Farzal Dojki
Well, the first faculty member who volunteered himself .
so heres some info from his linked in page
*open quotes*
-software development (onshore & offshore)
-technology consulting and implementation
-business planning
-product development, sales & marketing
-project management & process engineering
-engineering management
-organization capacity building
at world class global organizations such as Merrill Lynch, BearingPoint and PixSens
*closed quotes*
He is teaching e-commerce the second time round, using a relatively more innovative method of interacting with the students and the industry this time through an interactive blog.
March 22, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I dont understand his way of teaching. Just seeks out some silly sort of information from google and prepares nebulous slides and starts yapping in the whole class and makes our head feel burning.
March 23, 2008 at 8:54 pm
1. Slides are supposed to be vague (nebulous). You should have learned this during your business communication class. The real message should always come from speaker.
2. Information from Google – if you anything about Google, you should know that they don’t contain any information; they simple index it. They just point to different sources of information. I think you meant Wikipedia? In this case, kindly go through the 20 slides and tell me which slide deck copies data from it.
March 23, 2008 at 10:06 pm
focus more on the first sentence. the student doesnt get how you teach. …
.If anonymous could be a bit more clear on what exactly he/she wants . what style would suit better.
Try doing a bit more research on your own before the class to engage in a fruitful discussion.
@Farzal, Directing the course a little to the temperment of the class could help in getting the class more involved. Short exercises to explore the possiblities of E-commerce in real-life situations could help.
March 24, 2008 at 10:15 am
Ok tell me the source from which you gather information. I have never saw the first teacher in my life who teaches you without a book.
The slides are so unclear and We cant grasp anything from you.
You should know that according to a research done that approximately 20 to 30% of the contents can be understood through the listening process. So how can we manage without a book.
March 24, 2008 at 11:45 am
IT is a good interactive discussion that has started; its this interactive feed back that is interesting as compared to static 1-way feedback obtained by most university feedback systems
March 24, 2008 at 11:48 am
I’ve already explained lack of requirement of a book in this posting:
http://ecommerce.pkeducation.com/blog/2008/02/02/e-commerce-ecosystem-and-midterm/#more-43
Will you have a book on how to do your first job?
Everything learned will come into play through the project. I’ve asked class to submit intermittent progress as opposed to a full final project at the end of semester; its up to the students to take up this offer.
March 24, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I agree that you learn through the project a lot. but it would be advisable to reference some books regarding developing the e-commerce solution.
The MIS Section is not as tech savvy as people think it is, it just gets brushed up with prog. courses, most of the time not even understanding it. The focus should be on the design element and the concept, cause anybody can translate the concept, it’s coming up with a concept that takes an effort.
March 24, 2008 at 5:56 pm
The focus should not only be on the project. We also have 60 marks for written examination. How can we prepare for that.
You can never teach us without a book. If you do not provide us a refernce book than at least give us detailed notes about your lectures.
I plead with you to atleast give detailed version of your slides to us otherwise i feel that it is impossible for us to learn and to gain something from this subject.
The philosphy behind this is that “We can not grasp everything that you utter”
March 25, 2008 at 12:00 pm
no one can grasp it, so I agree with this frustration.
that is why a follow up is required where you do basic internet research on topics covered. and then all my lecture start by asking – are there questions from previous lecture.
So that’s your time to use 1)high level slides 2)your notes from lecture 3)your online research, and ask questions. 1-2 hours of research should be enough for most subjects such as Web Van and RFID Tags. However, only about 10 people take notes, and that’s something to improve upon.
feel free to record the audio of the lectures.
March 25, 2008 at 3:08 pm
The lecture that u teach must emanate from some sort of sources. So atleast give us those sources so we can learn from them quickly. Why to waste 2-3 hours per lecture on a single subject. We have 5 other subjects to concentrate on.
By the way who said that the slides are high level. They are extremely vague. They do not even make sense to the subject topic.
March 30, 2008 at 12:48 pm
@ recording lectures
we can only do that if you speak on a mike
March 30, 2008 at 1:18 pm
what the hell is going on???????????????
March 31, 2008 at 6:44 am
the suggestions were offered in a previous posting (March 25th). A good point was made about providing URL for R&D, and I will start doing that from coming lecture.
however, the good note is that grades for 2nd midterm are 20% higher than 1st. there can be multitude of reasons for that: less lengthy paper, better appreciation of the class about course complexity, more interactive discussions during class, more case studies, etc.
