Perception vs Facts | Does it matter for teaching and learning in HEIs?

Perception plays a vital role in determining our life-satisfaction and the way we tend to live in real time. Our decisions are strongly influenced by our perception irrespective of the facts of life. Does this also happen in teaching and learning in higher educational institutions (HEI)? The evidences tend to suggest that perception of teaching by faculty do influence their teaching style and decision on pedagogy, while the perception of learning by students tend to affect the learning outcomes. Read more to know how and why…

Design yourself to be happy in 2022 | Part 1: Chemicals have solutions!

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.

Assessing the Assessments

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.’ 

Stockholm Syndrome in ‘forced’ online learning during COVID-19 | The hate and love story of HEIs

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’.

Feedback opens the gateway of learning

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.

There is no other way than to ‘Lead by Example’

The hallmark to lead our new generation of students in right direction is to strongly demonstrate what precisely we expect them to do. Students get energised and motivated to do more when they see teachers amply demonstrating qualities, in words and in action, which they really wanted students to develop. This is especially highly applicable when it comes to our ‘first generation learner’.

Learn to stay happy | Teach your students to be happy!

Leading universities have already taken to teaching happiness or positive psychology as part of curriculum. Happiness courses are seemingly oversubscribed and participants have acknowledged benefits in terms of distinct improvements in life-satisfaction. Such individuals are bound to spread the message and contribute positively and enthusiastically at workplace, family and society. Positive education agenda is the need of the hour and educational institutions must create a ‘center for happiness learning & practice’ to drive this agenda for faculty and students. This write up explores the contours of happiness teaching in educational institutions based on authors own experience of teaching, researching and practicing happiness.