Shahla Ghobadi has extensive international teaching experience, having designed and delivered courses and modules in:
Kuala Lumpur (2008, University of East London)
Sydney (2010–2011, Australian School of Business and the University of Wollongong)
Manchester (2015–2019, Alliance Manchester Business School
Leeds (2019–present, Leeds University Business School)
Her teaching philosophy is to develop students' capacity for longitudinal thinking and creativity in understanding and addressing the challenges and opportunities the digital world.
She has taught across undergraduate, postgraduate, MBA, and executive education programmes, exploring the intersection of digital technologies, organisations, and society. Her teaching covers topics, including systems analysis and design, strategic information systems, digital project management, systems thinking and system dynamics, digital innovation, and the trends and ethical challenges shaping digital business.
Shahla's teaching draws upon her contemporary research, industry experience, and embedded principles of inclusive design. Her modules combine academic rigour with practical application through authentic, data-driven projects, which are developed in collaboration with industry professionals.
Below are three examples of modules she has designed.
‘Managing Digital Projects’ is a theory-informed, empirically-driven module at the MSc level, which reflects on the growing complexity of digital projects (e.g., developing digital products) and discusses diverse strategies for founding, managing, and maintaining these projects. The course covers topics such as digital workforce, agile development, risk management, user participation, crowd-based business models, digital products' sustainability, and digital projects' ethics and activism.
‘Modelling Dynamic Business Systems’ is a final-year, transformative undergraduate course, which introduces students to systems thinking, drawing mental models, and simulation-based modelling (system dynamics). Students learn to ground their models in archival and civic datasets—often from Manchester City Council on housing, health, and transport. This course cultivates longitudinal thinking skills vital for policy design, social and organisational change, and sustainable development. Through examples, cases, and software use, students practice to "expand their understanding of different phenomena" by drawing holistic mental models accounting for mechanisms, loops, delays, and non-linear dynamics.
'A Cognitive Method for Comparing and Elaborating on Technology Frames' is designed in collaboration with the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC). This is a complementary PhD/policy researchers course on interpretive methods, centred on the concept of “technology frames.” This course addresses a growing need for academics and policy researchers to "systematically" examine, compare, and make sense of these frames—for example, how employees interpret the value and risks of AI, or how consumers differ in their beliefs about data privacy. Participants learn a step-by-step approach for eliciting, comparing, and elaborating technology frames to produce richer, more nuanced analyses and sense-making.