As for recommending a book, I will continue to save you money and suggest doing online R&D on topics discussed.
March 31, 2008 at 6:52 am
@Why to waste 2-3 hours per lecture on a single subject.
This is an international standard – for each hour of lecture, students are expected to spend 2 to 3 hours on follow-ups. You can check any American universities website where there is advice to students on course selection and work-loads. One example is:
http://www.ls.ucdavis.edu/students/forms/firstquarternewstudents.aspx
This is also discussed when I asked for feedback about the course:
http://ecommerce.pkeducation.com/blog/2008/01/26/feedback/
March 31, 2008 at 6:58 am
I just wanted to say thanks for the 1-2 people who are arguing their points. And thanks to the owner of this blog for providing this interactive BBoard.
However, I do want to mention that back in January, just 3 weeks into the semester, I did ask for the same feedback and got almost none:
http://ecommerce.pkeducation.com/blog/2008/01/26/feedback/
If some of you had spoken earlier, I wouldn’t have to give the 30 point curve in first midterm.
So again, keep the feed-back coming. You will find me as one of the very few faculty you will meet in your life who teaches with absolute dedication. The energy I use can easily be channeled towards better family, social, personal or professional aspects of life. Any of those 4 can benefit from 10-15 hours every week given to IBA for negligible ‘real’ gains.
But I do have certain beliefs about this particular course – specially that it is best learnt using the data available ‘out there’ – in blogs, on youtube, in online journals, etc; and not in a book.
March 31, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Well you have attempted to convince us by emotional appealing (family, social, personal or professional aspects of life) but I still feel that I am on the right track. Well the books are I think cheaper than any thing else in pakistan. If we can buy something else than why cant we buy a book. If its expensive for u (Bcoz u earn rs. 1000 per lecture) than I can supply you a book for free.
March 31, 2008 at 5:30 pm
i think u guys are being quite harsh here. try to look at the point the teacher is makin rather than just posting mean comments abt books and money and god knows wht. i understand de frustration.. but atleast try to look at de reasoning.
he too has a vision. try to see that atleast.
March 31, 2008 at 5:50 pm
@March 31, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Dear Anonymous – you can open a library for all I care. or build paper airplanes.
Pun aside, If you are on the right track, suggest a book that covers the wide variety of topics and case studies covered so far, and topics to be covered in remaining lectures.
So what magic book do you think covers it all? Kindly don’t dodge this question – give a no nonsense reply.
Also, since you are such a ‘reasonable’ person, try to reason why the average midterm performance is so much better than 50-60% scores in midterm 1, and the 3 quizzes? I would say it improved because people started taking the course more seriously.
@March 31, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Dear Well, welcome to real world. I would rather hear harsh criticism, as that’s the only way I can improve. But some feed-back on things other than this supposedly “magic book” would be nice. A lot of energy has been wasted on this non-issue.
March 31, 2008 at 5:57 pm
listen guys..i feel its my responsibility to add here that the point he is making about dedication is justified coz i have hardly come across a teacher who works on slides..atleast he is
teachers simply take onlien presentations of chapters and read them out..in his slides u can see work and originality…well yeah i agree not adequate for future referncing..but that can be improved upon.. and yes..i would also like to add from experience that all teh teachers make u buy so many notes and books and we hardly study from them like some teachers cover 3-4 chapters or max half of it..and trust me save up your money if u have so much..many teachers will ask u to buy books which u will hate to read !!
March 31, 2008 at 6:06 pm
@yeah – I have already agreed to providing more links referring to sites I use for my own R&D.
BTW – nothing beats the EBCO link on IBA portal’s main page on gathering topic or company related information. I’ve used the journals hosting under EBCO for a good percentage of research.
In any case, worry not. The name of magic book is coming any second from Mr. Anonymous. Drum roll please …..
April 1, 2008 at 5:20 am
@well..
