Student Effort Hours: 

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
As a teacher, I believe in engaging students as much as possible, both intellectually and emotionally. Thus, in this class you can expect to laugh, be puzzled and maybe even frustrated. It’s all part of the learning experience and reflects my belief (and experience) that deep and meaningful learning happens at the edges of comfort zones. A variety of teaching methods designed to stimulate class participation and interaction with course content will be used. The course will combine theoretical and experiential learning through the use of lectures, case studies, simulations, group projects, video excerpts and class discussions. A special feature of this programme will be the use of practical exercises and demonstrations relating to selected major concepts and the use of instruments to allow students to gain insight into their own characteristics as related to the materials studied. Several case studies will be discussed in class and you’ll be receiving further details on that from the programme managers ahead of the first class.

While I take responsibility for structuring the course and guiding the learning process, final responsibility for what is learned rests with you individually. The teaching philosophy in this course is to rely heavily on a self-learning process aided by ongoing class discussions. I expect you to contribute fully to the class, and I welcome feedback and suggestions as to how we can shape the learning process together.

Class Attendance and Participation Policy

Class participation is an important part of your role as a student and it gives you an opportunity to practice your communication skills. I see class participation not as an optional component of the course, but as a basic feature of it. In other words, students need to prepare well for each class by reading the required material in advance and participate fully in class discussions. You have to learn to speak up and/or communicate with people from different cultures at some point in your career; you may as well do it in class among friends and colleagues. Class contributions may consist of:

1. Comments on readings:
• Statement of issues related to the readings;
• Observations of how readings, etc. apply to specific situations
• Application of material to one’s personal experience or circumstance
• Making connections between various readings and class material
2. Active participation in simulations, cases and exercises

I do not give marks for attendance as I wish to treat you as adult learners who are responsible for their own learning process. I feel that rewarding attendance through marks does not sit well with my respect for you as self-driven students. What I am asking is that you exhibit a professional attitude; that is, expect of yourself the same conduct that you would if you were attending a training in your work-place: if you cannot come to a certain class for some reason or need to leave early, please let me know, in advance. I reserve the right (and have done so in the past) to lower the grade of students who miss more than an accumulated equivalent of one-day of lectures (i.e., 3-4 hours) without pre-approved or officially documented reasons.

The above is equally, if not more, important while we are teaching and learning remotely. It is difficult enough for me to talk to the computer screen on zoom; it works better when I see your face and your reactions. Therefore, please have your video ON when you are attending classes, unless you face a technical problem. 

Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing.