The Centre for Communication and Critical Thinking works with students alongside their degree programme using credited courses, communication labs, and organising events. Six unique courses focusing on the capacity building of students across the areas of communication, critical thinking, negotiation, problem-solving, and decision making have been developed by the Centre. The learning pathways are offered as core courses across JK Lakshmipat University.
An Active Learning Approach is used to teach these courses. All courses include activities that encourage students to undertake tasks so as to practice and develop their skills, as opposed to passive learning, where information is simply passed on to them.
Besides courses, students attend 10-12 hours of compulsory Communication Laboratory, where they practice thinking, writing, and speaking. Personalised learning pedagogy is used to help them improve their writing and speaking abilities over time. The formats that are used to conduct the lab sessions include:
- Reading Circles | Think
- Focused Groups | Write
- Public Speaking | Speak
- Open Office Hours |Mentor
The third important aspect of CCCT is organising events that create awareness and offer the students exposure to diverse topics through an external interface. The students also organise events that build confidence and improve their organisational and communication skills.
CCCT is a key innovation of JK Lakshmipat University that uses the constructs of liberal arts, scientific temper, group dynamics, and interpersonal communication to achieve personal and professional growth amongst its students.
The Centre’s contribution towards capacity building of students is being acknowledged by our alumni as one of the important aspects that has helped them to become better professionals. The skill enhancement displayed by the students in summer internships and their final placements have been very encouraging. CCCT initiatives, along with other academic practices of the university have led to augmenting the job preparedness of our students. In a student perception survey conducted by the Centre, most of them agreed that their presentation, confidence, and thinking skills have greatly improved due to CCCT interventions.