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Tanya Kak

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With the colleges finally reopening  and the freshers looking forward to the orientation sessions, enthused and all pepped up, here’s the new buzz with all the information about the Foundation Courses that the University wants to fill you in with.

In the changes that seem to be toppling the world for some and making it a better place for others under the four year under graduate program, we will now have specially prepared Study Material for the foundation courses which will be launched in the coming weeks. Translations in Hindi of the same would also be available. The content allows the student to push himself/herself a step further to supplement the daily knowledge with tasks prescribed which are to be undertaken at home.  Study Material for MIL and other languages are available at the concerned department.

For providing  a better and a more innovative mode of learning, more than 1250 teachers have attended Orientation workshops at CPDHE, in order  to adapt to the new pedagogy of participative learning.  In order to get a hands on experience with the working of these modules, a master class for a batch of about 40 students was held on 16-17th July 2013 at which sample modules by eminent scholars were offered.

Finally, in what seems like a respite, the small corner behind your readers, prescribing some essential readings for all , which  for most of us meant- the  additional and failed task of trying to get them from somewhere and eventually not laying our hands on them, will not be a hassle anymore. The libraries in colleges and on campus will now be equipped with the same. Adding to these, Institute of Lifelong Learning will be periodically uploading online material for the foundation courses.

Adding to these series of changes, alternate foundation courses for ‘Mathematics’ and ‘Science’ have been designed for  the Visually Impaired students.

[via Delhi University]

Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC), University of Delhi conducted a Webinar on the 12th of July with the objective of fostering further knowledge about the admission process for 2013 and enlightening students interested in pursuing courses at CIC.

In what seemed like an interesting panel, there were second year CIC students interested in a wide array of subjects. They were accompanied by an equally skilled and distinguished bunch of faculty members, all engaged in an engrossing discussion which was seeking  to answer  the various questions posed and addressing the innumerable doubts at the same time. Amongst those joining the discussion were Professor Madan Chaturvedi, Director CIC , Dr Shobha Bagai and Dr Sanjiv Singh. On the other hand, students hailing from different interests such as Economics, Mathematics, Physics and IT were seen putting forth and asserting themselves passionately.

The genesis of the entire concept of having an Innovation Centre could be traced back to July 2011 under the supervision of the Vice Chancellor. The essence of this change stemmed from the need to evaluate the relevance of the present education system and for it to be reformed. In what ensued, it was made amply clear in the discussion that the Cluster Innovation centre and the programmes offered by it sought to mark a departure from the conventional methods of learning, impart a problem solving approach which is realistic and can help students to execute what they learn in the confines of their classrooms practically.

As the discussion progressed, multitude of dimensions to what makes courses like the B.Tech/ B.S. in Innovation in Computer Science and Mathematics offered by the centre relevant and different from the rest, could be seen. The student based interaction was equally informative with some of them sharing their internship experiences and the opportunity to explore a combination of subjects under one course. For a lot of us, who are unsure of our areas of interest and what we may want to pursue in future, this seemed like an opportunity which allows you to weigh your career options.

A lot of things stood out from the discussion. Firstly, what the Centre offers you is a Unique Curriculum. Possibly one not found in a lot of technological institutes, owing to the number of subjects one could pursue at a given point in time. Secondly, the teaching imparted is extremely different and what they have is an “engineering kitchen” which includes state of the art electronics, computer science and electronic fabrication. And finally, the kind of exposure and the linkages built with real world seem to be fascinating.  Over 50% weightage is given to semester long projects and interning opportunities are available to students in their first year itself , with the biggies like the Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management and Defence Research and Development Organisation.

A small interaction with Sahil Mathur, who conducted the Webinar session, proved to be quite insightful. The objective of such a session was to reach out to a larger audience and engage as many as 400 students. Besides this being a success, Sahil told us about the unique course structure, the facilities like the laboratories equipped with different technologies available to students and an immensely dedicated faculty working to strive for excellence of their students. The organisers have also summed up the various key points discussed during the session in the form of a PDF for easier dissemination.

The endeavour definitely seems to be a positive one with the colleges of Delhi University experimenting and broadening their scope, both in the technological areas and in terms of exploring new ways of imparting information.

Here is the entire video of the webinar:

In what seems like the year of revolutionising the Delhi University, we bring to you the next “big thing” to be added to the plethora of changes already in place. So what is this halla baloo all about?  Well, this time around the University seems to be working around and formulating the proposal for coming up with an Online Museum likely to be introduced with the start of the new session from 23rd July.

