Innovative Teaching-Learning Practices
Theatre Play to Teach Cross Cultural Communication
Today’s learners belong to “Gen Y”, who are tech savvy, believe in smart work rather than hard work and are feedback-dependent. They are visual-kinesthetic learners, who learn by doing. Hence experiential learning, which is based on “learning by doing” is considered significantly effective compared to the traditional classroom method of learning and is an apt pedagogy for Gen Y learners. Based on this, an activity based on theatre play was designed to enable the students to experience and learn the culture of growing economies of the world.
Faculty selected 10 countries and allotted them to a group of 22 students. The students had to write a storyline, create the script and enact the storyline based on the culture of the country allotted to them. The faculty ensured that the entire activity fell in line with the guidelines and the culture checklist designed by them. A week was dedicated to stage the play. While one group staged the play, the remaining nine groups were the audience. Thus each and every student was exposed to experientially and collaboratively learning 10 different cultures.
After the play, feedback was collected from all the students, pertaining to their experiential learning from the play. From the survey results, it was evident that 90 per cent of the students were confident to travel and also aware of the cultural facets of those countries showcased in the play. This initiative bagged three awards
- Gold medal for innovation in teaching from Association of Indian Management Schools
in 2015
- Bronze Award for Experiential Learning Initiative at the Indian Management Conclave
in 2018
- First prize in Best Practices for Student Engagement from CII in 2019
Faculty Empowerment in the Classroom: From Micro-Teaching to Faculty
Development – IMC Silver Medal
This initiative was presented under the theme “Effective MBA Teaching: Innovations and Impact” at the Indian Management Conclave in 2019 and won Silver Award. It provided a perfect platform for engaged learning by faculty, ability to engage and manage a classroom by observing a gamut of techniques and to experience how a student feels and responds to the faculty and what difficulties he/she faces in the classroom. The project had two phases. The first phase involved a micro teaching workshop in which faculty members were able to assess their teaching skills. A training need analysis was done based on faculty performance and the training programs were delivered through the PSG Center for Academic Research and Excellence. The two-stage process had a substantive impact on the faculty. Both the areas of strength and for improvement were identified fairly and faculty could also appreciate this when they viewed the video recordings and could compare teaching styles of faculty members dealing with the same subject. It was felt useful both in terms of teaching skills enhancement and class room management. The sessions also provided different learning assessment strategies which could be adopted, which otherwise faculty would not have considered for their subject.
Reflective Journaling to Ensure Knowledge Creation and Application in the Affective
Domain – AIMS Gold Medal
Assurance of learning is an important aspect of outcome based education and the accreditation process. The desire to make students learn and see learning happening is a significant motivator for knowledge facilitators. Assessment is an important mechanism to assure learning and involves stringent processes and metrics. Learning happens in three domains namely cognitive,affective, and psychomotor. The affective domain deals with feelings, motivations, attitudes, etc.To assess learning in the affective domain, one has to not only measure the extent of acquisition of knowledge but also the extent to which the learning was applied to change the attitude or behavior of the learner. The extent of acquisition can be assessed using tools like tests, case studies, and assignments. However, assessing the extent of application of learning for behavioral or attitudinal changes demands knowledge about the experiences of students using the learned skills in their day to day life. It is in this background that journaling was used as an assessment tool in a course “Emotional Intelligence for Managers” to assess the higher order learning outcomes of the affective domain. Components like tests, quizzes, case studies, assignments, and meta analysis of research papers as assessment components assured that students had acquired knowledge. But the higher order levels like valuing, organizing and internalizing were not captured effectively through those components. To cater to this unique need, Journaling was used. Journaling is an activity through which students record their experiences of using the learned concepts in different situations, reflect on the experiences and learn from them. This proved to be an effective tool to assess knowledge creation and application. From the lived-in experiences of the students as recorded in their journals, faculty was able to assess the retention and application of learning, resulting in a change in behavior or attitude. This initiative bagged the Gold Medal from the Association of Indian Management Schools in 2021 for Innovation in Teaching at the Faculty Level.
