Best Practices

Best Practice I

Title of Best Practice I: Extensive use of Learning Management Software (LMS).

Objectives of the Practice:

• To ensure that students have access to necessary learning materials all in one place
• To help cater to diverse learning needs with the use of both basic and advanced resources
• To give teachers greater flexibility in the planning and delivery of courses
• To provide equal opportunities to students of all backgrounds and abilities
• To ensure that self-assessment by students is possible
• To improve accessibility and user-friendliness for better learning
• To ensure that students who miss an occasional class can catch up before the next class
• To create multiple resources placed on Moodle to suit different learning styles
• To help teachers be better organised and track progress across the semester

Context

St. Mary’s College began to use a Learning Management Software (LMS) based on the Moodle platform in 2018. Over the next few years, more and more courses, including their course-handouts and resources, began to be added on the LMS. Since 2021, the focus has been on improving the quality of resources with near universal coverage of content. During the pandemic, the use of LMS made a significant difference to the effectiveness of online classes. While post-pandemic, physical classes resumed, the use of the LMS has only gone up as it helps the College meet many additional objectives as listed above. In a sense, the pandemic accelerated the process of universal adoption, but it was anyway part of the strategic plan. For a college that is focused on comprehensive education and exceptional student experience, the use of LMS is not only critical but also logical. Hence, the College and the teaching staff continue to invest time and resources in building the LMS. The College has a dedicated server on which the platform is hosted and is maintained by dedicated technical staff of the parent Society.  What began as a novel initiative grew from strength to strength and has today become a critical part of the teaching and learning process at St. Mary’s College.

The Practice:

Each student is provided with a login ID and password. A look at the courses on Moodle from across various departments gives a sneak peek into the amount of effort, creativity and learning that has gone into making this a reality. Course handouts, session plans, and e-resources for every session are made available on the LMS, which helps learners come prepared for a session and catch up easily when they miss one. What is visible at present to students, is the result of a lot of hard work put in by teachers – some of whom were not digital natives- to prepare quality courses on Moodle. There are a lot of peer learning sessions, one-on-ones, and patient hand holding workshops which resulted in the present reality that significantly benefits students. Advanced resources are placed for advanced learners, whereas the comprehensive content accessible anytime and from anywhere for self-paced learning helps all, especially the slow learners. The teachers realise that the axiom- One Size Fits All- does not suit the academic make up of any institution. For this purpose, there are multiple resources placed on Moodle to suit different learning styles. 

Evidence of Success

The extensive use of LMS by our students is a testimony of its success. It also helps the teachers flip the classroom, allowing for student-led sessions and participative learning. This has been one of the biggest gains of Moodle. Almost all teachers prefer giving assignments on Moodle. This leads to clarity of communication when it comes to assigning tasks. The students need to upload their assignments on Moodle. LMS equips students also for technology-intensive tasks. Lot of external video material, apart from video lessons prepared by teachers, is included. Students watch/ view these in advance and prepare for student-led peer discussions in a flipped classroom. 

Problems Encountered and Resources Required

The primary problem in the initial days was the lack of buy-in from senior faculty members, especially those who did not find it convenient to use digital resources. For teachers who did not use digital resources themselves, it was not easy to either appreciate or understand the requirements of such a system. However, with everyone helping each other and with adequate training, all teachers eventually began to use digital resources even for themselves. The pandemic did speed up the adoption of digital technology. The resources required included a committed leadership with sound understanding of technology, a dedicated server, appropriate software (such as Moodle) and technical support.

Best Practice II

Title of Best Practice II: Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework.

Objectives of the Best Practice: 

• To provide staff with the ability to choose a mix of routine personal goals and stretch goals
• To help staff define their terms of success  balance personal and professional objectives
• To enable our teachers to be more productive in more areas of their choice and interest
• To give our faculty members the choice to choose areas that they wish to work on and accomplish these goals in a set period of time. 
• To encourage collaboration among staff by making individual goals public.
• To create a culture of accountability and mutual encouragement
• To equip leaders to deal with diversity and support the varying requirements of different members.

Context

Improvement in staff collaboration is all pervasive as each staff, at the semester beginning, makes public what their objectives for the semester are, along with the key results expected. This means that an environment of mutual help is the only way out to meet goals. OKRs are placed on the work stations of all teachers and what ensues makes for amazing camaraderie. For e.g.: An English teacher, who needed help with statistical tools to complete a course could now get help from the statistics teacher. Similarly, a statistics teacher who needed help in framing the right sentences could get help from the English teacher. There is a welcome change in the ambience exuding positivity across the campus. Alongside collaboration, a public statement of goals and objectives also brings some level of personal accountability. It also gives supervisors the opportunity to know the objectives of the team members, helping them provide timely support during their regular check-ins.

The Practice:

Objectives are made in line with the institution’s strategic plan as well as the individual’s own interests and priorities. This ensures that as an institution, a sense of team spirit develops as each one’s strengths are put to optimum use to accomplish organisational goals. While the strategic plan is partly realised through OKRs, individuals also accomplish set targets. Public display of OKRs allows peers and supervisors to know the priorities and focus areas of others, helping them to support each other in meeting their goals. Alignment of elements from the strategic plan with personal interests is a big gain. This serves a dual purpose of accomplishing key institutional goals and individual goals without much conflict between them. There is a sense of teamwork in the process as each individual in his/ her capacity takes the responsibility to help their peers accomplish their goals. This leads to possibilities of cooperation within and beyond the departments too.

Evidence of Success

OKRs have caused a genuine sense of support and transparency. Facilitation of mutual support in goal achievement has been the biggest takeaway. Notable increase in PhD enrolments, assistance in research work extended from across departments, student seminars and publications, health improvement among staff due to them setting fitness goals etc are some of the biggest benefits gained by the institution as a result of the roll out of an OKR-based system. These are areas where this best practice has yielded tremendous success. Several departments have benefitted immensely as they have seen an increase in the number of papers presented, research articles published, PhD enrolments by staff and also, greater completion rates for PhDs and even additional PG degrees.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required

For many employees used to the traditional system, it is easier for them to do what someone else is asking them to do. Hence, in the initial stages of the roll out, it was difficult for some to come up with their own objectives and goals for the semester or year ahead. The second challenge was to get over the initial hesitation of making public individual goals and then encourage people to collaborate. The third problem was that many supervisors were not ready or adequately prepared to move away from a complete KRA system to an OKR-based system. The resources required were primarily human resources and adequate training. The transition is time consuming and this can work, the way it has worked for many of the top companies today, only if there is a long-term commitment from all stakeholders involved.