TITLE : Motivation, Developing Mastery, Deliberate Practice and Feedback (How to engage with and inspire students)
ABSTRACT :
A large fraction of students coming to IITs now goes to coaching classes for two to three years before they appear for JEE. Furthermore, both JEE (Main) and JEE (Advanced) are multiple choice questions (MCQ) based examinations. Not going to regular school, coupled examination-centric coaching, makes student join an IIT with little relevant prior knowledge and lack of training in independent, rigorous and logical thinking. Thus, a large number of students, although meritorious and talented, are not well prepared for demands of higher education. This leads to they not performing well academically and as a result losing motivation to study. Given this scenario, the challenge today’s faculty members face is to keep students motivated, teach them in a way that they learn the subject well and graduate with good professional knowledge in their chosen field of study.
In this talk, we will discuss research-based insights that have been gained in the methods of teaching so that students remain motivated and work towards developing mastery in their subject through deliberate practice.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER :
Prof. Manoj Kumar Harbola is a theoretical physicist and a Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where he has served since 2000. He earned his Ph.D. from the City University of New York under Prof. Viraht Sahni. His research centers on the electronic structure of atoms, molecules, and solids, with a particular focus on density functional methods. A renowned educator, Prof. Harbola was received IITK's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2023. He also serves as the Professor in charge of the Center for Educational Research and Teaching Excellence (CERTEX), IITK’s upcoming hub for research-informed, technology-enabled teaching.
MEETING DETAILS :
Speaker: Professor Manoj K. Harbola (IIT Kanpur)
Venue: A18-2, North Campus, IIT Mandi
Date and Time: Sept 16, 2025, Tuesday at 4:00 PM