DU launches its much talked about course in innovation

Updated on: Saturday, October 08, 2011

Delhi University launched its much talked about course in innovation, described as a one of its kind in India and aimed at taking education "beyond blackboards".

Welcoming the first batch of students to B Tech/ BS Innovation with Mathematics and IT course, Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh hoped the "very unique programme" would be instrumental in reviving the original Indian tradition of education to help students discover themselves and then discover the world.

The four-year undergraduate programme is part of the innovation cluster being planned by DU and will be an interdisciplinary degree largely focusing on application and hands-on training.

"We have made the programme in such a way that after four years, according to your talent, you can go to microbiology, study Mathematics, computer science or finance. Whatever you chose to study this will benefit you," Singh said.

He said the course has been designed as an alternative to the existing teaching mechanisms in the country and the approach is to take education beyond the concept of "blackboard teaching" while enabling students to think and apply into the real world what they have learnt.

Under the programme, the students will spend a lot of time in laboratories both real and artificial and will be given a lot of freedom to pursue their innovative skills. "As part of the programme these students will also adopt slums or semi urban areas in the city to study the problems faced by residents and offer them solutions through innovation," said Prof H P Singh, University Proctor, who is also associated with the programme as a Physics Professor.

Among the teachers who comprise the faculty of this course are professors from multiple disciplines like Informatics and Communication, Zoology, Mathematics, Physics, Electronics and Finance. Spread across eight semesters, the programme requires students to undergo internships in the industry and undertake projects in communities at regular intervals. Year-long, they will also get to implement the new ideas they have in an 'engineering kitchen'.

"We are making new labs and the students will also use the existing labs of the university. They will also be sent for summer trainings to the industry," said Vice Chancellor Singh. A river rafting enthusiast himself, Singh said he would make sure the students are taken for such adventure sports as well to enable them develop team binding.

He also said that many leading people distinct fields like industry and education have promised to be associated with this programme. In fact, Yale University which is starting a programme in Singapore in collaboration with the national university there is also keen to have an exchange programme with us, he said.

The students who were introduced to their faculty also got a chance to interact at length with the Vice Chancellor. "Our education system is such that at school we did not practically understand what we were taught, and we never got the time to grow beyond our books. I think this is the point that was made in the movie '3 Idiots' and my expectations from this course is that it will allow me to grow and learn the applications of our subjects," said Punit Kumar, a student.

Citing the examples of visionaries like Isaac Newton, Mahatma Gandhi, Bill Gates and Richard Branson among others, the Vice Chancellor said the ability to do something new does not have much to do with formal education. "What we have planned in this course is for you to have good knowledge coupled with real world interactability and a combination of hands on training," he told the students.

Speaking about the education scene in the country, Singh said the trend in modern India has been to put students under pressure and finish off their thinking capacity, though this was not the case in ancient times

DU launches its much talked about course in innovation

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