Panellists

Professor Dr. Suria Baba Director, Center for Academic Excellence & Development, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.	AP Ir. Dr. Hayati Abdullah Deputy Director (Teaching and Learning), UTM Academic Leadership (UTMLead), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.	AP Dr. Wan Nor Liza Wan Mahadi Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya

Moderator

Dr. Amira Firdaus

Deputy Director, Academic Enhancement and Leadership Development Centre

Leading Personalised Learning with Grit and Resilience

More so than before, there is a greater diversity in the student body and in our classes. Students come to us from diverse nationalities, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds. Beyond these demographic markers, we may also find a wide range of learning styles and abilities, different digital divides and varying personal circumstances. These individual differences and needs provide an argument for a personalised approach to teaching and learning that takes into consideration students’ strengths, skills, needs and interests. A challenge to this ideal is how to approach personalised learning within the existing curricular structures and institutional constraints. On the other hand, a compelling argument for personalised learning is the diverse circumstances that students - and lecturers too - may find themselves in, given the increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world that we live in today. We all need grit to persevere through difficult times, and resilience to bounce back from adversity. Personalising learning to the individual student’s needs and circumstances (and personalising teaching to the individual lecturer’s strengths and talents)  is one way of nurturing grit and resilience in our students (and in ourselves as lecturers). As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, the formerly safe and structured teaching and learning (T&L) environment is now disrupted. Students look to lecturers and teachers for leadership in the class, whether the class remains within the four walls of a physical classroom, is shifted to the virtual spaces of online platform, or delivered in a parcel via post. In both normal, and more so in “new normal” times, educators are not merely conduits of knowledge for our students, but we are pivotal leaders of their learning. Beyond delivering lessons and assessing learning, we have the potential to nurture students for success in studies and in life.

Join the LITEC 2020 forum panellists, all leaders in T&L, as they explore personalised learning to nurture grit and resilience.