2.3.1. How does the college plan and organise the teaching, learning and evaluation schedules? (Academic calendar, teaching plan, evaluation blue print, etc.)
The college organizes the teaching, learning and evaluation schedules in the following manner:
• In the month of June every year, academic calendar is prepared by the principal in the staff council meeting, in consultation with the senior staff members. Centralized time table is prepared by the time table committee. The Teaching plan and evaluation blue print is prepared at departmental level and the same is conveyed to the principal. The distribution of syllabus among the members of the department is made at the Departmental level. The principal frequently visits the classes and discusses the academic problems of the students. The same is reviewed in the Departmental and Staff meetings.
• As per the University almanac, each department prepares month–wise teaching schedule and review the coverage of syllabus at the end of every month. The backlog syllabus is completed by taking extra classes. The evaluation of students is made by conducting
1. Unit and monthly tests;
2. Pre – final examinations;
3. Students’ Seminars;
4. Competitions like quiz, elocution, essay writing etc., 5. Group discussions
• The work diaries maintained by the faculty members ensure compliance of the academic plans and these diaries are assessed by Heads of Departments and by the principal at frequent intervals. The teaching plan prepared and followed by the members of the faculty for the syllabus prescribed by the university is also examined by the Head of the Department and by the principal to ensure that the entire portion of the syllabus is covered in full by the concerned faculty.
2.3.2. How does IQAC contribute to improve the teaching – learning process?
In tune with the goals and objectives of the college the IQAC plays a vital role in the quality enhancement and sustenance of the teaching-learning process by giving timely directions and encouragement to the faculty, staff and students in the following ways:
a. Participation in the preparation of the Time tables, Academic Calendar.
b. Planning the programmes for conducting Extension lectures.
c. Monitoring the syllabus coverage of all the departments and steps to be taken are discussed to cover backlog syllabus.
d. Taking steps to create conducive atmosphere in the campus for effective teaching learning process.
2.3.3. How is learning made more student-centric? Give details on the support structures and systems available for teachers to develop skills like interactive learning, collaborative learning and independent learning among the students?
Academic environment of the college is in a transition stage from teacher centric to student-centric. The lecture model is being substituted by other student centric means to a possible extent. During the allotted lecture time, teachers teach around 60 to 70 percent of the time allotted, and for the rest of the time being used for group interaction, question and answer session, seminar presentations, projects preparations,
assignments, problem working classes, etc., Participants are actively involved and share knowledge and ideas in the process. The method keeps students energetic and creative.
Some of the teachers even make use of the latest IC Technologies for teaching and interactions. The internet facility is also available in the library to access various websites to get advanced or additional information.
2.3.4. How does the institution nurture critical thinking, creativity and scientific temper among the students to transform them into life-long learners and innovators?
The college conducts debating/elocution competitions on the topics related to national and international importance, societal problems and Government policies like globalization, privatization etc., to nurture critical thinking among the students.
Literary competitions are conducted to promote creativity among the students. Articles in four languages: Kannada, English, Hindi and Sanskrit are invited to publish in the College Magazine ‘Spandana’.
The students are also encouraged to participate in cultural activities.
Scientific spirit and attitude: Every attempt is made by the faculty to develop in the students, irrespective of the discipline they pursue, scientific spirit and values characterized by objectivity, open-mindedness, curiosity, suspended judgment, critical-mindedness and rationality. Guest lectures and interactive sessions are being arranged by all the forums in the college to nurture critical thinking, creativity and scientific temper among the students.
2.3.5. What are the technologies and facilities available and used by the faculty for effective teaching? Eg: Virtual laboratories, e-learning - resources from National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) and National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT), open educational resources, mobile education, etc.
In addition to the availability of varieties of conventional resources like conferences, seminars, workshops, invited talks, journals and a well-equipped library that empower the faculty, the following technologies and facilities have also been provided to equip themselves for effective teaching and enhanced learning:
• Availability of well-equipped computer lab for computer science
& commerce subjects,
• Availability of internet facility in the computer lab and library for e-learning.
• Virtual laboratories are not required for the courses conducted by the college.
Mobile Education: The College makes use of media and mobile technologies in higher education in several ways with the objective of engaging the prospective students in modern and relevant ways. About 70 to 80 percent of students own a personal cell phone while the others share it with their family. In spite of a prevailing debate on the student-use of mobile on the campus and the existing restrictions on the usage of mobile phone in the campus, students are encouraged to make use of the cell phone while at home to contact and interact with teachers.
The college is using the iPOMO software, for recording the attendance of the students, for conducting tests and sends communications to staff and students about the various activities of the college through mobile.
2.3.6. How are the students and faculty exposed to advanced level of knowledge and skills (blended learning, expert lectures, seminars, workshops etc.)?
The various ways in which students and faculty are acquainted with the advanced knowledge and skills in their respective disciplines are Workshops, Seminars, Expert lectures by external experts, researchers, professors and industry personnel, and Subscriptions to various journals, print as well as digital and web. Some of the faculty members have published their research articles which provide the faculty and students exposure to new knowledge.
The college is a subscriber to INFLIBNET-N List which makes available more than 75000 e-books and 3000 e-journals in full text format to the faculty and students.
The college is conducting extension lectures in almost all subjects every year by inviting experts in their subjects from the University. Seminars and workshops are also being conducted in the college.
The CDs are available on important topics of different subjects in the college. The information in the CDs is displayed and explained to the
students.
