Teaching Statement
Vighneswara Swamy
Professor of Economics, IBS-Hyderabad, India
September 2019
1. Teaching Summary:
I started in my teaching career at IBS-Hyderabad in Spring 2008. I have had the opportunity to teach MBA and professional students a variety of subjects ranging from Finance to Economics courses. As evidenced by my vitae I have taught courses like Macroeconomics and Business Environment; Managerial Economics; International Finance and Trade; Risk Management in Banks; Credit Management; Retail Banking; Corporate Banking; Banking Management; and Microfinance Management. Microfinance Management is a new course I developed from scratch. I successfully taught the new course to about 350 students in the four semesters since the introduction. While teaching the course – Risk Management in Banks, I have developed a customized textbook published by Tata McGraw Hill Publishers. However, while the courses and students have differed, student feedback on my teaching has remained consistently excellent. Currently, I’m teaching Macroeconomics and Business Environment, and Managerial Economics to MBA students. My student feedback ranges from 8.0 to 9.6/10 with average student strength of each section ranging over 90.
As a testament to my teaching ability, I was recently honored with NJ Yasaswy – Apollo Hospitals Best Teacher Award 2018-19 for all-round excellence. I was also recognized for best teaching by the alumni federation with the IBSAF Best Teacher Award 2017.
2. Teaching Experience
Beginning in Spring 2008 till 2010, I started teaching finance courses like Banking Management, Risk Management in Banks, and Microfinance Management MBA students. Beginning Fall 2011 to 2012, I taught Credit Management; Retail Banking; Risk Management in Banks; and Corporate Banking. From 2015 to 2016, I taught Banking Management, and Risk Management in Banks, and International Finance and Trade. Since 2018 onwards I have been teaching Macroeconomics and Business Environment, and Managerial Economics. Generally, my MBA class size has been about 90 to 100 students. I have also coordinated the multi-section courses as the course coordinator.
3. Teaching Philosophy
My approach to classroom teaching builds from two principles: (i) involve and motivate the students thoroughly and (ii) employ a methodical approach with focus, dedication, commitment, and empathy. I provide a comprehensive course handout to the students to keep them fully informed of the course flight. My aim is to not read off PowerPoint but to reinforce concepts through illustrations, role plays, discussion, and collaboration.
My class includes many examples and sample problems that are relevant for graded material. Students are encouraged to participate without judgment. My goal is to take real-world experience and open it up in the classroom in a way that students can relate to. My experience outside of academia is evidenced in my CV with more than a decade of working in a public sector bank. My classes also include relevant current events. The sources for my events are drawn from news articles in the Economist, The Economic Times, and the New York Times. My aim is to make the class interesting and engaging for both strong students and those that need extra attention. It is a challenge to maintain a balance between students who grasp the material quickly and students that require more time to learn a concept. This is overcome by solving advanced problems and giving extra information or working the problem many times for the slower ones to catch up.
Although I often use a current topic of interest to motivate a lecture, I am also cognizant of the importance of clearly articulating the core principles that can help students both analyze the particular application I am addressing as well as be able to apply the concept to other situations that may be relevant to them. To that end, I make sure to explicitly incorporate keywords, facts, puzzles, objective questions for the students in my lecture notes. Moreover, to keep a consistent pace and give students the time to process the concepts, I conduct online concept checks.
I believe in learning by understanding the evidence (Evidence-Based Learning). I teach my courses using numerous real examples in the world – partly based on my own research experience. This has been well received by the students.
4 Teaching Methods and Materials
I use effective methods and materials to enrich my teaching and facilitate students’ learning. Each of my course is well structured and the students get a comprehensive course handout detailing every aspect of the course.
· Case-based pedagogy
I use case-based pedagogy in my teaching as it helps students develop skills in analytical thinking and reflective judgment by reading and discussing complex, real-life scenarios. I used HBS cases and IBSCRC cases in my courses. I supplement each case by providing a brief case analysis to the students to refer to after the in-class case discussion.
· Electronic and Web resources: Swayam Videos, Syndicated Databases
I use Swayam videos, Web games, Web resources, Databases
· Games
I also use games in the classroom to drive home the concepts of Game theory, trade theory, etc.
5. Advising and Mentoring Students
Outside the classroom, I provide students with ample audio-visual resources to have success in the class. I find innovative ways to stay connected to students. In addition to standard office hours, I make sure that students felt comfortable contacting me at their convenience either in person, via the phone, or by email. I speak or exchange e-mails with every student in the class—often multiple times—to assist them in organizing their ideas and developing their arguments. I take extra care of the students who need special attention. I help my students by arranging their summer internships using my industry contacts in top corporate houses.
Finally, I would like to state that I hope to continually improve my teaching skills by incorporating new ideas and new research into the courses.