The project is directly being spearheaded by the Vice Chancellor; the essence seems to be to make the students aware of the historical significance and the cultural importance of the structures they see around them every day. The University houses some of the magnificent structures from the colonial era and has witnessed some landmark historical events like the Gandhi-Irwin pact and the trial of Bhagat Singh in the Delhi Bomb case. Additionally, it would also benefit the correspondence students who don’t come to college that often. In order to throw light on the same and create an enriching environment for the students of Delhi University, the objective of creating such a museum has been formed. There are also plans of putting screens around the campus as display centers of the portal.

One of the officers  from the University was quoted saying , “We are making the audio visual material, related videos for the portal and hopefully will be able to finish it before the new session starts.” Hence, if multimedia is taken as an educational approach in this case, it might be interesting to see how the project spans out in the end.

But what remains to be seen in the days that follow is the befuddling question that accompanies all these never –ending changes. However well-meaning in their intentions, the effective implementation of these plans still continues to bother  and remain a cause of worry for many.

[via Deccan Herald]

Wimbledon-1

The lush green grass, the early morning look of the courts, the white dress code, world’s best players all ready to fight it out  and the charm of the best Grandslam that seems to have engulfed the masses. Yes, it’s Wimbledon time of the year again. For some of us, it’s sheer joy to witness some classic tennis every year on those courts. For some others, rivalries are renewed. It’s the age old division of die heart fans into two camps- Federer  v/s Nadal , yet only a few can refute the tension and the excitement that ensues a Federer-Nadal final at Wimbledon.

And this year happened to be no different. With hopes that high and enthusiasm reaching new levels, we were all set to go all out and root for our tennis champions. But soon enough, those hopes were to be shattered. The string of improbable exits began with Rafael Nadal who had to exit the first round as world number 135 Steve Darcis pulled off one of the biggest successes of his career. This gave a sense of jubilation to the Federer camp which now seemed to have an upper hand. But no sooner, they too were slumped to a shock with the Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer being stunned by the 116th ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon.

Well, just when we thought things couldn’t get worse and probably there’s still hope the tournament lost six former No. 1 players on Wednesday: Sharapova, Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Ana Ivanovic among the women and  Lleyton Hewitt amongst the men.

What was to come more recently was yet another Wimbledon shocker and tragedy with Serena Williams joining the growing list of marquee names eliminated early at this wild and unpredictable championship.

While some of us have called this one of the worst Wimbledon Championships the world has witnessed, there is always a brighter side. With Djokovic and Andy Murray being the last hope for a lot of us, we should perhaps not underplay the immense potential this tournament brings out every year in terms of discovering new talent and for all you know there might be a lot of new Nadals in the making. So for that and the love of tennis which is just unmatched  when it is played at this Grand Slam which has its own charm, let’s keep our fingers crossed  and still be glued to our television sets.

Image Credit: Wimbledon 2013 official website

autonomy

The Union Home Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is working on a plan to give complete autonomy to some of the country’s prestigious colleges. The move will free the colleges from the administrative control of the Universities they’re currently affiliated to. So here’s how this dramatic step promises to topple the world of the various colleges being spoken of and what the implication of this fancy jargon will be, on us students.

Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR), Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and St Stephen’s College – three of the top ranking colleges of Delhi University are being sought to be brought under the ambit of this drastic step. However in what ensued, was a collective and outright state of condemnation and panic by the faculty and the students alike.

Earlier in the year, the staff association of LSR resolved “to reject any move to delink Lady Shri Ram College from the Delhi University in any manner and in any aspect in part or in whole “. As far as LSR is concerned, clarified Ms. Meenakshi Gopinath, no such application form for autonomy had been filled or no such proposal was lying in the pipeline. This statement came in the wake of similar rumours about granting of autonomous status to these colleges. The statement also went onto say that privatisation of these colleges would compromise on inclusiveness, equity and quality of higher education in India. Calling it as one of the ways for the state to recede from the key sectors of the economy, they were completely opposed to such balkanisation of The University.

The teaching community has mixed reactions to offer on this, as do a lot of DU students. Some of them see it as the last stone to be unturned for saving the fate of thousands of students from the shackles of the Four Year Undergraduate Programme being introduced in the University. The rest of them are grappling with the fear of a possible financial crunch which might lead to a hike and a change in the fee structure in future, making higher education inaccessible to the masses.

Whatever be the case, all we can do is to keep our hopes high and believe that this is not going to be another one of the rushed-and-then-put-under-the-carpet-steps blindly taken by the authorities like The Four Year Programme. While making such decisions, it becomes important to involve the stakeholders- faculty and the students and to uphold the democratic values that we so vehemently preach in the confines of those four walled classrooms.