On teaching

I've been teaching for a few sems back in COEP with my friend Nikhil, and have been very happy to see quite a few people from the batch that just graduated (or will graduate) also pitch in their services to volunteer for some of the classes. The Computers department is very under-staffed, and this provides the students the excellent opportunity to interact and learn from the experience of their immediate seniors, while making decent use of whatever time they spent at the Dept. Now, it has always been fashionable to claim one never went to classes, in fact it was highly infra dig to go near Depts. In the past there was some justification for doing so, because the quality of teaching was never consistent, tended to be mundane and monotonous, and there was no real incentive to attend lectures. All resulting in the traditional last minute cram during the preparatory leaves prior to the exams. I wonder if by this recent move by alumni to engage lectures, we can actually make it fashionable for students to say they attend classes, especially if they actually get value for their time.

I don't want to seem boastful, but Nikhil and I definitely pioneered the two-in-one concept, where there is a pair of people teaching the same subject together. It divides the responsibilities well, improves the student-teacher ratio, and one can point out mistakes and problems easily. It makes life easier, we found. I only wish the students in all the classes of the Comp. & IT Dept who receive the benefit of their seniors' time will try and make good use of this opportunity, something we ourselves didn't have much of.