Totally agree with you. i think books are there sometimes to give you a false sense of relief that you are studying. You would find out better case studies online, with a wealth of information, a bit scattered but worth it. if you read ten articles online about a certain phenomenon, you ll get a diversified view rather than just reading one authors book. besides the world is moving so fast that you would probably be reading an outdated version of the technology.
i think research before every lecture by the teacher is good, not a lot of teachers do that. Atleast he gives you updated info
@Farzal
are you still giving them articles to write regarding topics?
do you mention the topics you’ll cover in your next lecture?
How about you just give the class three keywords to search at the end of the class. And give them certain techno(this is not a word, i knw) website addresses to look at for help.
April 1, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Dont be truculent!!!!!!!!
Do you think that you have covered every topic related to ecomm…..
How can you say that you have covered wide variety of topics.. I have seen an ecomm.. book and I can for sure say that u might have only covered up 40-50 percent of the main concepts….
I know u are putting up a lot of effort for making slides but the point is that we are not comfortable with them. and U are teaching us so teach us in a way that we want……..
Well the semester is closing up so there is no need to get a book…. Try on ur usual slides….Ask the future students they would inshallah recommend it to u…..
April 1, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Dear Anonymous,
I am still waiting for the magic book’s name, and question about midterm #2 performance, grading which I felt I was grading my own work.
I asked you not to dodge the topic. Kindly respond, as otherwise you are simply wasting my energy, and everyone’s else’s opportunity to give feedback on the course.
April 8, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’ve just gone through some of the other faculty evaluations on this blog. Man, I got pardoned big time!
Seriously – give me proper feedback. The whole book vs. online research took the feedback train off-track.
Can we resume with the ‘critic’ism or favorable points of the previous 22 lectures?
April 8, 2008 at 8:17 pm
After what’s happened to Sher Afghan Niazi and Arbab Rahim, I am soooooooo scared of room B12
May 5, 2008 at 10:22 am
E-commerce Final SUCKED. SUCKED big Freakin Time! It was an incessant 3 hours of torture. Well most of it yeah and I don’t think anyone managed to complete it on time!
May 8, 2008 at 10:14 am
It was toooooooo lengthy
May 8, 2008 at 10:17 am
I agree with *:l*
he is inconsiderate
May 10, 2008 at 9:38 am
Final kitna bakwas tha!
May 19, 2008 at 11:03 am
ahhh, what high school attitude from almost professionals.
response to criticism of final exam being prepared based on observations made during grading of final. come back on Friday. It revolves around giving 1.5 page (30 lines+) response to a 3 point (hence 3 lines response) question
BTW, do read project submission guidelines.
http://ecommerce.pkeducation.com/blog/2008/05/19/85/
May 23, 2008 at 1:30 pm
ok. I said I will reply so I am. warna I dont think there is a reason as its been discussed during paper reviews. in any case, here it is:
http://ecommerce.pkeducation.com/blog/
May 26, 2008 at 5:53 am
Feedback so far was evasive and focused on lame issues like the lack of a book rather than what really mattered.
Firstly, the Project. E-Commerce is a project intensive course and still has no labs assigned to it. In our 4th semester, we had an Information Systems Development project with 30% weight age. Every regular class was followed by a lab session. It was also a 4 credit hour course.
I think we should talk to IBA to make E-Commerce a 4-Credit hour course or at least assign some lab sessions considering the magnitude of the project.
Also it would be great if Farzal could create a project time line with deliverables distributed along the semester. This really helps students to pace them selves and reduces the burden at the end. Also as the teacher monitors project progress during the semester he’ll get acquainted with group projects, individual performances and deal with issues as they arise.
Also I understand Farzal’s philosophy of “giving us wings so we can fly” but a little more guidance technology wise in the project would have been very useful. For example, I coded in VB Script which got very messy as the number of pages increased. I later got to know that there were other better options.
Furthermore it would have been wonderful if Farzal could have been around campus for the debugging bit. It would save us from groping in the dark for days. We went from pillar to post to make our pages run properly, the teacher could’ve solved these issues in a jiffy.
I think the links Farzal gave towards the end of the semester were very useful and the Google reading material was excellent. It would be great if he could do this with all the lectures. When we search ourselves we limit ourselves to Wikipedia, we don’t try to access those cool HBS studies or the in depth links he gave us on start ups.
This way we’ll have relevant reading material on every topic.
One of the things I liked best was the lack of a book because the teacher didn’t limit us to bookish knowledge. He made us explore and discover things for our selves. This also ensured that our knowledge was up to date, more than any book could ever be. However then he also expected us to rote learn the slides, can’t that part be reduced some how?
