MBA Quant Experience

I participated in a seminar yesterday on The Art and Craft of Discussion Leadership put on by Harvard Business Publishing and led by HBS Emeritus Prof. William Bruns.  Sitting in a classroom with 30 or so other faculty members from about a dozen schools learning about teaching was a terrific experience. 

I learned so much, from my peers and from Prof. Bruns.  Part of the loud lesson was how quiet Prof. Bruns could be when the case discussion was going well.  A question here, a challenge there, a redirect now and then.

I've taught MBA students for 11 years, mostly instinctively and from adapting what I saw my professors do or imagining what I wish they had done.  My teaching deals with analytical subjects and I mostly teach "directively", meaning that I talk and students listen.

It's tempting to think that the subject demands it.  That's certainly how I learned.

But I'd like to be more effective and creative by incorporating more student-driven discussion in my classes.

We had good side discussions during breaks of how case-based learning, which seems a natural method for learning strategy or entrepreneurship, could be applied effectively for more analytical subjects.

Yesterday was a great first step.