Searching for
some papers to write notes for my testing e-learning, I found my third year
engineering note, which I had used for multiple subjects. The note was filled
with syllabi of 3 subjects. At this time
of learning my modules related to my profession, entirely online, I wonder how
on earth, writing the syllabus on note would have helped me.
On
the first day of class of each subject, in each semester, it has become a
ritual in my college, for the lecturers to dictate the syllabus for the
subject, and for us to pen them down sincerely, word-by-word. Even after the
syllabus has been made available online, this ritual continues. Waste of time
and energy – most important resources of this century.
Assignments!
Till now, I couldn’t really find out the objective of writing assignments,
except being used to revenge the mischievous students. The teachers give some
questions and ask to write answers. One student copies them from text books and
the rest of the class copies from her. I know one of classmates, who used to
copy the assignments from certain girl and submit the assignment even before
her. Again waste of time, energy and also paper, another critical resource.
Teachers with
industry expertise and with continuous learning experience (such as taking up
certification exams) are the need of the hour. I could not figure out how a
staff, who has bought her graduate and post graduate project and has no
knowledge of what project management is all about can handle Software Project
Management. Or do you think that a teacher who is tutored by her junior on
daily classes can handle the doubts of her students on queries in database?
If any of my
staffs are reading this, my humble request to them is to make the students
think and come out with their own solutions for problems, instead of
cut-copy-paste culture. This culture when continued up to workplace brings
shame to the student-turned-professional. We have enough typewriters and
photocopy machines in this world. Let’s make more engineers.
It is of no
use to blame the system and continue with the same procedure. We must remember
it is we who created the system and even supported it sometimes just because of
our convenience. It is the time to change. Yes, the students are willing and the
industries need real game changers. Here
are some ideas that could really make an impact on making learning effective:
$ Don’t give
assignments for the sake of giving. It is of no use to copying the text book
junk. Give some lively assignments and ask students to submit their assignments
online. For example, if you are teaching Object Oriented Programming, ask them
to make an info-graphics of the history of OOP or ask them to make small
project based on the concepts taught. If it is Operating Systems, ask them to
find the open-source operating systems available and give their features.
$ Please never
make an impression that assignments, surprise tests and seminars are ways of
punishments. I had the blessing of having few lecturers who made all these
wonderful experiences. I also had few lecturers, who manipulated their “extra-ordinary”
teaching skills and made me to feel that even sitting in their classes was a
waste of time.
$ Please accept
if you do not know a concept and acknowledge the intelligence of the student
who raised a doubt on that. Look out answers and give a prompt reply as soon as
possible. One of my lecturers, who taught me Object Oriented Programming, was a
perfect example of this. She never failed to find out and clarify our doubts,
if she happens to be unaware of that.
$ Please do not
spoon feed your students. Give them an idea, guide them to explore more. That
doesn’t mean that you have to lecture only the first two units of a subject and
give all three remaining as student-seminars (which, one of my lecturers did).
$ Questioning
the beliefs and authorities are natural qualities of this generation. By no
means, be an obstacle to that. By asking us to shut up and sit, you actually infuriate
us and make us question more the belief. After all, we are engineering, born
out of science, has the habit of questioning anything, before accepting it as a
fact. So, encourage the students to ask questions.
$ We were also
college students once. In fact, we should feel ourselves as students life-long,
otherwise we won’t learn; we won’t progress. Remember how we wanted to be
treated while we studying full-time. Treat our students with respect and if you
don’t acknowledge you own students as engineers of the future, who else will?
Teachers hold
the most critical position in any society. Others professionals discover, engineer,
enhance the world around them. But teachers discover, engineer and enhance the professionals
themselves. It is up to the teachers to feel their importance and enlighten the
young minds or to neglect their mission.
Remember,
‘engineer’ is not only a noun, but also a verb.
