New electives may include mobile technology, smart phone apps, cloud computing
Students entering the portals of an engineering college
under Anna University this September will be the first to study certain
advanced subjects of technology that the university plans to introduce
as part of its revised curriculum for 2012- 2016. The Board of Studies
consisting of 10 experts from every department submitted a draft
comprising the recommended changes nearly a fortnight ago. The draft
will be approved by a standing committee in the next few days, and final
syllabus is expected to come out in August first week.
However,
the changes are most likely to be part of the sixth semester, as the
curriculum in the initial semesters will mostly remain the same to
ensure the thrust will be on basic subjects, said officials.
Electives
such as mobile technologies, study of smart phone applications and
gadgets and Cloud sharing and computing might also be part of the new
curriculum. According to senior professors, production engineering and
mechanical branches might undergo the most changes, as subjects of
automated manufacturing and design technologies for the core braches of
engineering are top on the list. While electives in medical electronics
and nanotechnology are also being considered, certain subjects being
offered as electives now are likely to be made mandatory.
“These
are necessary keeping futuristic technology in mind. There are
interdisciplinary subjects planned. For instance, it has become
important for civil engineers to study sensors and networks to create
better structures.
The Anna University curriculum is
spread over four years with eight semesters. The initial two semesters
are spent on basic subjects of Physics, Chemistry, mathematics,
fundamentals of computing, programming, and the fundamentals of core
engineering. Students study six theory subjects and three practical
subjects a semester, except in the eight semester. In all, there are 45
theory subjects, besides the project.
Students can choose six elective subjects from a range of 20 offered to them.
The
University had initially appointed a nine-member committee including 2
senior persons from the industry and 3 senior professors from IIT-
Madras to design the new curriculum.
“The curriculum
that consists of what the students need to study every semester has
already been designed. We have also asked for the omission of certain
subjects with theories that have become obsolete now,” said a professor.
Interestingly, a section of professors have also
asked the panel to initiate the ‘open book’ system of examinations,
already prevalent in reputed institutes such as the IITs, particularly
for subjects that involve problem solving as part of the new curriculum.
“ It is high time we introduced the system because students are
increasingly depending on solved illustrations and regular set of
problems. This will be a better way of testing how well they apply the
concepts,” said a senior professor.
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