Class Activities

Active learning is not a new concept. It “derives from two basic assumptions: (1) that learning is by nature an active endeavor and (2) that different people learn in different ways” (Meyers and Jones, 1993). Class activities are better than lectures, because lectures gives the basic knowledge but to engage the students, class activities are very important. However, for the sake of maintaining student interest, and facilitating meaningful, and eventually self-directed learning, it can be very helpful to vary the teaching and learning activities you employ in the classroom. For well over a decade, the focus of the university classroom has steadily shifted from a teaching-centric approach to a learning-centric approach (Barr & Tagg, 1995). Therefore, these days traditional classroom is converted into practical learning experience. New pedagogy is adapted to enhance the learning process. Under a learning-centric approach, the instructor retains “control” of the classroom, but thought is regularly given to: (a) how well students will learn the material presented, and (b) the variety of pedagogically sound methods that may be employed to help the students better understand the core information to be learned. Our faith in learning through various methods leads us to take up indoor as well as outdoor activities almost every day. Each activity has an objective. A glimpse of activities conducted across classes :

1. Situational Cases:

The term ‘case study’ covers a wide range of problems posed for analysis, but most types include several key elements. Most cases are the reflection of real-time stories, with which students can connect themselves with the case directly. This empathy creates a better understanding. These case studies help in decision making, as students have to resolve the issues related with the cases and have to come up with one decision. Indeed, a survey of faculty and students at Harvard Business school found that what engages students most in a case is that it tell a story: “a good case presents an interest provoking issue and promotes empathy with the central characters. It delineates their individual perspectives and personal circumstances well enough to enable students to understand the characters’ experience of the issue. Hence, situational cases reflects the importance of the compelling issue and the empathetic character reflects the fact that cases typically focus on the intersection between organizational or situational dynamics and individual perception, judgment, and action” (Boehrer and Linsky, p.45) and therefore are used.

2. Group Discussion: Group discussion is an important activity in any educational institutes. In this activity, students exchange their ideas and express their feelings through verbal communication. Through this exchange of ideas, students share their thoughts with each other. Students sit facing each other almost in a semi-circle and express their views on the given topic/issue/problem. It helps the students to train themselves to discuss and argue about the topic given, it helps them to express their views on serious subjects and informal situations. It improves their thinking, listening and speaking skills. It also promotes their confidence level. It is an effective tool in problem-solving, decision making and personality assessment. GD skills may ensure academic success, popularity and good admission or job offer. Thus it is important to be able to take part in a GD effectively and confidently. Hence, it is done to improve the confidence, exhibiting leadership skills and make the group achieve the goals.
3. Writing on Props: It helps the students to improve their creative skills and boost their writing skills. It is a gradual process of imagining, thinking and learning. Students become confident through regular practice of this activity. It helps the students to improve their thinking power, vocabulary, grammar skills. It is an effective tool for confidence building.
4. Communication for a cause: Communication is the process of transmitting information and common understanding from one person to another. The study of communication is important because every administrative function and activity involves some form of direct or indirect communication. Whether planning and organizing or leading and monitoring, school administrators communicate with and through other people. This implies that every person’s communication skills affect both personal and organizational effectiveness (Brun, 2010; Summers, 2010). It seems reasonable to conclude that one of the most inhibiting forces to organizational effectiveness is a lack of effective communication (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2010). Moreover, good communication skills are very important to one’s success. A recent study indicated that recruiters rated communication skills as the most important characteristic of an ideal job candidate (Yate, 2009). Communication for a cause is an effective way to put the ideas of students for some constructive motive. The main purpose was to demonstrate their skills through various modes. Here, they were asked to make jingles for any social cause. It made them more sensitive towards the cause and also improved their communication and presentation skills.
5. Dessert Survival Activity: The “Desert Survival” Team Building Exercise is a fun way to bring your group together as they problem solve, work as a team, and learn to trust one another. The class was divided into teams. For the sake of group solidarity and bonding, it’s a good idea to recommend that each team come up with a name for their group. The Desert Survival Team Building Exercise hand-out were distributed and each team was told that they must follow the directions. The class was given ten minutes to fill out the ranking individually. Then teams were twenty minutes to rank the importance of the items they salvaged from the plane wreck and come up with a plan for either escaping the desert or finding help. When the time was up, a member of each group was invited to come forward share their team’s decisions, along with rationalizations for their actions. Because this activity fosters teamwork and trust, there are no “losers.”