Engg lecturers learn the lessons forgotten

A lecturer participating in a two-week workshop Indian Society for Technical Education on Engineering Thermodynamics talking to Deccan Herald, made a starting revelation.

Of all the students who fail in the third and fourth semester of mechanical engineering, 40 per cent fail in subjects related to thermodynamics. Alarmed by this trend, the National Mission on Education, through the Information Communication Technology, has chosen to train lecturers from various engineering colleges in ‘engineering thermodynamics’ with the help of remote centres.

Remote centres

At remote centres, live lecture transmission and interaction takes place using A-VIEW technology for video conferencing and high speed internet.

Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Mysore, is one of the four centres in the state, where young lecturers from various engineering colleges from the state are been trained in the subject by experts from IIT Bombay. There are more than 170 such centres in the country.

Yogish H, coordinator of the remote centre in SJCE, outlining the programme said young lecturers participating in the workshop also have to write examinations and submit assignments. Examination and assignment submission are done online.

‘Moodel’ account

The participants will have a ‘moodel’ account, which will give them access to the lectures delivered by eminent professors from IIT Bombay.

“With the help of videos, we can learn to teach thermodynamics effectively.

The lectures during the past few days have not only refreshed our knowledge on the subject, but has also shown us avenues for research,” said Kishan Karumbaiah, lecturer at Coorg Institute of Technology, Ponnampet.

Vineetha Edwina, a lecturer at SJCE, said the subjects are taught from scratch and helps re-learning of concepts they would have either missed or forgotten, after completing degree. “We also have an idea of the standards in institutes like IIT Bombay, after appearing for the online exam,” she said.

The programme supported by the Union ministry of human resource development is aimed at enhancing the teaching skills of teachers.

Beneficiaries

Yogish more than 3,000 lecturers are being benefitted due to the workshop, by making use of remote centres across the country.