Classroom equity: Creating educational equality

Career Development (Placement), Faculty, General Blog, IILM University27 MarchChavi SoodEducation, Embracing Liberal Education, Faculty, IILM Faculty Development Programme, IILM Gurgaon, IILM University, Liberal Education, students of IILM

Everything that happens in the society is a consequence of human actions. Even though it may seem like a roundabout route, any effort to build a brighter future must begin with a change within human beings themselves.

The way we distinguish our own lives is also the way we distinguish the lives of others. When we have a sense of our own dignity, we recognize the dignity of others and value their lives too. The most fundamental way to achieve peace and happiness is to help people around the world to the greatest extent to reveal the treasure of inherent dignity in their lives.

No epidemic or any other cause is worth depriving students of their right to education. Teachers should not be masters who offer themselves as paragons, but enablers who guide students towards achieving their goals.

It is important that we afford students the highest respect as individuals in their own right. Helping students grow requires total commitment on our part. There is a fine adult inside every child. We need to direct our voices to that inner adult. We must never treat children in a dismissive or condescending manner, assuming they won’t understand and thinking its okay not to fully explain things.

We must believe in students’ immense potential, and strive to develop their innate capacities as well as our own. The more we broaden our own minds, the more we can inspire and foster the students. That is why our growth is indispensable to our efforts to help others grow.

We, at IILM University, Gurugram believe in our students, trust them unconditionally and encourage them to grow and excel professionally as well as personally. We believe in providing immeasurable source of support and encouragement to them. Our effort to provide Liberal Education gives our students the flexibility, knowledge and wisdom to pursue their passion.

Fostering students contributes to our own growth. Teaching students makes us wiser. Learning together with our students and advancing together with them is a path of lifelong youthfulness, giving us fresh perspectives and vitality.

Critical Thinking: tool for a concrete judgment.

Uncategorized25 MarchSujata ShahiIILM Gurgaon, Management

Critical thinking could simply be defined as – evaluation of a problem to find the solutions
rationally but with novelty. It is what is applied to all forums despite of its nature of tasks and
execution, educational fields and employment settings. Preparing our students for future
employment, World Economic Forum has identified “Critical Thinking” as world’s important
dimension to promote futuristic learning and innovation. Hence it is mandatory to necessitate
the inclusion of this component.
The most challenging and debatable question in the present world is whether or not our
students are tuned to give logical judgments and critical solutions that are developed through
reasoned course of action. Quite contrary to what is expected the easiest way chosen by
students nowadays is to provide and subside for readily available solutions to problem
without scratching their creative minds. This could be either because of their inability or lack
of positive engagement to enable them to tap on their critical mind thus deterring them to
think of multiple solutions to arrive to a problem which is otherwise answered by them in a
singular pre existing manner.
All this makes the importance of brushing critical thinking component in the young mind
most vital. Fostering creativity, innovation, exploration can further lead to the nurturance of
critical thinking which can help them arrive at multiple solutions to the problem and then
evaluating while arriving at the best solution.
Many education institutions are constantly ensuring to brush upon this component by actively
engaging and encouraging students to think out of box, promoting and recognizing creativity
via projects and assignments tapping novelty. Recognizing the importance of the component
in employment world, higher education bodies are tuning the students and preparing them
well for futuristic job which involves the component of critical thinking along with leadership
skills, interpersonal skills with sound technical knowledge all making up to desirable
“Employability skills” looked by the employers during recruitment and promotion time
periods.
Why critical thinking is important?
APA defines critical thinking as- “ purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that uses cognitive
tools such as interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation of the evidential,
conceptual, methodological, or contextual considerations on which judgment is based.”

While we all agree that change is the only constant element of the world, it is not wrong to
say that with every minute change in the existing element new complexity arises and when
new complexity arises it is important to attend to it differently. If we were to attend to it in
the same manner then newness, creativity, exploration and innovation will be hindered. Thus
it is very important that we constantly switch directions, rethink and adopt creative problem
solving strategies to ensure that we enable divergent thinking to reach to convergent way of
reaching to solutions.
It is increasingly essential for Young minds who are also the future nation builders to explore
their creative minds and develop diverse strategies to apply new knowledge to current
complex situations of the world with the prerogative of coming to the finest of solutions.
Where knowledge institutions promotes critical thinking and suggests students to engage in
problem solving technology has massively created a constant stoppage by readily providing
the pre existing knowledge and solutions resisting students to think beyond the limits and
come up with novel ideas. While this seems to be challengeable issue, teachers in present
century are devising curriculums that promote critical thinking and are taking immeasurable
steps to prepare the futuristic nation builders to act purposefully. Not critical thinking is being
included in all courses where students are encouraged to use their problem solving ability to
identify, analyze, evaluate and derive solutions using their competencies. Teaching pedagogy
is now essentially incorporating it in the study plan through projects to ensure it gets
manifested in students while preparing them for professional world.
Following teaching strategies have been adopted to help promote critical thinking amongst
students:
1) Assessing the students on the basis of the learning outcome after every class either in
written or oral form so as to understand the extent of their learning and
comprehending the same in their own words.
2) Promoting group learning by presenting problems and helping them to argue ,
brainstorm and come out with multiple ways of arriving at solutions to the presented
problems.
3) Using the discussion oriented method students are encouraged to discuss and reach to
a potential viable solution of the case presented which is led by the student.
4) Utilizing peer group interaction to come up with innovative project inducing novelty,
team work and collaboration

Hence critical thinking is important in today’s world as it helps us in the process of reaching
conclusion. While it is important for all to harvest this trait to logically arrive at solutions
involving low to high risk matters.

Questions to reflect upon:
 Can students really benefit from strategies listed above to imbibe critical thinking?
 What are different unidentified errors that can bring inconsistencies in reasoning?

Reinventing Pedagogy

Faculty, General Blog, IILM University21 MarchPamposh Gulati#, #COVID19, #IILMUNIVERSITY, #knowledgeispower, #SCHOOLOFHUMANITIES, IILM Gurgaon

Reinventing Pedagogy

Every challenge is an opportunity, they say. I cannot begin to imagine how a deadly virus could be a game-changer for the humanity at large. These are trying times for all of us, but we need to accept that what began as an alternative approach to ensure business continuity is most likely to become the new normal. COVID-19 has brought along a reality check – that education technology that delivers prodigious content and engages students and teachers has never been more vital.

Corporates have been using online video collaboration platforms to keep business going, but for an industry like Education, this is the time for upskilling in a way that we continue to provide learning opportunities and other critical services to our students. This is the time to reflect and think beyond the challenges of the next few weeks.

Today there is an application for just about anything in education. A lot of us are deploying the best in AI, VR and AR and they are demonstrating the power to serve as a teacher in cases where students need to be isolated. However, we should not need a crisis like COVID 19 to rethink how education can function; because students, no matter where they are and how old they are should be able to make their way through their education and work journeys with the benefit of superior technical innovations that can more seamlessly identify, respond, correct and expose them to deep learning.

Let’s hope that when COVID-19 is in our rear-view mirrors, the innovations and technology that is helping our students today, continue to offer adaptable, online formats to educate our bright young minds. We should focus on developing our online infrastructure and have everything available to us and also because it’s not complicated. We need to change the age-old structure of imparting high-quality education that requires a face-to-face format.

While we wait with a lot of uncertainty for now, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s keep moving forward with all the resources that we, fortunately, have with us. Let’s together fight and emerge more stronger and consistent, because this too shall pass…

Liberal Arts Education: Door to Creativity, Happiness and Bright Future

Faculty, General Blog, IILM University28 NovemberDr. Vidhisha VyasBBA, BBA colleges in Delhi, Career, Embracing Liberal Education, IILM, IILM Gurgaon, IILM University, Management

Liberal Arts Education has become a buzz word in India from past couple of years. More and more parents and students are inquisitive about it and also showing positive inclination towards the same. Liberal world holds its origin in a roman word ‘liberalis’ which means freedom, hence, simply freedom to pursue the choice of discipline can be called as liberal arts. The term liberal arts originated in Europe however it was American Universities which make the concept not only popular but also successful. In fact, the liberal education brought many American Universities in limelight and on top spot in world university rankings. The Indian higher education was focused on Job driven unidirectional studies where focus was on ‘what to learn’ than ‘how to learn’. However, thanks to the fast changing world dynamics and need of multi facet skills, this trend is changing and driving Indian Higher Education system to embrace liberal arts education with arms wide open.

Is liberal Education new to India?

Before answering the question lets understand Liberal Arts Education. In the words of John Henry Newman, “The purpose of a Liberal Arts education is to open the mind, correct it, to refine it, to enable it to know and to digest, master, rule, and use its knowledge, to give its power over its own faculties, application, flexibility, method, critical exactness, sagacity, resource, address, and eloquent expression”.

If we read the above expression in depth then we understand that Liberal arts education had wide presence in ancient Indian universities like Nalanda and Takshila. Students studying in these esteemed Universities were imparted simultaneously knowledge in the field of grammar, philosophy, ayurveda, surgery, politics, warfare, astronomy, commerce, music, dance, and much more. The students were taught right blend of skills and subjects which were important to contribute in civic life.

Despite having strong educational past; during colonial era India was forced to adopt fixed curriculum model set up by British Education System. Also the greedy aspirations for professional degrees liberal education took back seat from main stream academia.

The Changing Paradigm

There is a pressing need for people to learn and enhance their creativity along with analytical skills and be a path finder in rapidly changing environment. The fast paced technological transformations and disruptions and challenges of degrading physical and social environment put forth the demand for leaders and scholars with deep sense of imagination, analytics and creativity.

Liberal arts education broadens the minds and understands the scenarios from diverse perspectives rather than being a conservative. It lights up the intellectual curiosity which fosters knowledge creation in subjects ranging from arts and humanities, social sciences to the natural and applied sciences. Liberal education inculcates problem solving and critical analysis skills which are much desirable in corporate world as well as in daily civic life. A sufficient emphasis on liberal arts education help us to tackle practical problems of this century and also provide our current and future generations a chance of freedom of knowledge and a way of living happy.

Who are making efforts?

Since 2015 Indian government decided to invest more in research universities, in social sciences and liberal education so that world ranking of Indian Universities can improve. Taking the initiative of the government forward private universities took charge to address the challenge and creating inter-disciplinary curriculum which are globally bench marked. However, very few have moved in this direction. IILM University situated in the heart of corporate Gurugram is centering interest in Liberal Arts education and aiming at inter-disciplinary education. IILM University has created the curriculum focusing on technology, psychology, business, design, communication skills, critical thinking and academic writing. The best part is, these courses are well aligned to the demand of the market. The extensive major and minor combinations open multiple career options. In all, liberal education not only shape career of the students but also creates informed and happy citizens.

Trip to camp “Mustang”_Manesar – Ice Breaking & team building activities.

Campus Life11 JulyVikram SharmaIILM, IILM bolg, IILM Gurgaon, IILM PGDM, team building activities

“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.”

Camping trips are great way to experience nature and knowing your peers, especially for the students of a new academic batch. Our first trip happened at Mustang Camp, Manesar on June 30, 2017 & the trip begun at 8:30. We all left IILM Gurugram campus with fellow batch mates, few staff members & our faculty, Vishal sir. We hardly knew our batch mates as the IILM PGDM session had just begun. This travelling of one hour from IILM, Gurugram to Manesar helped us know each other better.

We reached there at around 9:30 and after having refreshments we explored the place. We all were the new faces to each other as it was like a freshly made bouquet from various varieties of flowers. It was required for us to know all the good and bad fragrances of all our peers from many geographical differences. Thus many ice breaking activities were conducted at that camp. There were so many team building fun based activities like pottery making & designing, air gun shooting, trampoline, burma bridge, ground games (volleyball, cricket, badminton & football), which refreshed us inside out.

By 11:00 our trainer had arrived who kept us engaged in various team based tasks starting with games like scouts claps, fire the gun, and other such small activities to revive our childhood memories. Then he divided us in 4 teams of 12 members each and gave us various tasks. There were many activities that were conducted in which team and team members were the most integral part of the same. Activities such as Murder Mystery Solving, Catch the dragon tails, Balancing the hola hoops and slogan making were organized.

The trainer provided by IILM was well known about the team management skills and how those will get enhanced with various team building activities. He also taught us many lessons which will lead us to be a better person first and then a best manager in the corporate world.

Before the declaration of results we had sumptuous lunch amidst the pleasant weather. Soon after that the trainer and IILM faculty asked us to share our experiences. Many students shared how they made new friends and also got to know their strengths and weaknesses through these activities. The day ended up with rain dance. We left camp early as it started raining but it was really a delightful day which created memories that will last the lifetime.

The ultimate purpose of this trip was to imbibe the signature of team management in fresh IILM PGDM students. This made us known to each other so as to increase our comfort and confidence level. We strongly believe that today’s preparation leads to the tomorrow’s achievements.

I will end my experience by quoting that, “WE are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”

Thank you IILM for such a great experience.

Inputs from
Rishabh Saxena
Monika Sharma

Saakshi Vijay
(PGDM17-19)

Saraswati Pooja at IILM GURGAON – 1/2/17

Events06 FebruaryVISHAL GOELBasant Panchami at IILM GURGAON, IILM Gurgaon, Saraswati Pooja, Saraswati Pooja at IILM GURGAON

IILM GURGAON has always believed in prosperity through participation. PG1 Students at our gurgaon campus organised the Saraswati Puja (Basant Panchami) on the onset of beginning OF Spring from 1st feb 2017.

On this auspicious day, faculty, staffs and student came together to seek blessings of the goddess of knowledge, music, art and culture. It was graced with the presence of Senior Director of IILM, Director, Dean accompanied by faculty members and non teaching staffs. students with utter joy joined the harmonic ceremony.

Celebrating Saraswati Puja is a ritual attempt to preserve Indian culture and to impart a sense of respect towards long established traditions, which IILM always keep at helm of priority. Worship of goddess began with the lighting of lamp by respected designated faculties and students. Puja of Saraswati pratima in saraswati mandir of IILM was conducted in sync with chanting of saraswati vandana and holy chorus. Students not only conducted puja but also enlightened on the concept of worshipping goddess of knowledge. Everyone present there in traditional wear was a colorful touch to the day. Special prasad was prepared with laddu and palm and was offered to Ma Saraswati. Event was ended in a very soulful way by serving prasad to everyone present there.

Sanjana Banerjee
PG16-18

Student Engagement activities classes at IILM Gurgaon

Campus Life06 JanuaryUrvashi NandrajogIILM Gurgaon, Student Engagement activities

Work-life balance is the quintessential need in today’s day and age. For some its taking time out to pursue a hobby and letting go of all the worries.

Keeping this in mind, Student Engagement activities have been organized after classes at IILM Gurgaon.

A game of Volleyball became the breather in the day for some of the students while for the others, Badminton was the sport that helped rejuvenate them.

One of the most loved activities was the movie screening of ‘Conjuring’ which kept everyone gripped onto their seats.

The making of a Video on ‘Life as a Management student’ got some students excited to display their hidden talent and share some special moments at IILM Gurgaon.

To kick-start the weekend and to help ease off the week’s stress, a Dance Workshop on Hip-Hop was been scheduled

Stay posted for more!