional development. PLoS ONE 18(10): e0276349. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276349
- Bruff, D. (2023). Faculty development for building resiliency at a private research university. In Gurung, R., & Plaza, D. (Eds.), Higher Education Beyond COVID: New Teaching Paradigms and Promise. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003446200-18
- Bruff, D. (2021). Foreword. In Hays, L., & Kammer, J. (Eds.), Integrating Digital Literacy in the Disciplines. New York: Routledge.
- Hutton, S., & Bruff, D. (2020). Teaching statistics with a BYOD (bring your own device) student response system. In Rodgers, J. (Ed.), Teaching Statistics and Quantitative Methods in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge.
- McClure, N., & Bruff, D. (2020). Student as producers: Strategies and activities to promote inclusive patient interactions. Nurse Educator, 45:4, E43-E44.
- Bruff, D. (2019). Students as producers: Collaborating toward deeper learning. In Pierard, C., Jackson, A., & Schadl, S. (Eds.), Scholarship in the Sandbox: Academic Libraries as Laboratories, Forums, and Archives for Student Work. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.
- Bruff, D. (2018). Peer instruction and technology. In Abell, M., Braddy, L., Ensley, D., Ludwig, L., & Soto H. (Eds.), MAA Instructional Practices Guide. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
- Bruff, D. (2015). An indirect journey to indirect impact: From math major to teaching center director. In Rogers, K., & Croxall, B. (Eds.), #Alt-Academy. Online: MediaCommons.
- Bruff, D. (2015). Conceptual or computational? Making sense of reading questions in an inverted statistics course. In Dewar, J., & Bennett, C. (Eds.), Doing the scholarship of teaching and learning in mathematics. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
- Anderson, B., Bruff, D., Geronimo, J., & Hardin, D. (2014). Wavelets centered on a knot sequence: Theory, construction, and applications. Journal of Fourier Analysis and Applications, online.
- Bruff, D., Fisher, D., McEwen, K., & Smith, B. (2013). Wrapping a MOOC: Student perceptions of an experiment in blended learning. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 9(2).
- Wright, M., Niemer, R., Bruff, D., & Walle, K. (2012). Tweeting #PODHBCU: Content and process of the 2011 POD HBCUFDN conference Twitter backchannel. To Improve the Academy, 31, 311-327.
- Bruff. D. (2011). Engaging statistics students with classroom response systems. In Cline, K., & Zullo, H. (Eds.), Teaching mathematics with classroom voting: With and without clickers. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
- Bruff, D. (2010). Multiple-choice questions you wouldn’t put on a test: Promoting deep learning using clickers. Essays on Teaching Excellence, 21(3).
- Walker, D. G., Stremler, M. A., Johnston, J., Bruff, D., & Brophy, S. P. (2008). Case study on the pedagogical impact of tablet PCs as a presentation medium in engineering classrooms. International Journal of Engineering Education, 24(3), 606-615.
- Bruff, D. (2007). Clickers: A classroom innovation. National Education Association Advocate, 25(1), 5-8.
- Bruff, D. (2007). Valuing and evaluating teaching in the mathematics faculty hiring process. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 54(10), 1308-1315.
- Bruff, D. (2007). A TA orientation plenary session on university policies and resources for teaching. In Ross, C., & Dunphy, J. (Eds.), Strategies for teaching assistant and international teaching assistant development: Beyond microteaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Bruff, D. (2003). Wavelets on nonuniform knot sequences. Vanderbilt University Ph.D. Dissertation.
- Bruff, D., & Hardin, D. (2002). Squeezable bases and semi-regular multiresolutions. In Zhou, D.-X., (Ed.), Wavelet analysis: Twenty years’ developments. New York: World Scientific Press.
Grants
- Co-PI, “MOOC-Supported Learning Communities for Future STEM Faculty: Multiple Paths to Advance Evidence-Based Teaching Across the Nation,” National Science Foundation WIDER Grant, $750K, 2013-2016This grant supported the design and implementation of two open, online courses on evidence-based teaching practices for future STEM faculty. The goal of the project was to equip the next generation of STEM faculty to be effective teachers, thus improving the learning experience for the thousands of students they will teach. The courses were developed by faculty and staff at four lead institutions, with contributions from dozens more. To date, more than 30,000 graduate students, postdocs, and faculty have participated in the courses, with approximately 3,000 completing one or more of the courses. https://www.stemteachingcourse.org/
Blogs and Podcasts
- Agile Learning [blog], author, 2008 to present. Agile Learning is my professional blog, where I have been writing about educational technology, faculty development, and more since 2008, sharing my own teaching experiences as well as those of others.
