Our students are postgraduates, which means mature students.  Hence, I applied the andragogy technique in my teaching, facilitating their learning and knowledge discovery.  At the postgraduate level, the important aspect is applying knowledge in the real world. Apart from lecturing in my course, I encourage the students to collect and organise related data, apply the theoretical aspects they learned during the lecture, and formulate new or enhanced solutions in the current environment.  From this approach, my students can identify the various aspects of the solution to the issues and challenges that occur in the real ICT environment.  In addition, with a systematic and structured body of knowledge, my students can critically analyse and evaluate the current problem.  During class, I appreciated all the experiences shared by the students and even turned it into an interesting discussion for the whole class.  Those discussions, normally issues they faced at the workplace, were then suggested to be resolved by incorporating the subjects I taught: Business Analytics, Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Information Assurance.  Therefore, this becomes an inspiration and an appreciation of these subjects’ values, and it can be a systematic solution from the classroom to the real organisation.  My wide experience in the private and public sectors also greatly impacts my student-learning approach. For most of the topics we discussed in class, I will share my experience managing those tasks and how to impart the particular topics in real-life industry scenarios.  I can divide my student’s learning goals into short-term and long-term ones. For the Short Term, the student will be able to complete the course as stated in the Course Learning Outcomes, while for the long term, the student will be able to apply their knowledge tacitly and implicitly in their life.

My teaching style is a mixture of teacher and mentor.  As a teacher, I guide and explain to the student the body of knowledge of the course.  I have always believed that having a good plan is important; therefore, I will ensure every student grasps the course flow and why they need to learn the stated topics.  During the learning process, I also became a mentor to them.  The students will discuss and are encouraged to give their own opinions on the topics we learn in class and relate them to real-life scenarios and examples.  In addition, as a mentor, I try to give my students as much positive encouragement and motivation as possible while associating it with the topic we discuss.  After the lecture finishes, we always have a recap session whereby the student can suggest and ask for more issues or examples to be discussed, while I, as the lecturer, will indirectly assess the student’s ability as well.  Basically, there are two cohorts from my classes: the first is a group of students that has wide experience in the industry but lacks the latest knowledge update, while the second group is the one with the latest technology knowledge but lacks real experience.  Therefore, as a lecturer, I’ll make sure to address both needs, which, experience-wise, I can always relate to my various involvement in ICT projects for the last 20 years, while for the latest technology, I am keeping myself updated by following the webinar and the latest research worldwide.  Studying at the postgraduate level is a huge investment and can be taxing for some part-time students; hence, I always believe that, as a lecturer, I need to make the learning process as enjoyable as possible despite all obstacles.  I firmly believe that continual learning is beneficial in all facets of life.  Therefore, I am inspired to share my knowledge with others so they can contribute back to society. 

The students are continuously assessed throughout the semester.  My assessments consist of formative and summative assessments, whereby, for formative assessments, we have class discussions, individual assignments, and group assignments.  The summative assessment aims to assess every student’s ability and group assignment to evaluate their co-working skills, which will be really beneficial for their working environment.  The students will present the first draft for me to comment on, and from the comments, they will improve the assignment and project accordingly.  Then, for the summative, the student will sit for the test and final examination.  In every lecture session, they are given a simple task as stipulated in New Academia Learning Innovation (NALI), and the findings from the task will be uploaded to UTM Learning for a record.  Apart from UTM E-Learning, I utilize tools such as Padlets, Kahoot, menti.com, and fliphtml5.  I expect my students to work diligently and ethically. I am quite strict when I rate the examination while at the same time preventing the students from being deterred. This gives a hint to students who do not do their tasks accordingly so that they need to make more effort.  Secondly, it gives students a clear sense of where they are going to improve their results. I always make sure their collective class efforts are worth the final grades. Consequently, I have never had a student who thinks their final grade is unjust or unexpected.

My teaching philosophy is ‘Let’s learn from each other’.  Hence, having an enjoyable and yet rich learning session is my priority.  My approach focuses more on mentoring and letting the student explore their ideas, while I will always be there to align them back to the PLO and CLO.  I start with the plan of the lecture material and activities according to CLO and PLO, then implement it accordingly in class.  During class, I assess the scenario and monitor the ‘mood’ of the student.  There are always ready-made activities, role-plays, and games that I will apply in class to make the class lively and engage with these adult students.  The key is to be in control and quickly adapt to the scenario.  After every class, I quickly assess the effectiveness of these activities and materials provided; then, I will improve the delivery of my lectures and activities.

Furthermore, I always try to improve my teaching by keeping my knowledge current in the subject matter and being creative in presenting the course materials to the students.  This means I also must understand the recent trend of young adults and professional, experienced employees since I am teaching postgraduate students.  This can be accomplished by attending seminars, training, and courses related to teaching and learning, as well as the courses I teach.  I would also like to update myself on my recent learning technologies and will utilise them in my class for a more engaging learning session.  In future, I plan to bring my lesson beyond the classroom, for example, by having a case study visit or, vice versa, by having a guest lecturer from the industry as part of a learning session.