| |9 July 2017HIGHERReviewOur institutions of higher learning will produce better results when we demand more of students than mere recall of facts and repetition of problem-solving stepsof observation, analysis and synthesis, who can solve unfa-miliar problems, who can create original material, and who can communicate with near-professional clarity and fluency.In my classes, I work toward this goal in two ways. First, I lecture as little as possible. Instead of "chalk and talk," I sit quietly for a while as the students discuss and debate a point or grapple with a problem in small groups. I may show them a video clip or a movie and ask them to analyse what they have seen. Occasionally, I will project a PowerPoint slide and ask one of the students to come forward and explain it to the class.These techniques make the students the centre of the classroom. Student-centred education means that the stu-dent, not the teacher, does the work. Students learn much better by doing than by listening, so I give them activities--things to do--rather than forcing them to listen to me lecture more than a few minutes at a time, and then, only when there is a key point that I need to introduce or explain to them. Second, I do not administer exams. To assess my stu-dents, I make them apply our concepts to a real-world situa-tion. Term-end assignments in my classes this academic year have included pitching an entrepreneurial business plan to an investor as on the TV show Shark Tank, developing and presenting a consultant's report to a well-known company to recommend a business model innovation, preparing a marketing plan for a start-up in the fashion industry, and evaluating how leadership emerged and was exercised dur-ing a student group project. An exam could show only that a student has memorized my words. A project or essay allows the student to demon-strate how well she understands and can apply the material I have taught. As of now, the system practically forces professors to teach traditionally. Rules and norms require testing the memories of students, not their ability to think, so instruc-tors teach the syllabus by rote. Our large classes make it burdensome to assess student work product, so we adminis-ter multiple choice question tests that can be graded by ma-chines. Our marking policies cannot accommodate group projects, so we default to individual exam papers. Despite the barriers inherent in our system, and despite the inertia of long tradition, I remain optimistic that we will reform and improve the way we teach our students. PM Modi has called for innovative universities to show the way. Employers have begun to demand graduates who are not merely good at writing exams, but who can think and com-municate like professionals. Change may be slow and difficult, but each of us can con-tribute. A good place to start is to prepare our students to be capable young men and women rather than parrots and monkeys. We can reduce the time we spend lecturing and substitute classroom activities that enable our students to learn by doing. We can replace some of our exams with indi-vidual and group assignments that require students to gener-ate the same kind of work product that will be required in the workplace.Every change we make in this direction will be a ser-vice to our students, to our universities, and to our nation. At the same time, these changes will be a service to our-selves. Professors, who challenge their students to think, create and communicate like professionals may take pride justly in creating the mature graduates who will lead India to future glory.
< Page 8 | Page 10 >