- Intentional Teaching [podcast], producer & host, 2022 to present. Intentional Teaching is a podcast aimed at educators to help them develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching. The podcast features interviews with educators throughout higher ed.
- Leading Lines [podcast], producer & host, 2016 to 2022. Leading Lines was a podcast that explored creative, intentional, and effective uses of technology to enhance student learning, produced by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching and the Vanderbilt Libraries.
- One-Time Pod [podcast], producer, 2017 to 2021. One-Time Pod was a podcast on the history of cryptography with episodes produced by students in my first-year writing seminar on cryptography.
- VandyVox [podcast], producer & host, 2019 to 2022. VandyVox is a podcast that showcases the best of academically oriented student-produced audio at Vanderbilt University, often produced as class assignments in courses taught by Center for Teaching clients.
Teaching Guides
The following teaching guides were written as part of work at the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.
- Active Learning Classrooms, 2018
- Classroom Response Systems (“Clickers”), 2010
- Digital Timelines, 2016 with Danielle Picard
- Lecturing, 2010
- Visual Thinking, 2010, with Maria Ebner
Conference Talks
- Tyrrell, R., & Bruff, D. (2024, July). Discipline matters (or does it?): Consulting outside your field. Institute for New Educational Developers, online.
- Darby, F., & Bruff, D. (2024, July). Intentional teaching with technology: How to help faculty tech enthusiasts, Luddites, and everyone in between. Institute for New Educational Developers, online.
- Bruff, D., Bandy, J., & Pinto, R. (2022, September). Students as producers: Reframing teaching at a research university. Presented at the Researching, Advancing, and Inspiring Student Engagement (RAISE) Conference, University of Lincoln, UK.
- Bruff, D. (2022, July). Intentional tech: Teaching principles for educational technology in college teaching. Presented at the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Institute, Orlando, FL.
- Bruff, D. (2021, July). Intentional tech: Teaching principles for educational technology in college teaching. Presented at the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Virtual Institute, online.
- Bruff, D. (2021, June). A year of blended economics education. Panelist at the TeachECONference 2021, online.
- Bruff, D. (2021, January). Intentional tech: Teaching principles for educational technology in adaptive teaching. Presented at the Pedagogical & Active Learning Mobile Solutions (PALMS) Virtual Symposium, online.
- Bruff, D. (2020, October). Intentional tech: Teaching principles for educational technology in online teaching. Presented at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) South Regional Conference, online.
- Bruff, D. (2019, August). Intentional tech: Teaching principles for technology in the active learning classroom. Presented at the International Forum on Active Learning Classrooms, Minneapolis, MN.
- Bruff, D. (2018, October). More than just shiny objects: Using technology to support student learning. Presented at the National Economics Teaching Association conference, Phoenix, AZ.
- Bruff, D. (2018, February). Beyond the five-page paper: Multimodal assignments for deep learning, presented at the Oregon Technology in Education Network annual conference, Forest Grove, OR.
- Bruff, D., Campa, H., & Goldberg, B. (2017, October). MOOC-centered learning communities for graduate student professional development. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development Network Conference, Montreal, Canada.
- Bruff, D. (2017, March). Preparing for the gauntlet: Six questions for strategic planning. Presented at the Southeast Regional Faculty and Instructional Development Consortium, Lawrenceville, GA.
- Bruff, D. (2016, November). See what I mean: Visual thinking tools for deep learning. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development Network Conference, Louisville, KY.
- Bruff, D. (2016, May). Class time reconsidered: The flipped classroom and peer instruction. Presented at the Laspau Consortium on STEM Higher Education in Panama, Panama City, Panama.
- Bruff, D. (2016, April). More than just shiny objects: Using technology to support student learning. Presented at the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools Technology Institute, Nashville, TN.
- Bruff, D. (2015, February). Creating active learning environments: One way or another. Presented at the Next Generation Learning Spaces Conference, Nashville, TN.
- Bruff, D. (2015, February). Innovation, educational technology, and faculty development. Presented at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA.
