More Than Just a Seminar

The ISM seminars in Paris are conducted over three consecutive days with eight hours of lectures per day. It's basically 24 hours in total (including breaks), which are spent on one subject. Every student needs to stay focused to absorb as much information as possible. This can be straining not only for the students, but also for the professor. The overall experience of the seminar very much depends on professor's approach and the level of preparation. They need to take into consideration not only the delivery of the required information, but also activities to engage the students and make the seminars dynamic.

In February, I attended the Human Resources Management seminar in Paris. I had never taken a class on this subject before. After reading the required textbook prior to the seminar, I was coming to the classroom contemplating what to expect in terms of how the seminar would be delivered. Three days later, I left the school energized and feeling good about what I had learned and accomplished during the seminar.

Albert Einstein once said: "I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." I couldn't agree more with this statement. In my opinion, this was just how the professor approached the seminar on Human Resources Management. The seminar was divided into six modules. During the first part of every module, the professor would go over the theory and examples. In the second part, students were divided into two groups and we worked on specific assignments applying the theory we just learned.

As we had limited time, we had to work and make decision fast, and collaborate as efficiently as possible. The group I was in consisted of students from different countries; no two people were from the same country. This provided for a very good first-hand experience of working in a multicultural group under time pressure. We finished every assignment by presenting the results to the other group and the professor. Each one of the groups did six presentations in total and that gave us an opportunity to practice our presentation skills as well.

Looking back, the three days of the seminar went by pretty fast and I enjoyed every moment of it. The seminar was more than just a seminar. The approach to the lecture delivery and engagement made the seminar fun and very memorable, making a positive impact on the retention of the information acquired. Furthermore, I gained additional valuable experience and practice. I left the school and Paris with the feeling of good accomplishment, recharged and inspired to work on my final assignment for the Human Resources Management seminar as well as to look forward to the next seminar in March.