I think it is only fair to tell the good parts too
So here goes…
Farzal has a very interesting teaching style, hardly “yapping” and never headache-inducing contrary to what was said on criticiba. The two topics we still haven’t fully understood in E-commerce are BSP and Saas, both taught by other people.
The course content that he has designed is superb-versatile, eye opening and current. The Google guest lecture he lined up was mind-blowing.
Perhaps it’s students who can only learn things out of books who can’t adjust themselves with Farzal.
One of the exemplary qualities of Farzal as a teacher is that he’s always there for his students in any means of communication that they prefer and that he replies promptly. Perhaps not so much in the last few days but still :p
Another is that he asks for feedback and accepts criticism in a very constructive way. Most teachers would take revenge after what has been said in criticiba!
More case studies would be nice. Perhaps we could have one on ebay or paypal ala Webvan.
May 26, 2008 at 6:16 am
thanks.
projects – i should have erred on the side of caution and hold your hands more tightly. but do note, this will not happen in real life. Group doing paypal project implemented the most complicated solution extremely well. So you also have to appreciate that some wings do fly well. But feedback well taken. Period.
as for adding a lab component, that is an excellent suggestion. perhaps someone can write up a 1 page petition, get it signed by 75% or more students, and me, and then submit to IBA committee on curriculum.
More case studies – I think we did 3-4 and also had 3 guest lectures. But will definitely look more into it.
May 26, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Now that was what I call proper Feedback, something those IBA Teacher Evaluation Questionnaires fail to acheive, or are ever likely to do so.
Anyways, I wouldnt shed anymore light on the subject than has already been done. Ofcourse, that means I totally agree with Mr/Miss S.
Ah, the beauty of Anonymous comments.
May 26, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Oh n it was a nice experience being taught by you, Farzal.
*All hail e-commerce*
May 27, 2008 at 9:49 am
Jasera – you have to realize how *unsafe* this forum can be, based on some explosive remarks left for other faculty. There is a space in this world for forums such as this, but by and large, I don’t believe major universities adopting this line of communication. I’ve already mentioned in other comments how such reviews work in the US (http://criticiba.wordpress.com/faculty-evaluation/)
At the same time, it can be extremely *unfair* too. Most people reading the first 20 comments will take away a feeling that the most of the class hated this course. Whereas these comments were mostly spam by a couple of people and the issues were mostly ‘lame’ as ‘S’ puts it.
I will let you guys sort out how you feel about the class and if more faculty should adopt these unique ways of teaching
June 4, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Considering that the class is taught to college students, most complains above are just ridiculous. A teacher/professor is not supposed to spoonfeed college students. Their intellectual level should be high enough to explore things on their own, find books themselves, do online research, without relying on a teacher. Farzal, on any other teacher is not supposed to coach you on every little detail on how to do things. All the discussion about not having the book is just very pathetic, especially coming out of IBA students, who are supposed to be better than average. If the class material was not what was expected (or did not align with course description), or the presentations weren’t present in professional way, the complains would have been valid. I expected a lot better from IBA students. Students are supposed to be more proactive, exploring and creative, rather than having professor telling them what to do, how to study, which books to go for, what online resources to look at. I would say again, a teacher is not a babysitter or is not supposed to spoonfeed you. You got to be able to do things on your own with whatever guidence teacher is providing, which I think is enough.
Thanks.
June 8, 2008 at 8:11 am
@abdul.
i agree. but i think its partly the fault of the system too. other teachers dont follow this method. each teacher has their own way of teaching i agree but the students adapt more easily to one method and become dependent on that.
June 11, 2008 at 5:07 pm
@anonymous:The course has an outline and a list of topics that should be covered. If those topics were not covered (don’t say they were presented in bad manner) – so, if not covered at all, then Farzal must either talk to the department either changing it or stick it to the material that should be taught. However, if all, or most topics that were in the class outline (look at the IBA course description) were covred, don’t complain about the material.
Now @criticiba: Not sure if it is the system or the students. In a nutshell, I have higher expectations from students of IBA to go beyond their mindframe and be more creative – and as students are doing their internships now, they would probably realize how it really works out there than be in academic fame of mind.