VJIT has always been a strong support in enriching the faculty skills through Orientation programs and Guest lecture’s given by distinguished and eminent speakers. The Faculty Orientation Program conducted on 24th June, 2017 had eminent speakers bringing in a great realm of knowledge to the VJIT teaching fraternity.
The luminary speakers who gave an extensive lecture were Professor PSN Reddy, former Professor in the department of Chemistry, OU, on the topic “Teaching is learning” in the first session, followed by Professor. M. Lakshmipathi Rao, former HOD of Physics, OU, on “Quality in Engineering Education – Issues Challenges & Achievable Suggestions” and the last session was given by Professor Harish N Dixit, Professor in the Dept of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, on “Teaching Methods-Innovative use of Technology”.
The Guest Lecture given by Dr. PSN Reddy was so relevant and refreshing to the faculty members as it was an extremely thought provoking and was given in a very interesting manner that the audience enjoyed the whole session simultaneously learning techniques on effective teaching methods. Dr. PSN Reddy emphasized on the changes in higher education scenario with numerous technology tools taking over the traditional teaching style. He further added that the dynamics between the teacher and students leads to the advancement of the nation through knowledge transfer. Dr. Reddy also promoted that a conscious teacher contributes to knowledge enhancement by drawing knowledge from various sources then transfers to the students and in the process gaining more knowledge. He advised the teachers to look at learning as a behavioral science and the teaching process should focus on “mastery” of subjects and the promotion of higher forms of thinking, rather than a utilitarian approach to simply transferring facts.
The second session was taken over by Professor M. Lakshmipathi Rao retired HOD for Physics, OU. His Lecture titled “Quality in Engineering Education – Issues Challenges & Achievable Suggestions” was very informative besides focusing on the various challenges in engineering education, the role of a teacher in grooming the students and Dr. MLP Rao further emphasized on how cater to the needs of the engineering students. Dr. Rao also professed on how the teachers should gear up to improve the quality of education, and the challenges in teaching the present generation of students who are technically savvy whom he called them the Net Generation. He advised to upgrade to the latest technical aspects of teaching as Technology is a game changer which is presently having a direct impact on student learning. Dr. Rao has thrown light on the various online courses and free online courses that can be included into the curriculum so as to make the learning interesting as well as grooming the student in tune to the industry expectations.
The third session of the Orientation Program on “Teaching Methods – Innovative use of Technology” was given by Professor Harish N Dixit, Dept. Of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IIT, Hyderabad. Dr. Dixit very grippingly presented the diverse teaching techniques of developing good instructional skills and shared the latest teaching techniques he applied in teaching his students. He further added teachers should be using innovative and advanced teaching methods as teachers are committed and capable people who are responsible to build competitive individuals who are going to be outstanding human beings. Dr. Dixit offered to share his teaching techniques which can be adapted by choice to tailor these methods to individual needs of the teachers. He proposed using technology in the classroom can compliment some teaching principles. To capture the attention of the students and making the class interesting he suggested using practical demonstration of the laws through simple experiments or video clippings so as to make the impact of Learning more strong among students. Dr. Dixit demonstrated few latest technical ways of preparing the lectures like Flip teaching, creating a Web Site which can include complete information and materials of the course about to teach, digital writing pads and few more. Dr. Dixit captivated the audience with a practical presentation of the latest tools which can enhance teaching.