Professor Saumen Majumdar, Faculty at IIM-Trichy, was recently voted by the students of IIM-Trichy as the InsideIIM Professor of The Year! He was kind enough to answer a set of questions we posed to him around his experiences as a Professor at one of India’s top IIMs, teaching some of the brightest minds in the country. Here is what Professor Majumdar has to say –
What is the best part about teaching these future leaders in your classroom?
Actually, the interesting thing is we at IIMs do not teach, we help students to learn. That inspires them to learn even more and also improvise and innovate along the way. They learn on their own.
Your students have praised you for the interesting ways in which you teach your classes to make studies interesting. How important do you think this approach is for the students to cope with the real world out there?
This helps them to approach any problem in the real world with confidence.
Cases, real-life examples, academic models/theories, projects with peers – Which method, according to you, is most effective in teaching your subject to students?
Whatever it takes to bring them up to speed to the current knowledge in the subject and fast track their knowledge accumulation in a limited time.
How has the use of technology transformed the modern MBA classroom?
It has become more participative and interactive. Very informative videos (YouTube) can help to impart knowledge with a greater visual effect, thereby extending their knowledge base and helping them to retain the same over a longer time.
How do you feel when you see people whom you have taught become successful in their lives and conquer the professional world out there?
Frankly, those are the data points I use to motivate the current batch and inspire them to go even further.
Give us one student’s story that you have closely followed or tell us about that one student who had amazing growth during their MBA and surprised you.
All students are equal to me. I ensure all of them get the same knowledge.
What are the kind of changes/developments that you see in the B-school curriculum in the years to come?
Use of alternate media: videos, computer simulations and use of graphics in any media forms. The curriculum has to be periodically modified to adapt to the changing requirements of the industry.
What, according to you, are some of the qualities that an aspiring B-school student must possess?
The inclination to learn more.
What are your thoughts about InsideIIM’s Professor of the Year initiative?
It is a bit embarrassing for me, but I feel happy about the kind appreciation from the students. I understand, over time, this initiative will serve as a great motivation for aspiring teachers and existing professors in particular and students in general.
Read all about the InsideIIM Professor of The Year series here.