1. Let​’s start with what you do. Can you tell us a little bit about your work? 

I am a faculty member in the Department of Biotechnology, Assam University, Silchar, engaged in teaching post-graduate students of biotechnology and supervising doctoral research in cancer biology, cancer therapeutics and drug repurposing. I teach biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology and immunology, as well as more applied areas including biochemical engineering and bio-entrepreneurship. My teaching also covers the ethical guidelines and regulations to be followed in biotechnology research and requires me to mentor students for community-based programmes. 

2. What does teaching mean to you? What excites you the most about it? 

To me, teaching is a great privilege. It offers the unique opportunity of interacting and shaping young minds. I consider it my responsibility to not only teach my subject well, but to also guide my students towards developing the abilities of independent analysis, critical thinking and scientific social responsibility. 

I strive to inculcate a sense of strong work ethics, honesty and integrity, and a desire for excellence among my students, through example. 

3. Indeed, in the present day, higher education must not only facilitate employment, but inculcate creative individuals with critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities along with social responsibility. As an educator how much role do you think you play in meeting these goals?

Educators play a key role in shaping the entire spectrum of interactions that students engage in, including interactions with their peers, prospective employers, their local communities and the national and global communities as a whole. In my opinion, educators can positively influence these facets of a student’s life by: 

(1) drawing attention to local issues that require students’ intervention within their own communities. For example, being deeply concerned about the rampant tobacco use in North-East India, I use my classes on carcinogenesis to educate my students about the health implications of tobacco, and encourage them to abstain from tobacco use themselves, and to disseminate this information within their communities; 

(2) equipping students with the skill set they would require to be employable;

(3) encouraging students to read more, to question facts and to think independently; 

(4) encouraging students, especially doctoral students, to incorporate new ideas into their work.

4. Research-backed teaching and other novel pedagogical approaches have shown to enhance learning. But implementing them needs additional effort from teachers and support from institutional administrators. What factors have helped you in implementing some of these approaches in your own classroom?

In my experience, a teacher’s motivation to give the best education to their students, the students’ willingness to learn out of their comfort zones, infrastructural support, encouragement and appreciation, heads of departments, deans and administrators are crucial factors while implementing novel approaches for teaching and learning in an institution. Students’ feedback plays a significant role in helping teachers and administrators review the efficiency of a teaching approach. 

My institution has a well-structured system for collecting feedback, and this, I personally feel, has provided invaluable insights in my endeavours to teaching. 

5. What is your ​‘go-to-approach’ for teaching biology?

My ​‘go-to approach’ for teaching biology has always been to adopt an integrative approach. For example, I always try to interconnect a student’s knowledge of cell biology and biochemistry in an earlier semester with genomics, molecular biology and immunology in a later semester and correlate this information with evolution of living forms, disease development, diagnosis and prognosis later on in the course. 

This approach, in my opinion, helps the students develop an understanding of life as a complex whole, made up of several discrete, but interconnected parts. It also helps them to think laterally and integrate ideas more easily. 

6. Have you used any unique teaching technique in your classroom? Tell us about it.

Most of my classroom teaching is conventional information and communication technology (ICT) aided teaching. However, the Covid-19 pandemic posed a whole new set of challenges to us teachers. I realised through interactions with my students that they missed their practical lessons. I therefore developed a few video tutorials on simple practicals for DNA isolation, chromatography, electrophoresis and a demonstration of restriction digestion using materials easily available at home. 

My students reciprocated by enthusiastically performing these simple practicals, and sending me their own recordings of the process. I designed this entire exercise with the objective of infusing optimism in my students, and showing them that given the will and a little innovative thinking, the fundamentals of science can be learnt even without access to sophisticated infrastructure. 

7. What is your favourite aspect of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and why? 

My favourite aspect of NEP 2020 is the component of compulsory community engagement, because it requires students to interact with their local communities, which, in the process, acquaints them with the problems faced by the communities and gives them an opportunity to identify possible mitigation measures rooted in science. 

This has the potential of propelling students towards solution driven research, which is the need of the hour, and at the same time instilling in them the sensitivity as well as the knowledge of ethical guidelines required to be followed when working with individuals and communities. 

8. Are there any courses or training programs that you found useful for your professional development and teaching practice?

Yes. I have attended various faculty development programmes and short-term courses relevant to biological sciences, which I found useful. I found the online programmes organised under the aegis of the Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Programme for understanding of the NEP 2020 particularly useful.

9. Throughout your professional journey, who have been your mentors and what did their mentorship entail?

I was fortunate to have been mentored by several distinguished teachers and researchers along my professional journey. The foremost is my PhD supervisor R.N. Sharan (retired) from the Department of Biochemistry, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. He was an excellent mentor who guided me patiently through the various stages of doctoral research, encouraged me to push my limits and strive for excellence, and fostered my confidence by giving me the independence to implement my own ideas. 

He continues to remain in touch and advises me on my work to this day. I have also been mentored by the various departmental heads here, and am grateful for their valuable guidance, constant encouragement and unstinted support along the way. 

10. Any advice for people who have newly begun their journey as an educator or hope to do so soon? 

Teaching is a service, and as in all other services, our students come first. 

We should always keep their best interest in mind and leave no stone unturned to teach and mentor them well. We should also be willing to learn, unlearn and relearn periodically, because as teachers of science we need to constantly update and upskill ourselves.