Fostering Creativity & Innovation In Students

Bhupendra Paintola Apr 20, 2023

Rather than looking at innovation as a separate, standalone criterion, we need to see innovation as part of our curriculum, syllabus, teaching, learning and part of our placement activity, stated Dr V Bharathi Harishankar, Vice-Chancellor, Avinashilingam Women's University Coimbatore, while conveying about the environment that fosters creativity and innovation in students at the BW Education 6th Annual Higher Education Conference, held in Chennai on Wednesday.

Furthermore, she added, "When we look at the Indian education system at large, we find a very uneven playing field. So the question should be, "How do we provide students with the access to undo this situation."

Commenting on concept of collaboration and enhancing practical skills, P Sriram, Chairman, Chennai Institute of Technology, underlined that the most important stakeholder in teaching and learning is the student and we must take care of their expectations as well as ensure that they love to come to college. "Industry too has to come forward to collaborate with institutions for building skilled resources," Sriram emphasised.

Elucidating the importance of fostering creativity in students, Sriram said, "It is very important to develop the student’s cognitive. For this, they have to solve problems rather than study for examinations and get grades & degrees for a job. Once the students understand the problem, they can also come up with their problem statements about how the problem can be solved."

Dr Sivaji Chadaram, Vice-Chancellor, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (DU), highlighted the importance of comprehending the talent of students, saying, "We need to provide the right kind of environment to the faculty and then identify the talents among the student community. Depending on the talents, we can then segregate classrooms and practises. The students need to be exposed to the real-life situations and it is important for teachers to guide them on how effectively they can come up with solutions for that problem, which in turn will provide for his career growth."