EMPOWERING EDUCATORS AT
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
Purpose
The purpose of making the pedagogical principles explicit is to guide and inspire students, faculty and administrative staff who are involved in designing, implementing or evaluating teaching and learning activities.
Vision
The following vision guides teaching and learning at CBS: Our vision is to create an engaging and challenging learning environment for our students to stimulate their motivation for achieving their full potential for learning.
Pedagogical development
In line with the overall CBS strategy for educational quality, the action area for learning will continue to promote activating and engaging teaching and learning methods. With respect for the differences in disciplines, differences in scope and structure in each study program as well as differences in the individual teacher and student preferences, no one single pedagogical format can or should be promoted. CBS has a strong tradition of variety in teaching and learning methods, in single as well as across programs. Diversity is a valued characteristic and strength.
Learning technologies
Based on CBS’ overall strategy for the quality assurance of its education programs, the action area will continue to promote blended learning as the primary form of learning at CBS. This means that technologies are seen as important for supporting the learning process and not as replacements of face-to-face interaction between faculty and students although fully online teaching can constitute parts of the learning process.
Learning technologies have a strong potential to increase the flexibility of CBS’ programs, support diversity in learning preferences, and motivate students and thereby strengthening students’ learning. Learning technologies also have the potential of increasing student activity and providing better feedback on students’ work and can therefore meet some of the demand for more teaching activities for students.
In addition to supporting and developing existing teaching at CBS, the action area will supplement and enlarge the range of teaching activities by increasing the focus on online courses or course components, thus opening up new groups of students and new ways of learning. The use of different learning technologies must be rooted in the local academic environments and will vary according to the study program. Some study programs will involve inspiring and stimulating technology-aided teaching that takes place primarily at CBS, while other programs will involve activities that take place entirely or partially in the workplace or at home and where the interaction between the teachers and the students or among the students is completely or partly online. The goal is to enhance the use of learning technologies for all study programs in the way that best increases the potential for individual students’ learning.
At CBS we are fortunate to have well-qualified students with high entrance GPAs. We believe that continuous academic challenge for our students is the main driver for learning. The students at CBS must be academically challenged to the full extent of their capabilities to realize their full potential. We want our teachers to create the best possible learning environment for this by means of research-based teaching and learning, encouraging the rigorous acquisition of specific competence as well as reflection and divergent thinking.
We see students and teachers as partners in the learning process. Learning is not something that a teacher can make happen without the student’s active collaboration and interaction with the teacher as well as with other students. The students request more activities and feedback as an important goal for increased interaction. The skills of interaction and collaboration are core competencies for our students to learn, as they will need them in their future careers.
Motivation and engagement are the main drivers of deep learning and we want our students to be motivated and actively engaged in their studies. We have a strong tradition of engaging our students in case-based learning including case competition and working closely with industry and the public sector to contribute to real-life challenges for our students. Our teachers must actively seek ways of motivating the students to engage in learning in the classroom as well as outside the classroom and the design of motivating learning spaces where students actively choose to come and spend time is of great importance.
CBS wants to make room for flexibility and diversity in terms of study pace, learning styles, special needs, and physical location. CBS is an international business school and we promote students as well as staff to go abroad. To support this we need to secure a level of flexibility as to where students can learn whether they are on an internship, studying at another university abroad, or need to spend extra time on their student job. We want all our study programs to make use of the possibilities offered by learning technologies in order to reach the different needs and preferences of students and staff.
We must meet students where they are and take responsibility for supporting them in becoming the students we would like them to be. Our students at CBS have very different backgrounds and come from many countries with different traditions and study practices. We cannot expect them to know what is demanded of them to be a student at CBS. We will need to support them in the transition to becoming a CBS student. Our aim is to welcome all students and provide the help and support they need in order to grow and flourish so they will make the most of their time at CBS.
Based on the capacity and potential of the individual, we will support the development of personal skills. During their studies at CBS, students should not only be trained academically but at the same time develop their ethical and social competencies. CBS has a strong focus on social responsibility and sustainability and responsible management education is an integral part of our core activities. These demands focus on individual attitudes and societal skills as well as academic qualifications.