Experiential Learning
At PSGIM, students don’t just acquire knowledge within a narrow and constrained classroom setting, rather, they apply this knowledge to real world business challenges through hands-on practice and proof test the accumulated pool of knowledge. Students of PSGIM go beyond the four walls and experience what business leaders endure and learn the crux of business as they manage different facets like time management, stress management, managing finance and group dynamics through our unique programs like Anveshana & Anubhav aimed to kindle the spirit of entrepreneurship and bring social awareness among the business school students
global immersion program (gip)
Students get to explore new cultures, economies and business practices through our global immersion program. They get opportunities to meet business professionals from different countries and get an inside view of macro and micro factors influencing international business practices. International study trips at PSGIM help you appreciate and understand varied culture, business practices and socio-economic, legal and technological factors influencing business decisions.
INTERNATIONAL COURSES
The PSG-IAS program purports to acclimatize global participants to an India of the future. Much can be learnt of the preparedness with which India, its economy, its culture, its emotions, its education system and its heritage are gaining from the newer leverages of India’s position in the world today. The PSG-IAS program is a 21-day exposure to India combined with lectures, visits to places of interest and learning that will give participants an intriguing insight of the country and its rich cultural heritage.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
– STEVE JOBS.
PSGIM has a rich history of producing successful entrepreneurs over the past few decades globally and nationally. The institute has created a strong eco-system to boost entrepreneurship in this part of the country. A strong team of alumni, students, faculty and the management is committed to foster entrepreneurship through knowledge sharing, training, consulting, funding and infrastructure support. PSG STEP (Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program) strongly supports start-ups in this region through incubation and training.
MENTORING
Mentoring is a powerful intervention that could bring about professional and personal growth in the mentored and the mentor. The Mentoring Program is designed to bring together students, faculty and professionals who share common professional interests. This intervention involves meaningful interaction with young students that will help them successfully navigate their dreams and accomplish their personal and professional goals.
ALUMNI-STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAMME
PSG Institute of Management has a very strong data base of 25,000 plus alumni who are very well accomplished in various fields across the globe. The Alumni- Student Mentoring Programme is a collaborative initiative taken between the PSG Management Alumni Association (PSGMAA) and the PSG Institute of Management, to connect fresh MBA students with PSG alumni who are established professionals and entrepreneurs. This initiative is unique and is the first of its kind two yearlong formal alumni-student mentoring programme in the country. The objective of this programme is to instil confidence in students, improve their self-efficacy, discover innate skills, and build professionalism so that they are industry ready. This programme is to have a pronged impact 1) for mentors, it is sure to provide personal satisfaction, an avenue for sharing and transferring their knowledge at the same time understands the present generation students and their aspirations in life, 2) a student mentee stands to gain exposure to real time business scenario and access to professional networks. By adopting this programme the Institute believes it will effectively engage alumni in building the institution and also help the institute raise the quality of education, improve job- placement rates among students and give back to the society, socially responsible managers who will create a better work culture.
networking
“STRONG ROOTS SPREAD GREATER REACH”
PSGIM aims to Build a lifelong network with our strong alumni consisting of management professionals, business leaders and successful entrepreneurs.
PSGIM’s Alumni Connect is one of among many flagship events where students get a chance to meet and interact with alumni consisting of management professionals, business leaders and successful entrepreneurs. Our alumni work in a wide spectrum of industries spanning consulting, technology, finance, real estate, media, manufacturing, IT, telecom, automobile, energy and healthcare and many more.
alps
The Active Learning Program Service (ALPS) of PSG Institute of Management is located at Annaikatti in a green serene, pollution free and in an exciting atmosphere. The place is 40 kms away from the city and used exclusively for the out bound training for the students of the institute. The major focus of the ALPS is to help the participants gain powerful and immediate insights into the work situations, relate better with co-worker, to enhance teamwork sprit, inculcate the habit of taking risk, improving communication and plan better. The major focus of all the above-mentioned parameters is to improve the team-playing abilities and leadership capabilities of the participants.
