The Life Skills Committee of VVM’s Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics organized three Online Life Skills Sessions as a part of 30 Hours Certificate Course for First Year BBA(Financial Services) Students on 19th, 20th & 22nd May 2021 from 12:30 till 01:30 p.m. using the Google Meet Platform. The topic was “Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking and Dealing with Setbacks”. The sessions aimed at enabling students to improve their decision-making abilities by employing critical thinking and creative problem solving.
The resource person for the session was Mr. Suhas M. Mallya, Executive Director, Emco Goa Private Limited and an ex-student of the College.
Ms. Lizia V. Gomes welcomed the resource person followed by the Introduction of the resource person by Mr. Kirsten Kenneth Da Costa from FY BBA(FS)-A.
Day One: 19th May 2021
Mr. Suhas M. Mallya started the session with a brief Introduction of the topic Critical Thinking. He provided an elaborate explanation of the following topics:
1) An overview on critical thinking
2) Elements of critical thinking
• Building blocks
• Skills & traits
• Nurturing & developing
• Importance & application
3) Distractions & impediments to critical thinking
• Spin
• Rationalising vs Justifying
Mr. Suhas Malya narrated some examples of critical thinking. During the session, Ms. Sanchia Patricia Da Costa from FY BBA(FS)-B spoke on “Critical Thinking in Sports”. The session concluded with a discussion on this topic.
28 students attended the session, which ended at 01:30 p.m. with a vote of thanks delivered by Mr. Saeesh Naik from FY BBA(FS)-B. The session was compered by Ms. Sanchia Patricia Da Costa from FY BBA(FS)-B.
Day Two: 20th May 2021
Mr. Suhas M. Mallya briefly summarized the critical thinking discussion of the previous day. To illustrate more on critical thinking, Mr. Kirsten Kenneth Da Costa from FY BBA(FS)-A spoke on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which was followed by a brief discussion on EVMs.
During the session, the following topics were covered:
1) Distractions & impediments to critical thinking
• Whataboutery
2) Fallacies disguised as critical thinking
3) Benefits of critical thinking
4) Developing critical thinking
5) Critical thinking: Information gathering
6) Critical thinking: Opinions & conclusions
7) Problem-Solving & dealing with setbacks
• Overview
• Problem categorization
23 students attended the session, which ended at 01:30 p.m. with a vote of thanks delivered by Mr. Rama Shetkar from FY BBA(FS)-B. The session was compered by Ms. Sanchia Patricia Da Costa from FY BBA(FS)-B.
Day Three: 22nd May 2021
The following topics were covered during the session:
1) Problem-Solving process
• Problem analysis
• Solution identification, evaluation, selection
• Implementation
• Measure & improve
2) Dealing with change
3) Importance of fundamentals and domain expertise
4) Importance of fundamentals: Changing face of change
5) Dealing with setbacks
6) Dealing with the emotional strain
7) Dealing with the impact/implications
8) ‘Marketing’ your setbacks
Mr. Suhas M. Mallya concluded the session by stating that critical thinking skills are important because they enable students to deal effectively with social, scientific, and practical problems. He also stated that students who are able to think critically are able to solve problems effectively. Merely having knowledge or information is not enough.
18 students attended the session which ended at 01:30 p.m. with a vote of thanks delivered by Mr. Lordwill Gomes from FY BBA(FS)-A. The session was compered by Ms. Sanchia Patricia Da Costa from FY BBA(FS)-B.
Mr. Suhas M. Mallya appreciated the active participation of the students in the form of posing several questions and their keenness to learn. The students have appreciated the efforts of the resource person and they benefited immensely from the session. Overall, the session was very interesting and interactive.
The sessions were coordinated by Asst. Prof. Ms. Lizia V. Gomes
