The management of Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) has conducted a two-day faculty development workshop for all faculty on Teaching Effectiveness Initiative. The program was done from the 17th July 2024 to 18th July 2024.
Titled ‘Empowering educators by transforming learning through peer-to-peer experiences: prospects and challenges of academic strategies 2023-2024′, the workshop was designed to engage the faculty in peer-to-peer learning, thereby identifying the best and most viable teaching pedagogies best suited for 21st-century learners.
In his opening remarks to declare the program open, Prof. Bashiru Adeniyi Omipidan, the dean of the School of Legal Studies (SLS), said that teaching and learning have been transformed due to technological advancements, forcing tutors to adapt or phase out. He admitted that “today interactive learning rules the academic world, where critical thinking and problem-solving lead to discovery.”
During his presentation on effective teaching methods, he identified interactive learning as one of his pedagogies. He said the technique significantly ensured the personal development of the students, which is in line with technological demands.
In their distinct presentations, Dr. Sudha Mavuri, who doubles as the dean of the Schools of Arts, Management and Social Sciences (SAMSS) and Postgraduate Studies (SPGS) and Dr. Senthil Kumar, the dean of the School of Science and Information Technology (SSIT), highlighted Group Discussion Flip Class, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and project-based learning as pedagogies that have yielded good results. They noted that they were successful in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
Faculty from different departments who presented during the event highlighted blended learning, problem-centric approaches, practical-based teaching, integrative learning, health-oriented projects, conference/seminar models, and mixed methods, among other successful methods that they, experimented with during the 2023–2024 academic year.
The faculty shared success stories of students’ performances in activities like Cultural Day, World Aids Day, World Bicycle Day, IEEE Challenge, development of software, TiE Dubai Pitching, and development of prototypes among many other successes.
Disclosing her remarks after the event, Ms. Hamdi Labaran, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at SUN, stated that the event was indeed an eye-opener. She said she culled interesting experiments from her colleagues and is eager for next year’s event.
In her concluding remarks, Dr. Mavuri, the chairman of the Teaching Effectiveness Initiative committee applauded the members of the committee – Mr. Adetunji Oluwapelumi, Mr. Miracle Uwa Livinus and Mr. Farid Illo, for the effective conduct of the session. She lauded the efforts of the Vice – Chancellor Prof. Ajith Kumar V. V. for his unwavering support towards the continuous development of the institution.
She then acknowledged that she has learnt immensely from especially young and enthusiastic faculty. She also noted that peer-to-peer learning is the best option for learning from colleagues as teaching is more of collaboration and innovation.
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