- Bruff, D. (2015, February). MOOCs as networks of local learning communities: An experiment in preparing future faculty. Presented at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA.
- Bruff, D. (2014, December). Teaching with clickers to motivate and engage students. Presented at the 1st International Conference on Educational Innovation, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Bruff, D. (2014, October). Beyond surface learning: Teaching with clickers to motivate and engage students. Presented at the 9th De Lange Conference at Rice University, Houston, TX.
- Bruff, D. (2014, March). MOOC-supported learning communities for future STEM faculty. Presented at the Coursera Partners Conference, London, UK.
- Bruff, D. (2013, April). Who are our students? Bridging local and global learning communities. Presented at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Spring Focus Session, online.
- Bruff, D. (2013, April). Social pedagogies: Motivating students through social media and authentic audiences. Presented at the Technology in Higher Education Conference, Doha, Qatar.
- Bruff, D. (2013, April). Technologies for learning: Creating active learning environments in the classroom. Presented at the Technology in Higher Education Conference, Doha, Qatar.
- Bruff, D., Brophy, J., Collier, A., Connelly, M., Julius, J., Niemer, R., Russell, J. (2012, October). From the conference to the campus: Educational development through the lens of crowdsourcing. Presented at the Professional & Organizational Development (POD) Network conference, Seattle, WA.
- Bruff, D. (2012, October). Social pedagogies: Motivating students through social media and authentic audiences. Presented at the Professional & Organizational Development (POD) Network conference, Seattle, WA.
- Austin, A., Border, L., Bruff, D., Connolly, M., Gillian-Daniels, D., Greenler, R., Ouellett, M., & Sorcenelli, M. (2012, October). CIRTL: A multi-institutional network’s approach to preparing future scholars. Presented at the Professional & Organizational Development (POD) Network conference, Seattle, WA.
- Bruff, D. (2012, September). Teaching with visual engagement techniques. Presented at the Visual Learning Conference at Carleton College, Northfield, MN.
- Bruff, D., & Vazquez, J. (2011, October). Everyone’s a visual learner: Using visual thinking in the classroom. Presented at the Professional & Organizational Development (POD) Network / Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Faculty Development Network joint conference, Atlanta, GA.
- Bruff, D. (2011, October). Leveraging diversity: The wisdom of crowds in university teaching. Presented at the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Network Forum, Madison, WI.
- Longfield, J., Bruff, D., Crumley, H., & Rando, W. (2011, October). TA certification programs: Key questions for design and implementation. Presented at the Professional & Organizational Development (POD) Network / Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Faculty Development Network joint conference, Atlanta, GA.
- Bruff, D., & Stassun, K. (2011, October). CIRTL-at-Vanderbilt: Teaching-as-Research Fellows and the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge Program. Poster presented at the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Network Forum, Madison, WI.
- Bruff, D. (2011, June). The Wisdom of crowds: Clickers, crowdsourcing, and educational technology. Presented at the NAIRTL 5th Annual Conference & Galway Symposium on Higher Education, Galway, Ireland.
- Bruff, D., & Claiborne, L. (2011, March). Teaching-as-research fellows: Encouraging scientific teaching. Presented at the AAC&U / Project Kaleidoscope “Engaged STEM Learning” Conference, Miami, FL.
- Bruff, D., Harapnuik, D., & Julius, J. (2010, November). Revolution or evolution? Social technologies and pedagogical change. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO.
- Julius, J., Bruff, D., Kelly, K., & Khera, O. (2010, December). Minding the gap: Social media revolution <=> education evolution. Presented virtually at the 25th Directors of Educational Technology – California Higher Education (DET/CHE) Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.
- Bruff, D. (2010, December). Teaching with clickers: Using classroom response systems for engagement and assessment. Presented at the 115th Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY.
- Bruff, D. (2010, November). Clickers and backchannel: Engaging students with classroom response systems. Presented at the 30th Lilly Conference on College Teaching, Miami, OH.
- McDaniel, R., & Bruff, D. (2010, November). Publicity 2.0: Creating an efficient publicity machine. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO.
- Bruff, D. (2010, November). Motivating engagement and learning using classroom response systems. Presented virtually at the 3rd Engaging Students Through In-Class Technologies (ESTICT) Conference, Bath, England.
- Bruff, D., & Lucas, A. (2010, January). Teaching with clickers and classroom voting. Minicourse presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Francisco, CA.
