Open Learning expert from MIT leads a workshop on ‘Science of Learning’, hosted by the Centre for Teaching & Learning at IIMB
29 JULY, 2021: The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at IIM Bangalore conducted an enriching webinar as part of its ‘Samiksha’ series of webinars, on July 27th, on the ‘Science of Learning’.
Professor Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, was the lead speaker while Dr. Deepti Ganapathy, faculty from the Management Communication area at IIMB was the moderator. The panelists included Professor Sourav Mukherji (OB & HRM), Professor R Srinivasan (Strategy), Professor Jitamitra Desai, (Decision Sciences), and Ms. Anupama Kondayya, PhD scholar (OB & HRM).
Professor Sanjay Sarma began his lecture by talking about learning through the ages and pointing out that however far we have come, we will never have gone far enough. The world is changing faster than ever, and while our fundamental needs stay the same, how they are fulfilled are being relentlessly upgraded. The job market is constantly evolving as we refine our technological capabilities and redefine our understanding of ourselves, and it is only our ability to learn effectively and efficiently that will help us stay abreast of these advances.
As we have discovered, human health was not the only area that Covid-19 threw into disarray. The pandemic upended the world of business too. While some companies--like those in e-commerce--have thrived, others--like the hospitality industry--have barely survived. Our focus, in Professor Sarma's words, should therefore be on knowledge transfer, and not exams, to stay relevant.
Professor Sarma's primer on the biology of learning and his tour of the brain touched upon some misconceptions about teaching and learning that have limited us for centuries. He explored the principles of learning in detail, discussing mind wandering, spaced retrieval, interleaved learning, and embodied cognition amongst others.
The talk was followed by a panel discussion initiated by Anupama Kondayya, who reflected with Prof. Sarma on the relevance of making learning a two-way process in the management area so that students are allowed to share their insights as well.
Professor Jitamitra Desai and Professor Sarma discussed the need for incorporating authentic testing so that the learners can move away from bookish knowledge.
Professor R. Srinivasan discussed the ways to check learners’ ability to apply their learning and make the right judgement independently in real-life scenarios. Together, Prof. Sarma and Prof. Srinivasan concluded that jugalbandi between the coach and the learner must be established for transforming the learners. The discussion got further enriched with Professor Sourav Mukherji’s input that learning and teaching is a two-way street, and that learners need to take responsibility for their learning.
The panel discussion was followed by a short Q&A session where Prof Sarma answered questions from the audience.
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiskIrnZGxA
Open Learning expert from MIT leads a workshop on ‘Science of Learning’, hosted by the Centre for Teaching & Learning at IIMB
29 JULY, 2021: The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at IIM Bangalore conducted an enriching webinar as part of its ‘Samiksha’ series of webinars, on July 27th, on the ‘Science of Learning’.
Professor Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, was the lead speaker while Dr. Deepti Ganapathy, faculty from the Management Communication area at IIMB was the moderator. The panelists included Professor Sourav Mukherji (OB & HRM), Professor R Srinivasan (Strategy), Professor Jitamitra Desai, (Decision Sciences), and Ms. Anupama Kondayya, PhD scholar (OB & HRM).
Professor Sanjay Sarma began his lecture by talking about learning through the ages and pointing out that however far we have come, we will never have gone far enough. The world is changing faster than ever, and while our fundamental needs stay the same, how they are fulfilled are being relentlessly upgraded. The job market is constantly evolving as we refine our technological capabilities and redefine our understanding of ourselves, and it is only our ability to learn effectively and efficiently that will help us stay abreast of these advances.
As we have discovered, human health was not the only area that Covid-19 threw into disarray. The pandemic upended the world of business too. While some companies--like those in e-commerce--have thrived, others--like the hospitality industry--have barely survived. Our focus, in Professor Sarma's words, should therefore be on knowledge transfer, and not exams, to stay relevant.
Professor Sarma's primer on the biology of learning and his tour of the brain touched upon some misconceptions about teaching and learning that have limited us for centuries. He explored the principles of learning in detail, discussing mind wandering, spaced retrieval, interleaved learning, and embodied cognition amongst others.
The talk was followed by a panel discussion initiated by Anupama Kondayya, who reflected with Prof. Sarma on the relevance of making learning a two-way process in the management area so that students are allowed to share their insights as well.
Professor Jitamitra Desai and Professor Sarma discussed the need for incorporating authentic testing so that the learners can move away from bookish knowledge.
Professor R. Srinivasan discussed the ways to check learners’ ability to apply their learning and make the right judgement independently in real-life scenarios. Together, Prof. Sarma and Prof. Srinivasan concluded that jugalbandi between the coach and the learner must be established for transforming the learners. The discussion got further enriched with Professor Sourav Mukherji’s input that learning and teaching is a two-way street, and that learners need to take responsibility for their learning.
The panel discussion was followed by a short Q&A session where Prof Sarma answered questions from the audience.
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiskIrnZGxA