Teaching

Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

When it comes to teaching, I generally subscribe to the Constructivist belief that learning occurs as learners are actively involved in a process of meaning and knowledge construction, as opposed to passively receiving information. My pedagogic interests and teaching philosophy are therefore mostly grounded on Hooks’ (1994) concept of Engaged Pedagogy – a Constructivist approach that encompasses a range of student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. According to Smith & O’Connell (2015), Engaged Pedagogies share aspects of active learning, research-based learning, interactive engagement, and empirically validated teaching practices, and have the following essential features:

- Purposeful, meaningful, and congruent with practices in the discipline
- Aligned with outcomes and assessment
- Promotes student-student and instructor-student interactions
- Encourages active learning
- Respects diverse talents and ways of learning

Hooks (1994) adds that engaged pedagogy sees students as whole human beings with complex lives and experiences rather than simply seekers of compartmentalized bits of knowledge.

Engaged Pedagogy greatly shapes my teaching approaches. I mostly create learning environments (such as blended and collaborative learning) that promote student-centered learning activities and require students to participate in active, engaging and collaborative processes. I do all this with the view to imbuing in students, skills such as critical thinking, creative and innovative problem solving, communication, media literacy, group collaborative activities etc. - the so-called 21st Century skills. Thus rather than lecturing, I make students engage in higher-order learning activities built around real-life problems, cases, projects etc., and they do these both in class and online.

Courses/Modules

  1. PHDICT880: Role of ICT in Management Research (PhD)
    This course addresses the specific aspects of ICT that contribute to innovation and value creation in an organization with respect to its customers, products, and markets.
    Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:
    - Critically appraise the impact of ICT on innovation and knowledge management research
    - Critically analyze and show the key drivers of innovation and knowledge management in an organisation and society at large
    - Appraise contemporary issues related to ICT, innovation and knowledge management research and propose alternative solutions
  2. GTUM40EKM: IS/IT Change Management (Postgraduate - MBA, MSc)
    This module considers the importance of change management in contemporary organisations and how organisations need to evolve in order to maintain or advance their strategic objectives.  The need for dynamic change strategies to progress (for example) global business and to underpin frequent organisational restructuring is considered; as is the need for practitioners to be proactive in the selection, promotion and implementation of solutions which enable the organisation to meet evolving customer quality demands. Alignment of various internal strategies is viewed as crucial to the success of both individual projects and to the organisation itself.The human aspects of change are examined: from stakeholders at one extreme, to the role and characteristics of the individual change agent at the other.
  3. MBAICTM575: Innovation & Technology Management (MBA)
    A postgraduate level course that aims at equipping students with the requisite knowledge and skills to enable them identify, acquire and implement new and innovative information technologies to sustain an organization’s competitive strategy. Students will learn how to plan IT options to address important competitive needs of the organization. Other themes covered in the module include: market-driven and technology-driven product development, risk management, successful leadership models, effective IT management techniques and styles, team approaches to problem-solving, competitive analysis and distribution strategies in the global market place.
  4. EDU 607: Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning (M.Ed)
    This course explores how technology may be used by teachers as a tool to facilitate changes in the ways teachers teach and students learn, and ultimately to examine how teachers can use technology more efficiently and effectively to improve student achievement. The course also examines how working educators can increase their own productivity by using technology for communication and collaboration among colleagues, staff, parents, students, and the larger community. The class meets in a technology-rich classroom environment to maximise the opportunity for hands-on learning.
  5. GTU304KM: Information Technology and Global Development (Undergraduate)
    The intended learning outcomes are that on completion of this module the student should be able to:
    - Critically evaluate drivers, critical success factors and barriers for global information technology.
    - Demonstrate an understanding of the various business model taxonomies.
    - Critically evaluate the effects of government policies relating to the use of digital technology.
    - Use digital resources to research a topic related to the influence of digital technology on society.
  6. GTU203CR: Designing for Usability 2 (Undergraduate)
    This module is an advanced level Human-Computer Interaction course, and is organised around an approach called User Centred Design (UCD), an iterative process which integrates user studies, interface design, prototypes and user evaluation to produce design concepts that work for people. UCD can be implemented in many ways. To support this, the module presents a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches to user data capture analysis, looking at a diverse range of methods from ethnographically-informed observation to formal usability evaluation.
  7. IT204: Java Programming (Undergraduate)
    A course designed to provide students with the essential know-how to write, compile and run Java applications. Java is used in a lot of different environments to create a lot of different kinds of applications. It can be used to build apps for mobile devices running on Android and BlackBerry, build web applications using Java Enterprise Edition and its servlets and JSP or JavaServer Pages architectures. Java can also be used to program microdevices including cell phone SIM cards.
    In this course, students learn programming concepts and applications by developing Java applications, and in the process develop critical skills for formulating programmatic solutions and translating the solutions into programs using selection statements, loops and methods. The course also prepares students for a more advanced Java course to be taken later