We consider “attitude” to be the most important skill in students, says CS Department HOD

In a conversation with Shiksha, HOD of CS Department, The NorthCap University Dr Kavita Khanna talks about their teaching pattern that includes most relevant methodologies so the students can pick up skills that are relevant to today’s industry requirements. Dr Khanna has 19 years of rich experience in teaching, administration and research. She is a PhD holder from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) with credits of more than 60 publications in reputed journals and conferences such as  Elsevier, Springer and Taylor & Francis.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

 Q: What is the difference between the teaching methodology in your institute and others?

A: The world is evolving at a great speed and these increasing complexities demand changes in current education system. There has been generally a growing awareness of the necessity to change and improve the preparation of students for productive functioning in the continually changing and highly demanding environment. In order to confront this challenge, the university has adopted project-based modular teaching pedagogy, which is self-contained method of teaching based on building up of skills and knowledge. It is so structured in terms of content that the learner can clearly identify the objectives, the associated real time case studies, the practical questions, the in-class quizzes, and the method to evaluate his own accomplishment with respect to every concept. Every subject has associated projects that the students undertake in teams. The outstanding projects are even funded under the scheme of Vice Chancellor’s Innovation Fund. The correlation between teaching, learning, practice and assessment is emphasised in this approach, and new methods have been proposed accordingly. The distinct features of these new methods differentiate the project-based modular approach from conventional teaching approaches. Evaluation of this approach on practical teaching and learning activities demonstrates the effectiveness and stability of the approach in improving the performance and quality of teaching and learning. In addition, the content has been designed in order to increase active learning and improve critical thinking, as well as problem solving skills. It also gives the lecturer the opportunity to conduct formative assessment in the classroom. Standardised textbooks have their own styles, and their contents, depth of coverage of materials, and organisation, may affect the teaching and learning environment. Thus, the use of a module presents a more flexible learning environment for both instructors and learners.

Q: How are you preparing your students to be industry-ready?

A: With a view to equip our students for a bright career, the department at the core level emphasises to a great extent on the designing of curriculum aligned with the industry demand. The curriculum has been designed and is thoroughly revised through significant inputs from industry leaders, practitioners and academicians from Indian Institutes Technology (IITs) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Every year, we gear our teaching pattern to include the most relevant methodologies so that our students pick up skills that are relevant to today’s industry requirements. The department is working hard in thrust areas of Industry 4.0 namely Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, Full Stack and Game technology, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. As a part of immersive industry practice, the department ensures that the classroom learning of the student should be taken to the industry. Students work on the real-time projects of an organisation under the direct mentoring by a faculty and an industry professional. Industry mentors get associated with the students to take their journey forward and visit the university to conduct pre-placement interviews. These interviews help the students to be in the same environment as they face during actual interviews for placements. The department facilitates the students with different internship opportunities as well. With a view to equip our students for a bright career, the University has a School of Professional Attachment, an in-house team of trainers with high-class industry exposure. They train students for business communication, self-presentations, soft skills and on the technical front. A variety of organisations like Deloitte, Fidelity, Optum and others conduct workshops and seminars on specific technologies, practices and skill verticals. This practice makes the transition from a student to an employed professional in industry, seamless and smooth. At NCU, we have been achieving a placement record of nearly 100% for past years. Leading companies like IBM, Deloitte, Ernst and Young, Nagarro, Orange, Fidelity, etc. visited our campus and gave exciting job offers to our students.

Q: What quality do your students have which other college students lack?

A: The university has been ranked as the no.1 private engineering institute and no.5 private university in Haryana according to Education World Survey, 2018. The core reason lies in the strict selection process that the university adheres to. We assess applications against agreed selection criteria for each degree programme to ensure the quality intake of students. The university takes into the consideration the score of 10+2 (English Medium) examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education or equivalent examination from a recognised board in Science stream with an overall aggregate of minimum 60 per cent along with the score of JEE Examination. Once the student becomes the part of the university, we start with the inculcation of Problem Solving and Design Thinking Skills in the student right from the first year that frames the base of all the years of engineering. We consider “attitude” to be the most important skill the student should possess and there are some courses that help students to build the positive attitude towards community and academics. To sensitise students, frequent visits are made to old age homes, orphanages, government schools and student seven develop projects for these organisations with a view to make the life of people staying there easy. We focus on developing the mindset of the students in a way so that they become good decision makers as they are given flexibility to choose subjects of their own choice. The curriculum focuses on developing the ability of the students to think and work independently, persevere and complete tasks under given deadlines, to develop an inquiring mind, to gain good writing and speaking skills, an ability to work well in groups and last but the most importantly to be good human beings.

Q: Do you think the curriculum of the courses taught in your institute fits in the requirement of the industry?

A: A confident “Yes”. The courses at CSE, NCU are carefully chosen based on feedback from our consortium partners and industry leaders who are experienced in their domain. The curriculum for computer science program is changing at a fast-pace and we always take care to involve and engage ourselves with different industry experts. The location of the university gives us many extra points in terms of ease of access to various companies situated in the vicinity, the hub of all big firms.

Q: Is your college receptive to the innovation, technology, science & entrepreneurship?

A: Computer Science is an area that is evolving each day with new innovations that have been changing the globe over the last 50 years. This is one domain that is in a great demand today and hence motivates us to be more innovative, adaptive to new technological changes in terms of industrials needs & entrepreneurship. Keeping in view the dynamic nature of growth in industry and the increasing demand for latest technologies, the department is offering specialisations in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, Full Stack and Game technology, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality to stay in tune with the current and futuristic requirements of the industry. To develop entrepreneurial skills in the students The NorthCap University Incubation Centre was established in 2017. The purpose of establishing Incubation Centre is to help students incubate new innovative ideas through facilitating skills like Creative Thinking, Problem Solving and Data Generation. The aim is to help students and develop projects and ideas through industry participation and university augmentation. Currently, City Innovates Pvt Ltd is the leading funding partner company and is also taking up projects and industrial problems in the context of a startup. University has also identified several student projects to incubate further through a University internal competition “Technovation”. The department of CSE endeavours to provide the best professional opportunities to our students for the bright future. We as a team have resolved to take the department to the new heights of success and glory and prepare our students for the forthcoming challenges.