After spending a lot time on forums then social networking site I am kind of bored so now I decided to try out blogging 🙂
So finally after 4 years i got one of the most important import things in my life. I learned lot of things in past 3 years. In this journey sometimes I felt that something is missing or situation could have been better if things were put in different way. In this article I have mentioned 13 things that I would like to see changed in engineering course. Being ITion my tone is based on computing but you can relate it with your kind of field too since IT touches every field.
I believe that this whole technology is man-made and not god made so every individual has full right to get knowledge about it.
b4 moving ahead please read following comments from documentary Zeitgeist:
we must be open to new information at all times even if it threaten our current belief system & hence identities. Sadly society today has failed to recognize this and the established institutions continue to paralyze growth by preserving outdated social structures.
Simultaneously population suffers from fear of change for their conditioning assume a static identity & changing once belief system usually results in insult and apprehension for being wrong is erroneously associated with failure, when in fact to be proven wrong should be celebrated for it is elevating someone to new level of understanding furthering awareness…
Educational institute are best to start this process so here is a list of something that I would like see changed so that a well aware generation of engineers and thus citizens will emerge. (why just engineers ? -> I think they are the one most close to technology)
1. How stuff works
People always run away from technology due to its complexity but it is fact that complexity is inherent in technology. If whole jargon terms are put together in proper way then there will be no problem in understanding ‘how stuff works’. (u gotta read NCERT board books) professor n students discuss here how various technologies works. For this no one is supposed to write any sort of essay or presentation (although if any eminent student or staff member wishes to do so he/she is always welcome) but just copy paste info. From sites like en.wikipedia.org, howstuffwors.com, youtube.com etc. (long live open source!!!) here only requirement is all the essay or presentation should be cited by some staff member from college for lucidity of language and content.
2. Relate bookish technology with real time technology
I always believe that when we see things going in front of our own eyes we can understand it in better way. It is continuity of how stuff works as it’s up to students now how they can relate things as per heir thinking process and knowledge.
I always find books very boring rather i believe in ‘do it yourself philosophy’ and any time things goes wrong then ask expert and at last step read it from book or manuals (if experts also fail).
By doing this I used to create new problems and keep on finding solutions that was nice TP. (and headache for my professors :P)
we can have small tutorials which will enable students from respective year to relate bookish stuff with contemporary computing. Like working of antivirus, firewalls.
it allows them to apply what they have learnt in the classroom to real-world situations, and in doing so not only makes them better prepared for their own entry into the world of employment or academic research, but also strengthens their understanding of the underlying concepts they are supposed to have learned.. Hopefully this will help to build do it yourself attitude which is very important.
3. Twicks to learn a language and software faster
This is really important as technology moves at really fast speed it is very difficult to run with contemporary IT sector and I know that is not expected from BE students but if there is any bright student with fast learning attitude then there should be a platform for him.
Here we can have different cheat sheets, tutorials, list of twicks n small custom/ readymade programs which will enable the student to learn things. Here also Citation from expert is needed.
4. Discussion on syllabus
I just want to point out that there are some mistakes that are repeated each year. a senior student knows it but due to lack of standard platform they don’t discuss it with their juniors. And worst part is juniors then take advice of some non reliable sources or simply they just don’t care and progress without any plan. What I expect student will get exposure from ITions working in industries, Management sector or any field. When juniors will get guidance from some brilliant senior it will help them in planning of their next semester and hence currier.
toppers/ brilliant students from each year can do this task for their preceding years students, like TE students can do it for SE students. college can give a platform like forum so free discussions can be held in students and forums can be managed by students which will give then experience of handling a real time project.
5. Reducing Burdon from ‘team of doers’
I don’t know about all other measure but I think you should seriously consider this one.
We all have spend a lot of time in writing assignments and journals. And we all know where they go after semester end. Also only few students write it regularly and all other just copy-> paste it. I call this few student team as team of doers.
If these all assignments for entire semester are posted on web it will enable students to complete the assignments as syllabus goes on. Also teacher can add/subtract any question afterward. This will help the” team of doers” who spend all time in searching answers. What actually happen is at last months before exams students are bombarded with assignments and thus find less time for study which is actually crucial at last stage. Here performance of all students gets hampered as rather than engineering work we spend our time in clerical works.
Same case is for journal writings. Thankfully our IT department allows taking printouts of writing stuff it really save lot of time.
6. prelim test : make it optional
Seriously I never understand why they put such exams as I mention above point we don’t even get time to prepare and then we sit for the papers what possibly we can write there? Well here in my case I being one of the stupid guy always tried to write it seriously sitting for all 3 hours alone in class and finally realize in my BE its all bullshit except for some subjects. in DWM paper question were asked from part which was never taught in class how on the earth we would write answers to that? We don’t have 6th science! This is absolutely unintelligible.
What I want to say is these test should be based on assignment questions or students should be informed about possible questions asked in prelims. The cause is simple if I get 60-65 marks in prelims then it will surely boost my confidence for main exams and I will be encouraged to do more study to optimize these marks.
