We have achieved our goal of creating young minds through our values and unique pedagogy, says Dean of ABBS

Dr D M Mahishi is Dean-Academics at Acharya Bangalore B School (ABBS). He holds a PhD, Post Doc-UF-USA. He has an industry experience of 18 years of which 12 years he has worked in the education industry. In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Mahishi talks about the unique pedagogy that aims at “transformative education” wherein there is a holistic approach for all-round development of a student. He also talks about the pre-placement training wherein the industry recruiters are called to apprise students about the skills and aptitude required in different industries.

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

 A: We have developed, over a decade, a unique pedagogy that aims at “transformative education” wherein there is a holistic approach for all-round development of a student. We have given more emphasis to activity-based learning. The teaching-learning modules are student-centric and the participation is at individual as well as in teams. We have achieved our goal of creating young minds with great analytical power, professionalism and leadership qualities.

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

 A: We have integrated our academic curriculum with inputs from industry. Students visit industries regularly and learn from the real-time management of industrial processes.  The industry experts are called for a presentation during an interactive session. Students get opportunities to work in industry as interns as well as they carry out their project work in an industry. During pre-placement training the industry recruiters are called to appraise our students about the skills and aptitude required in different industries.

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

 A: Students taking up a particular course should have a clear understanding about the specialisation. They should have a prior idea about the basic knowledge and skills required in the new course. Students need to know the quantum of efforts involved for successful completion. Students should also know the main aspects of personality needed for practicing the new profession.

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

A: The regular interaction with industry gives us the timely input for identifying the new skills and the emerging technology. We design new modules under certificate programmes to train our students in the latest technology.  The certification programs conducted by us are well accepted by the industry.

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

A: The regular interaction with the industry and business world has given us the direction for being innovative and tech-savvy. Students are motivated to become entrepreneurs and we provide them the initial inputs and incubation facility for the startup.

For example, based on industry input, we have started certificate programs in Business analytics, Supply chain management and Nanotechnology. Our students are preferred during recruitments owing to the additional skills.