Title of the Practice
Curriculum Enrichment through Value Added Courses
Objectives of the Practice
- To enhance student’s skills and knowledge beyond the curriculum
- To imbibe students with the employability skills
- To bridge the gap between the curriculum and the industry
- To foster innovation and promote a culture of lifelong learning
The Context
- Students sometimes have full schedules with core classes, labs, and other assignments and thus it is important to design a course that accommodates their schedule without being too demanding.
- Communication and clarity about the relevance of a value-added course are indeed crucial initial steps in getting students interested and engaged.
The Practice:
- Head of the Department (HOD), senior faculty members, and the placement officer jointly choose a course that aligns closely with the needs of the industry and enhances students' employability, and complements their core engineering education.
- A subject expert is identified and assigned the task of imparting the skill through well-structured course plan that includes, syllabus with well-defined course objectives and course outcomes
- At the end of the course an assessment is conducted to evaluate the attainment of outcome.
- Students successfully completing the course are issued with a certificate
Limitation:
- Conducting value-added course through online mode during pandemic period was difficult. Assembling students in time and assessing their participation and involvement in the session was not an easy task. Effectiveness of the lecture could not be easily assessed.
Evidence of Success
- Conducting Value-added courses has a significant impact in student placement rates. Providing specialized skills and knowledge gives students a competitive edge in the job market. Positive feedback from recruiting companies and testimonials from placed students validate the success of these courses. As students transition into professional roles, these courses enrich their academic journey and prepare them for the workforce, demonstrating their value and impact on career success. 80% of the total number of students successfully completed the value added courses.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required
- Technology is characterized by rapid advancements, leading to frequent shifts in the skill sets demanded of engineering graduates. The dynamism of technology necessitates that engineering professionals remain adaptable and continuously update their knowledge base. This rapid evolution is driven by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and data analytics, among others. Frequent design in the value-added course and finding a faculty with the right expertise to impart the knowledge is difficult. Thus, subject experts are required for effective dissemination of the objectives.
Title of the Practice
Continuous development of Faculty members
Objectives of the Practice:
- To enhance their subject knowledge and ability to effectively disseminate the course content
- To stay updated with the recent development in their specialization
- To enhance faculty teaching skills and explore innovative pedagogical approaches.
The Context:
- Faculty members often have packed schedules with teaching, research, administrative duties, and personal commitments. Finding time to attend a development program amidst these responsibilities can be challenging. Participants may need to manage their workload, delegate tasks, or negotiate time off to fully engage in the program.
- Some faculty members may be resistant to change or skeptical about adopting new teaching methodologies. Thus, Head of the department have to identify such faculties and resolve the issue
- In programs with diverse participants from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds, communication and understanding can be challenging.
Practice of FDP:
- Head of the departments primarily nominate junior faculties to participate in professional development program to enhance their skills.
- Faculties are encouraged to participate in programs organized by subject experts from industry or other engineering institutions.
- Senior faculties conduct inhouse faculty academic or administrative development program
- Faculties are encouraged to participate in seminars, workshops etc., by providing financial support for participation in other institutions
Limitations:
- Most of the development programs are organized during the academic period and thus only limited number of participants were only permitted to attend.
Evidence of Success
- The number of faculties participating in the continuous development programs is encouraging. The number of participations in the academic year is itself the evidence of success
- Every academic year more than 100 faculty members have attended development programs including FDPs, Conferences, workshops & seminars.
| Academic Year |
2018-2019 |
2019-2020 |
2020-2021 |
2021-2022 |
2022-2023 |
Total number of Faculty Numbers attended
development programs including FDPs, Conferences, workshops & seminars |
104 |
135 |
106 |
125 |
105 |
Problems Encountered and Resources Required
- During the pandemic period a sudden shift to remote learning and work made it difficult to organize and conduct in-person faculty development programs. Ample time was necessary to adapt to virtual platforms, which limited the number of programs that could be organized.
- Many faculty members were not initially familiar with online teaching tools and platforms. Institutions had to first provide training to faculty on using these tools effectively, which could have taken precedence over other development programs.
- Not all faculty members were equally comfortable with technology. Some required more support and training to effectively engage in online development programs.
- Some faculty development programs require access to physical resources such as laboratories, libraries, or specialized equipment, which might not have been available during lockdowns or restricted operations.
- Financial aid and IT resources for conduct or participation of offline and online programs is mandatory.
