On this World Happiness Day, it is only in the fitness of the thing that the secret to the most precious treasure called ‘happiness’ is opened up for everyone irrespective of who they are, where they come from and more importantly wherever on the earth they live. On the other side of the coin, the pandemic has done exactly the opposite for everyone, distributed miseries all across. However, the receding pandemic has also left behind a few underlying lessons, if counted on, can enhance happiness in our life forever.
There is a lot one can learn from public policy debate and research on happiness. The quest for alternative development paradigm, away from a mere income-centric approach, has provided many take away for personal life. Income may be essential but not a sufficient condition to ensure happiness.
Life pursuits and purpose are key to happiness. Making our existence meaningful requires concerted and conscious thoughts. Facing the question – what can I do to help others, may contribute immensely in making our life happy. When you get up in the morning, and if your mind is cool about the fact that the day stands largely sorted out with tasks already lined up, you have achieved a lot in terms of happiness.
There is a lot to understand about how our mind works, rather how we can make it work for happiness. Happiness largely depends on how our mind views life. Here is an account of how we can guide our mind to ensure happiness & wellbeing.
New Year brings in the season of giving and taking greetings and good wishes. The most common of them is ‘Happy New Year to You!’. Does it really ensure or enhance happiness in our life? No guarantee, but our understanding of happiness enhancing factors and facets can help reclaim our health and happiness for a better life. Here is a series to focus on what all we need to know.
nd instructions seemingly spoils the learning-spirit of students and at times they tend to hate the entire business of ‘overly directed learning’. Leaving them alone helps. It encourages self-reflections, self-learning and most importantly breaks the monotony.
How we assess students in our course is diligently linked to how we teach the course. Assessment is a testimony to our teaching. Any assessment devoid of its link with ‘what to assess’, is likely to go haywire. Then comes the question of ‘how to assess.’ Our ability to link it with how we teach determines ‘assessment-of-learning’ vis-à-vis ‘assessment-for-learning.’
COVID-19 pandemic forced teaching and learning to go online in a big way. Teachers and students both embarked upon a journey into several unchartered territories of online world. It all started with difficulties and subtle sense of negation. Then started the phase of explorations, experimentations and adaptation. Finally, as it got extended further, there started a third phase wherein both teachers and students admitted their love for online teaching and learning. This empirical story of exploration through the three phases of negation, adaptation and falling in love with the online teaching and learning reveals perfect demonstration of ‘Stockholm Syndrome’.
Our education system must support and nurture creative economy as a new source of growth and job creation. Curriculum in higher education must support learning for this ever growing sector. Especially when the young generation’s consumption pattern is seemingly growing as well as diversifying phenomenally towards cultural consumption. A significant factor turns out to be their quest for social identity.
Feedback is a magic wand which can open several gates of learning for students. However, the efficacy of feedback as a tool of learning would largely depend upon the manner in which feedback is given as well as the time when feedback is executed. As a faculty we must also learn the art and science of taking and giving feedback, of course both formal and informal.