NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TEACHING LEARNING ISUUES IN HIGHER TECHNICAL EDUCATION BY Prof. N.V.RAMANA RAO, DIRECTOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WARANGAL director@nitw.ac.in

STAKEHOLDERS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

The central government establishes broad education policies and is increasingly responsible for regulating and maintaining standards in higher education.

Federal policies serve as guidelines to the state governments, which administer most Engineering Colleges and universities within their jurisdictions.

ISSUES AND CONCERNS: RAPID EXPANSION SHORTAGE OF FACULTY CURRICULUM QUALITY OF STUDENTS

ISSUES AND CONCERNS: outdated curricula, inadequate academic infrastructure, poor teaching/learning, lack of creative and innovative activities, Archaic evaluation system, absence of proper academic ambience,

Higher Education : Some Concerns India has significant advantages in the 21st century knowledge race: It has a large higher education sector — the third largest in the world in student numbers, after China and the United States. It uses English as a primary language of higher education and research. It has a long academic tradition. Academic freedom is respected.

Too many institutions due to unregulated growth, especially in the private sector Institutions are proliferating in geographical pockets, leading to oversupply in some markets and shortages in others Not enough qualified faculty, and not nearly enough doctorates coming through the system Weak quality-assurance structures, especially accreditation procedures

Lack of cooperation and interaction between industry and the classroom High levels of unemployment and underemployment among engineering graduates The graduate growth rate is far exceeding the economy’s growth rate Colleges are not meeting the skilled manpower needs of industry Exorbitant tuition fees at many private colleges

Contd. There are a small number of high quality institutions, departments, and centres that can form the basis of quality sector in higher education. The fact that the States, rather than the Central Government, exercise major responsibility for higher education creates a rather cumbersome structure, but the system allows for a variety of policies and approaches.

SHORTAGE OF FACULTY The most serious challenge in engineering education is the dearth of well-qualified faculty. Considering the retirement of existing faculty, the requirement for new faculty to meet the numbers, there is a need for quality up gradation of existing faculty.

Faculty Concerns Freeze on new appointments Affects morale in the academic profession. Lack of accountability means that teaching and research performance is seldom measured. Few incentives to perform. Bureaucratic inertia hampers change.

Methods of Teaching Large sized classes resulting from expansion, inadequately backed by resources and an external examination system which is easy to negotiate with small amounts of unimaginative work perpetuate in teaching and learning.

We think too much about effective methods of teaching and not enough about effective methods of learning.

CURRENT PROBLEMS IN TEACHING Absence of good teachers: Students are not getting the high dimension pattern for absorbing the concepts. Projecting ppt slides: Missing or destroying the pattern information. - Text books: Poorly written with too many distractions like unnecessary colours, worked out examples, programs and exercises. - Worked out examples: No motivation for the student to think about a solution.

CURRENT PROBLEMS IN TEACHING (CONTD..) - Readymade programs: Students do not develop the logic for solving a problem. - Learning from examples: Not thinking about concepts and logical reasoning. - Learning by doing: Without understanding principles - Too many distractions: Fast changing data, with no time to absorb the pattern, if any.

Evaluate traditional methods of teaching as well as multimedia teaching methods Teaching must include two major components sending and receiving information Any communication methods that serve this purpose without destroying the objective could be considered as innovative methods of teaching. Benefits of innovative methods, Improve Learning process, Strengthen governance

ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL METHOD OF TEACHING Pre-technology education context, the teacher is the sender or the source. The educational material is the information or message. The student is the receiver of the information. The delivery medium chalk-and- talk” method overhead projector (OHP) transparencies. In such a lecture students assume a purely passive role and their concentration fades off after 15-20 minutes.

LIMITATIONS Teaching in classroom using chalk and talk is “one way flow” of information Teachers often continuously talk for an hour without knowing students response and feedback. The material presented is only based on lecturer notes and textbooks. There is insufficient interaction with students in classroom. More emphasis has been given on theory without any practical and real life time situations. Learning from memorization but not understanding.

Innovative Methods of Teaching I hear and I forget. I see and I believe. I do and I understand. - Confucius

MULTIMEDIA LEARNING PROCESS Text Images Audio Video Animation

INNOVATIONS Internet ready phones Handheld computers Digital cameras Mp3 players Laptops Elearning

INNOVATIVE METHODS OUR GOAL: Clarity is the key Students’ needs Courses Evaluation &Assessment + On-the-Job Training Industry requirments Specialization Medium INNOVATIVE METHODS

TEACHER THE GREATEST INNOVATOR LEARNING PYRAMID TEACHER THE GREATEST INNOVATOR Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. To teach is to learn twice Teachers should guide without dictating, and participate without dominating The critical factor is not class size but rather the nature of the teaching as it affects learning. LEARNING NEVER ENDS

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