"Experiential Learning has become the Buzzword"

‘Reinventing’ the Higher Education System

MCC Amongst India’s Best Colleges| ‘The Week’ Report

[9th June 2013 Issue] 

“The Indian Higher Education System is Reinventing Itself to cater to the increasing demands of the economy, with new courses, new formats, new ideas…”

This is the byline to the Cover Story in The Week’s Survey of the Best Colleges in India, 2013.

In fact, it’s a matter of pride that MCC finds a place among the TOP FIVE and the TOP TEN in most of the key categories.

The COVER STORY that follows, in the same Edition [9th June 2013] of ‘The Week’ has a lot of vibrant thoughts for those of us faculty members and decision makers in the field of higher education.

Hence me thought of giving us all, a few salient extracts from this very insightful article, culled out from THE WEEK, 09th June 2013.

So here we go -

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. – Confucius

The pearl of wisdom from the Chinese philosopher seems to be dawning on college education in 21st-century India.

You Branch Out & Explore!

Welcome to a system, where you do not just learn; you practise. Where you do not just listen; you absorb. Where you are not rooted in a classroom; you branch out and explore.

Well, it might sound Utopian, but Indian colleges are, indeed, following the concept of "learning by doing".

Institution - public and private - are realising that a formularised approach will not click anymore.

Experiential learning has become the buzzword

Earlier, practicals were restricted to the domains of applied sciences and management, but now subjects such as English and social sciences also are being given the experiential treatment.

Take, for example, Delhi University's Kamala Nehru College for women. It organises tours to historical sites and museums for students of history to understand and appreciate the bygone eras.

"The students perform skits and dramas on historical tales," says Dr Minoti Chatterjee, principal of the college.

"All of us have read about the Indus Valley civilisation, but our students learn about it by visiting the actual site. Similarly, for psychology students, there is internship with Vimhans [Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences]."

It is No More Just Classroom Teaching

Sriparna Chakraborty, who recently graduated in English from Amity University, Noida, is all praise for the changing ways of education.

"It is no more just classroom teaching," she says.

"There are seminars, where eminent people from the literary world talk about their experiences. Also, if we are studying drama and there is a complex scene, it is enacted. We learn a lot by doing, so presentations and research works are given to improve our speaking and writing skills."

Application-based learning is Rapidly Picking Up

Application-based learning, too, is rapidly picking up, thanks to industry collaborations. Today, most top colleges have active involvement with the industry for catering to the changing needs of society.

According to a study by the Gurgaon-based employability solutions company Aspiring Minds, only 17 per cent of the five lakh engineers who annually gradu-ate from India are fit for the IT services sector.

Making Students Industry-Ready

Human Resources Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju, too, pointed out the issue at a recent conference -  

"We are seeing that the students who are coming out [of universities and colleges] are not necessarily industry-ready, and the industry is spending a lot of resources in re-training them...."

Academia-Industry Interface

However, colleges and the industry are now joining forces. For instance, students at Delhi University's Shahid Sukhdev College of Business Studies are required to do live projects with companies. At Patiala-based Thapar University, students take up contract research on agro-biotechnology.

The university has worked on improving the quality of potato tubers for PepsiCo and Mc Cain Foods, and on eucalyptus clones for writing and printing paper company Ballarpur Industries.

Vocational Courses: Corporates in Board of Studies

Colleges are looking at courses from a vocational angle, too. And the corporate sector's advice is sought for curriculum design and updating. Manipal University, for instance, invites corporates to its board of studies. Amity University involves the industry right from the shortlisting of applicants.

"There is a great deal of value addition that we get through corporate tie-ups," says Dr G.K. Prabhu, registrar, Manipal University.

"What we teach should be relevant to the industry, and that is why we take their help in designing our courses. Infosys, for instance, has a programme called Campus Connect, wherein they train our faculty. We, in turn, do research projects for them. It is a symbiosis."

Furthermore, internships with the industry - limited to technical and management streams earlier - is now common under subjects such as public policy, international affairs, development studies and foreign languages courtesy NGOs, think-tanks and media houses.

The Surge in Research: A Welcome Trend

Another welcome trend is the surge in research. For one, the IITs, which have been criticised for excessive focus on undergraduate education, have ramped up research work.

