A workshop on Teaching and Learning Pedagogy

The Teaching learning & education technology cell of Don Bosco College of engineering organized a workshop on “Teaching and Learning Pedagogy” on 17^th November 2023.

In the presence of Rev. Fr. Kinley and Principal Dr Neena, the event started with Prof. Natasha introducing Prof. E.S Kannan the first speaker on the event. Prof. E.S Kannan delivered a talk on the topic “Engagement strategies for captivating class room”. The speaker shared some key aspects such as gathering student’s attention, generic questioning, and content quality and delivery strategies. He also held a video demonstration to press on the aspect of generic learning objectives as opposed to specific learning objectives. He expressed that clarity of instructions is very important since students come from different backgrounds and walks of life. He also explained how incentivized learning and promoting student interaction will result in better learning outcomes. He ended by explaining an event in Bhagavad-Gita where Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna on the battle field indicating that students learn better when they are willing to listen to teacher. He concluded saying the best time to deliver knowledge to the student is when he/she is ready to receive.

The first session was followed by a tea-break after which the workshop continued into its second session. The second session was delivered by Prof. Radhika Vathsan on the topic “Teaching and Research- Balance between the two”. She highlighted the importance of dedicating time for research apart from teaching. She kept the discussion open to the audience and gathering inputs from the audience about the difficulties they face in managing time distribution between teaching and research. She expressed her opinion that it’s a tight rope to walk on and suggested that inclusive research in which students takes active part in research investigation would be beneficial for both the student and the teacher. She also expressed that it is possible to introduce research culture into the class room and to the students through project based and lab based learning.  She observed that many faculties have a general notion that research always has to be always on recent advances in technology. She explained with an example how their department could get some good literature published on the commonly known musical instrument “Veena”. She tried to make a point that even simple engineering aspects commonly ignored can create good problem definitions and lead to significant research. She concluded by acknowledging  that there is no one template that fits all  and its necessary to implement a structured daily routine that incorporates dedicated time blocks for work, personal development, exercise, relaxation, and rest to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

The workshop continued into its next session, with the speaker Dr. Solano Da Silva, delivering on the topic “Enhancing learning in Classrooms”. He started by defining learning to be a process where the student grapples and creates personal knowledge. He explained that skill was required to covert information into personal knowledge which becomes unique to each individual. He explained techniques to acquire skills such as note making, elaborating on a technique called cornel notes, concept mapping and report writing that assist in creating personalized knowledge database.

The session concluded with vote of thanks from Dr. Amrita Naik, TLET Chairperson from Don Bosco College of engineering.