The robust training methods focuses on a hands-on approach towards the subjects taught to students, says Asst. Professor

Assistant Professor-Amritansh Nigam of MET Institute of Mass Media talks in detail about the institute's teaching technique in an interview with Shiksha.com. He goes into great depth on the institute's effective teaching methods, including inviting visiting professionals in their fields of speciality to assist students in preparing for the competitive environment.

Nigam has worked in a variety of sectors, including finance, media, and education.

Read the complete interview below.

Q: What are the salient features of the teaching methodology adopted by your college? How does this differ from others?

A: At MET IMM, we believe that different subjects require different methods. Hence, we have an open and inclusive approach towards our methods of teaching. Our approach to teaching is through practical experience and demonstration of the concepts in real life situations. MET Institute of Mass Media’s robust training of the students by visiting professionals in their areas of expertise helps us in preparing them for a competitive environment in the media world. We use learning aids that complement the topic at hand and give them assignments that are directly reflective of the type of work that they will be given in the industry. We align theory with practice, so they truly understand the subject and how to use the theory to best suit the needs of the client/consumer, etc.

Our robust training of the students by visiting professionals in their areas of expertise helps us in preparing them for a competitive environment in the media world. The training focuses on a hands-on approach towards the subjects taught to them. Our pedagogy focuses on distributing the subjects into smaller objectives with a complete practical and wholesome media training. Internships are a crucial part of our structure.

Our approach to teaching is through practical experience and demonstration of the concepts in real life situations.

Q: How are you preparing your students to be Industry ready?

A: Our comprehensive training of students by visiting professionals in their fields of specialty aids us in preparing them for a competitive media environment. The programme emphasises a hands-on approach to the subjects being taught. Our approach focuses on breaking down subjects into smaller learning objectives, with a particular focus on ensuring that each learner has a solid foundation in that subject. Internships are an essential component of our educational program. After the internship module, we connect with the relevant organisations to take their feedbacks of the students and customise our learning goals along with the syllabus to assist the students in the areas where they lack. This gives us an opportunity to retrain our students according to the needs of the industry, every time. We give them assignments that are typical of the industry needs and current requirements of the field. We also give them live projects by connecting them to professionals working for brands/production houses/ agencies that gives them exposure to the actual working of a project from ideation to execution.

Q: What are the qualities you are looking for in student applicants? What qualities do they need to do well in your course?

A: The formal eligibility for the programme is graduation in any field/ stream (completed) or TY appeared where the applicant needs to submit the graduation marksheet within specified timelines to qualify for the ADMM certification. Students need to have a zeal and enthusiasm for the media industry that pushes them to excel. We want candidates who are inclined towards becoming professionals. They should be ready to work hard and ensure a disciplined approach towards their education. We believe in the values of respect, honesty, integrity and humility.

Q: How do you ensure that your course curriculum is up-to-date and meets industry requirements?

A: We have regular meetings with our visiting professionals, who are currently working in the media world, about the latest requirements and developments in their respective media fields. This helps us gain valuable insight into their business and change the curriculum, according to the recent developments in the industry. Our visiting professionals provide us with their feedbacks regarding changes in the curriculum, which helps us verify our additions to the syllabus. We regularly consult our students regarding any updates in the syllabus which they want to include for their learning. Especially, post internships, we interview our students and update our syllabus with their inputs.

Q: Is your college receptive to innovation, technology, science & entrepreneurship? How? Could you cite some examples of these?

A: Innovation is the heart of our media training. We encourage our students to experiment with various ideas, to make mistakes and learn from them. In the real world, there are no perfect conditions or perfect time, it demands that you take action swiftly and decisively. Hence, we guide our students to make decisions and learn from them. During the pandemic, we quickly integrated our classrooms to new platforms like google meet and created a complete LMS system integrating our assignments online. Our assignments, which are customised according to the needs of the subject and students, were submitted by our students online. Despite being online, we had our students write scripts, make films, do debates, group discussions, learn tools and software programmes  like Canva, Adobe photoshop, Kinemaster, Audacity, make prototypes for projects required, pitch brand plans and business plans to real clients and investors. We encourage students with an entrepreneurial streak and assist them at every possible step.