- Bruff, D. (2009, October). Clicker pedagogies: Supporting faculty use of classroom response systems. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, Houston, TX.
- Bruff, D. (2009, March). Using clickers to teach statistics. Presented at the Mathematical Association of America Southeastern Section Conference, Nashville, TN.
- Bruff, D. (2009, February). Lessons from teaching with clickers: Using mobile devices as part of classroom response systems. Presented the ConnectEd Summit, Abilene, TX.
- Bruff, D., Cline, K., Parker, M., & Zullo, H. (2009, January). Teaching with clickers and classroom voting. Minicourse presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, Washington, DC.
- Bruff, D. (2009, January). Making the most of pre-class reading assignments in statistics. Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, Washington, DC.
- Bruff, D. (2008, November). A taxonomy of clicker questions and activities: Reflecting on current and future uses of classroom response systems. Presented at the Inaugural Conference on Classroom Response Systems, Louisville, KY.
- Bruff, D. (2008, June). Valuing and evaluating teaching in the mathematics faculty hiring process. Poster presented at the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning Forum, Madison, WI.
- Bruff, D. (2008, May). Connecting in- and out-of-class learning experience through pre-class reading quizzes in statistics. Presented at the 7th London Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Conference, London.
- Bruff, D., Cline, K., Leingang, M., Parker, M., & Zullo, H. (2008, January) Teaching with clickers. Minicourse presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), San Diego, CA.
- Bruff, D., Gillian-Daniel, D., Robinson, J., & Wulff, D. (2007, October). Supporting graduate student scholarship of teaching and learning. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Bruff, D. (2007, June). Pre-class reading assignments in mathematics. Presented at the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) Institute, Chicago, IL.
- Bruff, D. (2007, March). Supporting faculty use of classroom response systems. Presented at the Southern Regional Faculty and Instructional Development Consortium (SRFIDC) Conference, Chattanooga, TN.
- Bruff, D. (2007, January). Valuing and evaluating teaching in the mathematics faculty hiring process. Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), New Orleans, LA.
- Bruff, D. (2007, January). What are students likely to learn by reading their textbooks before class? Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), New Orleans, LA.
- Bruff, D. (2006, October). Supporting faculty use of classroom response systems. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
- Armstrong, P., Bruff, D., Johnston, J., & Pingree, A. (2006, October). Integrating SoTL into a teaching certificate program. Poster presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
- Bruff, D. (2005, March). Multiwavelet bases centered on nonuniform knot sequences. Presented at the Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), Bowling Green, KY.
- Bruff, D., & Leingang, M. (2005, January). Advantages, challenges, and dividends of online placement. Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), Atlanta, GA.
- Bruff. D. (2004, October). Multiwavelet bases centered on nonuniform knot sequences. Presented at the Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), Nashville, TN.
- Bruff, D. (2004, May). Constructing wavelets centered on nonuniform knot sequences. Presented at the International Conference on Computational Harmonic Analysis, Nashville, TN.
- Bruff, D. (2003, January). Semi-regular multiresolutions generated by minimially supported scaling vectors. Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), Baltimore, MD.
- Bruff. D. (2002, November). Semi-regular multiresolutions generated by minimially supported scaling vectors. Presented at the 6th Wavelet Ideal Data Representation Center Workshop, Columbia, SC.
- Bruff, D. (2002, August). An undergraduate seminar in mathematics. Presented at MathFest, the annual meeting of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), Burlington, VT.
Invited Talks
I have given invited talks and workshops on topics such as active learning, the flipped classroom, teaching with technology, and course design at a variety of colleges and universities. Hosts have included Auburn University, College of Charleston, Community College of Allegheny County, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Davidson Davie Community College, Duke University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Elon University, High Point University, Inver Hills Community College, Kent State University, Madison College, Merced College, Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia, Montana State University, Northern Illinois University, Northern State University, Pacific University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Skidmore College, St. Louis University, Temple University, Texas Tech University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Delaware, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Missouri, University of New England, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, University of Waterloo, Washington & Lee University, West Virginia University, William Woods University, and Worcester State University.
Media Interviews
- “Preparing Students to Be Literate and Critical AI Users.” Matt Wittstein, Limed: Teaching with a Twist (podcast), September 18, 2023.
- “Episode 481: Assignment Makeovers in the AI Age.” Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Education (podcast), August 31, 2023.
