Education- A View From Both Sides

 What a student wants- 

Small classes where she/he will be recognised as an individual.

What we provide generally-

Large classes where there is no scope for such things.

Other expectations, and reality

Engagement vs. Prepared lectures

Thinking openly about possibilities versus Structured Curriculum 'to be covered'

Collaborative Group work like in real life versus individual exams

Practical or real-world fundas versus a lot of jargon that makes no immediate sense

Discussion, versus evaluative feedback

and so on.. in higher ed.. and not in school. 

To some extent, a few MBA or engineering colleges have projects, or group work or creative assignments, but not nearly enough. When will we see a change across majority of our institutions of higher ed.?

Meeting of Vice Chancellors

 I was invited to a novel (for me) meet, organised by India Didactics Association, a policy think tank on education at all levels. This meet was focused on Higher Ed policy. Met and heard from a lot of interesting people from across India. The recommendations from this meet will go to the government functionaries. Some pics from the meet.

Leading up to the formal meeting.

Aditya, the host, and a couple of participants, at an informal session.

We discussed 4 themes related to Higher Ed. in India and came up with recommendations.

Teaching Tips

 My experience tells me that some of these work. Of course, you need to discover what works for your students, based on many factors. I have tried some of these (successfully, I think) in my classes over the years, mostly in higher education in management.

Instead of making a statement, ask a question. Wait for an answer. You can ask someone specific what he or she thinks about it, if there's no answer in a few seconds. Or, make a joke about why everyone is asleep, was the food good (if after lunch), or are they hungry (if before).

A joke always works, because if students have an overdose of dull classes one after the other in a day, they are looking for release. It gets their attention, almost always.

An activity promotes discussion, better than a moderated discussion or a general case discussion. You can always close with a moderated presentation or discussion after the activity, or a written submission and a discussion of a few of those. 

Feedback also helps. Immediate feedback for a presentation, or written comments in the class immediately after an assignment is the most useful.

Super 30 - Film Review

Disclaimer: As a general principle, I am against coaching classes of all kinds. But these are a way of life (like the internet based media) that you cannot wish away..

There are a few good things about this film. And a couple of questions that I had. First, the good things.

The acting is good. Hrithik Roshan, the kids, Pankaj Tripathi and whoever played the Excellent Coaching boss. The guy who played Hrithik's dad was very good too. Even the female love interest of Hrithik's, though she had little to do after the first twenty minutes.

The film makes a very good point for social justice in education, and the fact that the right kind of education can transform a family's future...logically, though, every university should strive to provide this transformational education, and not just a handful of IITs. Something to think about? Of course, State governments are responsible for the state universities. And promoters, for the private ones, which are yet to match the Central government institutions in quality (in India).

The villainy is over-dramatised, I thought, and the positives take a back-seat during those scenes.

Academicians and academics do get their due through the central character- education is the winner.

A question that I had- why was Hrithik looking unwashed in the second half of the film?

Worth seeing the film. Certainly beats the current alternatives by a few marks. :)