Learning is the gateway to knowledge and personal self-improvement and the best way of learning is by doing. As a communicator and scholar in Communication Sciences, Marco sees teaching as one of the best examples in which communication finds its practical application, through explanation, exemplification, argumentation, and inquiry. Teaching, in fact, allows translating ideas and concepts into the language of those who are seeking to learn.
Marco Bardus’ overarching teaching is aimed at maximizing students’ learning experience. This goal is reflected in the following three objectives:
- to show how communication strategies and tactics can be applied to reach specific segments and publics, and achieve different goals and effects (e.g., promote behavior or social change);
- to provide tools to analyze and evaluate communication initiatives in-depth, in order to provide a deeper understanding of situations, contexts, and effects;
- to stimulate the students’ creativity and critical thinking, by interacting and questioning what they have learned.
To achieve the didactic objectives, Marco Bardus’ instructional strategy combines a traditional lecture-based approach with constructivist problem-based learning, usually based on case studies and exemplar practices.
Marco’s didactic and pedagogic approach is based on the Socratic method, also known as the Maieutic approach. According to this perspective, the teacher is a “facilitator” (a nurse) that “brings out” the knowledge and helps the learning experience rather than a lecturer that merely explains concepts ex-cathedra.
This approach enhances active learning, as it gives students the possibility to engage in the class and grasp concepts and problems upfront. Research evidence shows that higher student engagement in class and active learning are associated with higher grades and better learning experiences.
Marco’s teaching philosophy and strategies are useful for tackling concrete problems applied to communication and media studies, including health communication, social marketing, public relations or advertising, as the output of a campaign or an initiative is visible and concrete. Ads, commercials, and visuals are often available products of both commercial (e.g., marketing, advertising) and non-commercial communication (e.g., public communication, advocacy, social advertising, cause-related marketing, social marketing etc.).