Currently, IITs take in about 3,000 Ph.D students annually, against 1,000 five years ago.

"There is a lot of exciting work in the areas of nano electronics and smart grid technology," says Gautam Barua, director, IIT Guwahati.

"To give a push to research, IITs have discussed with the government about allowing meritorious B.Tech students to start research in their third year. We will start it from 2014."

Some IITs have set up special centres for large-scale projects. IIT Delhi, for instance, has a centre for bio-medical engineering and low-cost design innovation. IIT Madras and Bombay have set up centres for combustion and photovoltaic researches, respectively.

All IITs should have Research parks and Innovation Centres

"The Kakodar Committee had recommended that all IITs should have research parks and innovation centres," says Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi director, IIT Madras.

"Most of the IITS have done that. About 33 per cent of our students are research scholars, and we are planning to encourage undergraduate pass-outs to take up research."

Private institutes are not falling behind, either. Thapar University has received government grants worth 76 crore for research projects, mainly in biotechnology and agricultural sciences.

Manipal Institute of Technology is working on emerging areas such as nanotechnology, ad hoc wireless networks, nuclear engineering and pattern-recognition.

Research & Innovation

Says Amity University vice-chancellor Dr Atul Chauhan –

"Research is an important part of all our programmes. Without research and innovation, it would be impossible to find solutions for our country's problems."

Prof. P. Ray, dean (academics), XLRI, Jamshedpur, terms research "our life blood".

His students have been coming up with solutions for actual problems of corporates and the government, he says.

A major shot in the arm for college education in India is the National Knowledge Network - a Central initiative to provide ultra-high-bandwidth broadband network to interconnect leading science and technology institutions.

The NKN could be an effective tool for seamless exchange of ideas and sharing of lectures, databases and virtual libraries between campuses. Also, it would be a platform for real-time distance education.

The NKN, which has already connected 1,001 institutions, aims to add another 500 in the coming months.

The rejig in the education system is not limited to highbrow spheres. Soft-skills training, for instance, is an area that is being given a thrust these days. Some institutes like Manipal have made it a compulsory subject, while

others offer it at the end of the course. "Soft skills have become vital today because one has to become a team leader; one has to carry people along," says Ray.

Thrust for Multidisciplinary or Liberal Education

With considerable change in the learning environment, a great deal of reinvention is on. The Indian system seems to be going the American way - multidisciplinary or liberal education.

Basically, it is about taking up several subjects at the undergraduate level, instead of specialising in just one. So a student can study a host of subjects and, eventually, pursue a specialisation.

Delhi University's new four-year undergraduate programme, in effect, is a shift towards the multidisciplinary system. But even as the move has created a furore among students and teachers, experts say DU has actually arrived a bit late.

Colleges such as O.P. Jindal Global University and Foundation for Liberal and Management Education (FLAME, Pune) already have a clutch of multidisciplinary courses in liberal arts.

So one can study history, enjoying fine arts and music at tandem. The system is apt for students who want to explore before choosing a career path.

Meanwhile, some colleges are experimenting with the interdisciplinary system - one subject as major and an interest area as minor. Shiv Nadar University and a couple of IITs have this system in place.

"Studying several subjects together is fun and helpful," says Ganesh Gupta, a second year student at Shiv Nadar.

"When I took B.Sc with mathematics as major and economics minor, I understood the application of maths in data analysis and statistics. In terms of career, too, I have an additional option of economics."

Multidisciplinary: The Way Forward

Experts believe that multidisciplinary is the way forward.

"For a society to develop in a holistic manner, we need people who can think in a broad and multidisciplinary way, says Dr.C. Raj Kumar, vice-chancellor, O.P.Jindal Global University. "In a diverse society like India, first and foremost one needs the skills to navigate through the complexities...'

Career potential for every course is strong in a developing economy.

And courses are springing up by the day. Experts say that students should neither shy away from offbeat courses, nor get distracted by pop-ups.

"Look at what your interests are; ask questions like how and where would you want to see yourself five years down the line,"

says Shalini Manchanda, director at Career Track, a career counselling firm.

"If these checks and balances are in place, you will not regret your decision."