Also some people don’t care about term work and all they should be lay off from these exams. (anywas they don’t care if they get 0 out of 5 due to that) This will help those students who are willing to test their skills before mains.
anywas i got a solution for all those who rather prefer to sleep during 2 hours try writing your paper as shown bellow,
i appreciate his imagination power 😀
7. Better exam system
Our HRD minister has mulled over making 10th exam optional and bringing grading system for 10th. On this basis Now I think that Mumbai university should implement grading system for our exams too. I mean they give away 10 marks for free to get distinction that is ridiculous why you give away this free marks ? does that mean university don’t have faith in the paper checkers?
These tests can never test true potential of engineer.
As far as my branch IT is concerned, 60-70% paper is always repeated without any analysis involved in it just straightforward questions and if you write all you know then also you get less than 7 marks and you cannot argue on this marking system.
These exams never test thinking capacity but just test memorizing capacity of students.
better than this they should bring grading system here.
8. Better infrastructure
We want working wi-fi , wi-fi hotspots, 20-30 pc in working condition where students can use internet->web. For presentation purposes each department should have its own LCD projector.
And moreover teacher should use it in lectures. I can’t say that move of management on ban on mobile in campus is wrong as I have seen Students misusing it including me too. But management should not ban on technology rather they should negotiate some solution on it.
virus free PC in CP labs (oh… im looking for Utopian cp lab )
9. Information about various meets and contests
Some interesting contests are held annually by brands like nokia, Microsoft, Hp each year. Being part of such events is not difficult at all in fact due to open source people happily guide the new comers. By doing this we can always have a team of good programmers ready for any contest like one took place by Infosys. By this more students will get latest information which will not only help them but also all other students for making progress.
10. Open source
(for those who don’t know what is open source click here and if you are from IT branch and still don’t know about open source -> go and kill yourself)
I always stumble upon this point. About 80% of knowledge I posses is because of open source. There is one say from linus torvalds about it as: “open source enable us to get our work done without doing any work” anyone who work with open source perfectly understands true meaning of it.
If college promote it carefully then students will do their part of study by their self and you will see revolution in results for sure.
It is very important to draw people towards web. Internet is good source of information. people post their thoughts without fear of anyone. Of course we cannot rely on such information and thus citation of professors is needed. For NCERT books they use Wikipedia and britanica encyclopedia as source of information and we engineer don’t. this situation should be changed.
After reading this all you might say/think that ok… this is your point of view and your need. But I don’t think I need this all as I CAN NOT DO THIS or I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT. You would have done this all if you were fascinated by the world of technology.
By implementing such measures we will not lose our liberty I mean it is absolutely optional whether you want to open your eyes for a better world or you are happy in darkness, illness of unawareness. Ofcource this all will matter for all to be engineers. only reason behind all foreign countries progress in tech world lies in their psychology of OPEN SOURCE. think abt it.
JUST FOR FAMT-IT STUDETNS
11. Strong students association
In our college we lack unity sole exception is mechanical students. A students association can create a better pool in teachers and student if and only if members are eligible to en shoulder the responsibility. Not like ITSA elections where the voters are bribed.
Consider following story…
that`s how democracy works today 😀
Students associations can definitely contribute in finding the talented juniors through various events. ITSA can have events like TPP, workshop for juniors on explaining technology.
It will help in all ways as presenter student will gain confidence, teachers will also get to know some more stuff and juniors will get more information.
you can see my post for ideal ITSA here
12. Making annual event more effective
Each year it is seen that 90% people look forward for utopia and very less 10-20% students take part in brainwaves which is actually a national event. The whole team of brainwaves abuse utopia because of it.
This year there was just one project from IT section and that also not from FAMT. I think cause of this is lack of interest of students in technology and followed by less interest of teachers.
I remember that during brainwaves TPP selection process there was just one staff member for judging process and just 20-25 students. For an engineering college this defiantly a not good sign. Same day cricket final was on and all staff and student were present there. Now this definitely posts a wrong message to students regarding attitude of system toward technical events and we need to change this.
13. Language : make it compulsory
I think teachers should communicate with students in English compulsory from 3rd year. English is need and especially students from ratnagiri really suffer a lot when we get graduate and goes into ocean of ITions from all around world. Here web can be of really very help. unfortunately some staff members faces trouble in talking English….. can’t make any comment on it!!! ohh n college management says sit for lectures to make ur attendance more than 75% WT* dude!!! for all such lectures i keep on doing following ….
Anarchy of mumbai university
so this is basic reason for all this misery, i dont understand, why mumbai university doesn`t make any tie up with IIT mumbai for designing syllabus ? or why they consult those eminent peoples? big misery coz IT`s syllabus is designed by a person who is mechanical engineer isn’t that great!!!
events like exams, practs, checking of papers, happen in random order its actually based on chaos theory, one missed event from university n your Currier is F**ed up!! why don’t they have plane for year??
and we think we are engineer from mumbai unversity….. really smart one, is it so???? u should think abt it n act on your level to help at least coming students.
Now,
If you agree with any one of the 13 point then please mention it in comment
if you want to add anything then also comment it.
If you think I am nuts you can also tell that 😀
Please don’t abuse any person here don’t post any persons direct name it is not good sign as we are discussing a one of the bit of taboo subject.
also do follow second part of this post at here to get more factual info.
Your personal Mentor 