The tenth annual convention of the Higher Education Forum (HEF) enlightened the need for skills and competencies for new generation teachers and innovations in teaching learning processes to improve the quality of higher education for students.
A connection works both ways, and both students and teachers need to take an effort to bridge the gap,’— was the aim of the conference. Rajesh Khajuria, Director SMJV CKSV Institute of Management encouraged all teachers to build a relation with students and make teaching a fun-filled experience. “Sometimes simple acts like humour, approachable attitude, listening patiently or even a smiling face can create an impact on students.”
Khajuria added, “The classroom is like a teacher’s play area and teachers can make maximum use of it to connect with students.” Peter Cunningham, professor emeritus at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, highlighted teachers can use various methods to innovate. Cunningham said, “We got to innovate ourselves at the ground level so that students can understand concepts better.
While C Babu, Director of Durgadevi Saraf Institute of Management Studies, (DSIMS), claimed teachers can have interactive lectures where needs of students are voiced and acknowledged. Babu said, “We can have a casual conversation with students to understand their needs. We can then incorporate some of these in our techniques of teaching. In addition, we can talk to industry experts and design our syllabus as per changing trends.
Students revealed they often experience a connection gap with some teachers while they connect easily with others. Sakshi Singhania, a student, said, “Some teachers are friendly and we can connect with them immediately. But we hesitate to approach some teachers outside the classroom. It helps if we build a cordial relation and we understand as students, we need to take some steps too.”