- “Professors Craft Courses on ChatGPT with ChatGPT.” Lauren Coffey, Inside Higher Ed, July 31, 2023.
- “Instructors Rush to Do ‘Assignment Makeovers’ to Respond to ChatGPT.” Jeffrey R. Young, EdSurge, July 27, 2023.
- “Do Chatbot Tutors Work Better When They’re Upbeat–and Female?” Jeffrey R. Young, EdSurge, April 27, 2023.
- “Vloggers Hank and John Green Want You to Take College Courses on YouTube.” Chris Stokel-Walker, BuzzFeed News, January 25, 2023.
- “3 Tech Trends Shaping Modern Higher Ed Classrooms.” Andy Viano, EdTech Magazine, December 22, 2022.
- “With Online Social Annotation, Students Read Together.” Susan D’Agostino, Inside Higher Ed, October 12, 2022.
- “Episode 434: Leading Lines – A Retrospective.” Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Education (podcast), October 2, 2022.
- “Spaces Matter.” Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, September 15, 2022.
- “Episode 58: Active Learning in Socially Distanced Classrooms and Online Courses.” Barbi Honeycutt, Lecture Breakers (podcast), October 27, 2020.
- “Episode 148. Active Learning: 6 Feet of Separation.” John Kane and Rebecca Mustare, Tea for Teaching (podcast), August 12, 2020.
- “Making Hybrid Teaching Work for You.” Beth McMurtrie, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 30, 2020.
- “How to Engage Students in a Hybrid Classroom.” Beth McMurtrie, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 9, 2020.
- “Intentional Tech.” Lilah Burke, Inside Higher Ed, November 13, 2019.
- “Episode 277. Intentional Tech.” Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Ed (podcast), October 3, 2019.
- “Episode 81. Intentional Tech.” John Kane and Rebecca Mushtare, Tea for Teaching (podcast), May 15, 2019.
- “Digital Distraction Is a Problem Far Beyond the Classroom. But Professors Can Help.” Beckie Supiano, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 7, 2019.
- “Laptops and Phones in the Classroom: Yea, Nay, or a Third Way?“, Anya Kamenetz, NPR Education, January 24, 2018.
- “Using Twitter to Talk About Teaching,” James Lang, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 10, 2012
- “Growing Pains for ‘Clickers’,” Jeff Young and Warren Arbogast, Tech Therapy Podcast, December 7, 2011
- “Going Beyond Classroom Clickers,” David Shieh, Chronicle of Higher Education, March 13, 2009
- “Writing the Book on Clickers,” Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, February 24, 2009
Courses Taught
- Writing Seminars
- Cryptography: The History and Mathematics of Codes and Code-Breaking – This was my most frequently taught course at Vanderbilt. As a first-year writing seminar in the mathematics department, it combines pure mathematics, code-breaking, writing instruction, history, and current events. It has been a laboratory for me to experiment with a variety of in-person and online teaching practices, as well as assignment types, including a long-running course podcast.
- Undergraduate Courses
- Integrated Precalculus and Calculus I, II
- Calculus I, II
- Accelerated Calculus I, II
- Linear Algebra
- Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus for the Social Sciences
- Probability and Statistics for the Engineering Sciences
- Introduction to Probability and Mathematical Statistics
- Graduate Courses
- Theoretical Foundations in Education
- Teaching and Assessment Strategies
- Teaching, Technology, and the Syllabus
- Theory and Practice of Teaching Probability
- Introduction to Wavelets and Their Applications
- Open Online Courses for Graduate Students and Faculty
Professional Activities
- Teaching and Learning in Higher Education series, West Virginia University Press
- Editorial Advisory Board (2020-present)
- Professional & Organizational Development (POD) Network
- Board of Directors (2010-2013)
- Ad Hoc Committee on Special Interest Groups, Chair (2012-2013)
- POD-IDEA Center Notes on Instruction, Series Co-Editor (2011-2012)
- Electronic Communications and Resources Committee (2010-2011)
- Topical Interest Groups, Coordinator (2010-2011)
- Conference Twitter Team, Coordinator (2010-2011)
- Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL)
- Network Forum Planning Committee (2011)
- Network Forum Program Committee (2014)
- Peer Reviewer:
- Teaching & Learning Inquiry
- PRIMUS
- Learning, Media & Technology
- Advances in Accounting Education
- Innovative Higher Education
- Journal on Excellence in College Teaching