DEPARTMENT OF DIGITALIZATION, CBS

Facilitation in the classroom;
Transforming traditional classroom teaching to engaging learning sessions

Running academic courses with intensive information, tons of literature and deep knowledge is business as usual for the Department of Digitalization at the Copenhagen Business School. The department does so for hundreds of students every year. However, the department felt like an alternative approach was needed when transforming the year-round student classes into one-week executive courses. The executive courses aim at an entirely different segment, who are not only much more diverse but also much more demanding. After having run the executive course for two years it was clear that a different, more involving and certainly more flexible format was necessary in order to accommodate the needs and expectations of the up to 50 professionals attending the yearly summer school.

An initial dialog let to the development of a tailormade training day with the focus on “Facilitation in the Classroom”. The aim of the seminar was to raise the academic staff’s understanding and actual use of facilitation tools during the course to propel the engagement and learning of the participants. Areas like physical space, dialogue, flow and use of visuals were brought into play. Judging from the ideas and engagement of the staff; future executive course participants are up for an inspiring and also challenging learning journey that does not stop in the classroom.

The seminar was in large based on the principles of facilitation and process design which we at Permanent Beta practice, teach and bring into play on a weekly basis in dozens of situations.
Let’s start a conversation if you too want an understanding of how to lift more traditional classroom teaching to engaging learning sessions.