The internet and audio-visual facilities are available in the college. The advanced information is down-loaded from internet and explained to the students by using audio-visual equipment.
2.3.7. Detail (process and the number of students benefitted) on the academic, personal and psycho-social support and guidance services (professional counseling/mentoring/academic advise) provided to students?
Each class is allotted to the staff members and the staff members are designated as class counselors. The counselor of a particular class collects the bio-data from all the students and gathers information about the problems and shortcomings faced by the students in the academic process. These are solved by the personal counseling with the students and the grievances, if any are referred to the grievances redressal cell.
The counselor meets the students frequently to monitor the academic progress of each student focusing mainly on the following methods.
a) Attendance of the students in the class.
b) Attending to all the monthly and unit tests.
c) Participation in learner-centered methods of learning process like group discussions.
d) Frequent interaction of the students with the teacher in charge during college hours/off hours and inside/outside of the classroom.
2.3.8. Provide details of innovative teaching approaches/methods adopted by the faculty during the last four years? What are the efforts made by the institution to encourage the faulty to adopt new and innovative approaches and the impact of such innovative practices on student learning?
The college aims to nurture faculty interested in exploring the use of technology for teaching and learning, providing the right infrastructure and ample opportunities to share their ideas and experiences with colleagues. By fostering a culture of reflection on the impact of technology, the college accomplishments also to improve the student experience on the campus.
The following innovative teaching-learning methods are adopted by the teachers in addition to lecture method.
1. Teaching through projects 2. Interdisciplinary teaching
3. Research oriented teaching : Projects, Seminars
4. Mnemonics approach and teaching with sense of humor are occasionally practiced.
At the beginning of every academic year, the junior staff members are trained by senior faculty to acquaint with above innovative methods.
Model lectures using the innovative approach are also conducted. The students are benefited by these innovative methods in listening, understanding and presentation.
2.3.9. How are library resources used to augment the teaching-learning process?
The Vision of the library is ‘Let knowledge grow from more to more;
and so be human life enriched’ and its Mission is ‘to provide comprehensive resources and services in support of the research, teaching, and learning needs of the faculty and students community’.
To fulfill this mission, the Library has committed itself to:
Understand the academic needs of users
Collect, create and preserve resources to support these endeavors
Create hospitable physical and virtual environments with the aid of state of the art tools and technologies
Develop, encourage, sustain and update expertise, skill, commitment and spirit to be of cheerful service to the knowledge seeking community
The Library, the core learning and teaching resource center of the college with 17,500 books, 13 periodicals and 50 CDs & DVDs supports teaching, learning and research across a wide range of all conceivable disciplines. An increasing amount of resources are now available online, both on and off campus, including images and full-text journal articles, and availability of computer with internet and reprographic facility help the students download or copy any required information.
The college is a subscriber to INFLIBNET-N List which makes available more than 75,000 e-books and 3,000 e-journals in full text form. This facility is a boon to the faculty for their research work.
Suggestions are invited from all members of the college community for the acquisition of materials to library, which support the college’s teaching and learning programmes. Separate reading area is allotted to the faculty and students. Access to the library is managed manually.
However, the management of the college has the plans to implement a system of accessibility of library electronically by providing the smart card to each and every user of library.
Library is open for use from 2.30 p. m. to 9 p.m. Users can easily search and locate reading materials with the help of the librarian and the other attendants of the library. Necessary infrastructure has been created to ensure disciplined and effective use of the library.
The library facilities are made use of by the faculty in the preparation for the classes, forwarding of applications and submissions of reports on projects, collection of references for theses, dissertations and articles.
Students rely on the library for the writing of their assignment and project reports. Student-centric teaching calls for increased use of the library and internet both by the faculty and students. They also search for and obtain information on topics for various competitions held by the college and by other agencies.
2.3.10. Does the institution face any challenges in completing the curriculum within the planned time frame and calendar? If ‘yes’, elaborate on the challenges encountered and the institutional approaches to overcome these.
As the college is completely free from unnecessary political interference and consequent loss of working days caused by strikes, lock-outs and bandhs are negligible. The curriculum prescribed for every semester is completed to the satisfaction of the students and the faculty well within the time frame.
The admission process for 1st semester undergraduate courses normally would be completed by the end of July first week or according to the circular from the affiliating university, and the class work begins from the second week of July every year. The coverage of curriculum prescribed within the scheduled time would a difficult task to delay in commencement of classes. However, the coverage of curriculum of each semester is reviewed at the end of every month and any backlog would be completed by conducting extra classes on Sundays and other holidays of the college.
2.3.11. How does the institute monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching
learning?
The college adopts the culture of continuous review and evaluation at departmental, faculty and at college level. The individual work diary given to each one of the faculty in print format provides for recording the actual hour-by-hour work done by each faculty.
The college also analyses the feedback on teaching and learning obtained from different sections of stakeholders. The college monitors the quality of teaching - learning by taking feedback from the students on the coverage of syllabus, punctuality of the faculty, depth of subject taught, availability of teachers after college hours and relevance to the topic. The college evaluates the quality of teaching – learning on the basis of performance of students in Unit tests, Pre-final and Final examinations.
A confidential evaluation of the teacher collected from the students by the Principal also serves as a documentation of the merits and demerits of a faculty member’s teaching quality. The assessment made by the Principal based on the student responses is invariably passed on to the teacher for improvement every year.