Standup Teachers to Stand out and be remembered! Don’t be lost in the Crowd

The worth and potentialities of a country get evaluated in and through the work of a teacher. In this context, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan said beautifully, “You cannot make or build the nation by just bricks, you have to establish the minds of young people, and then alone can the nation building take place.”

The simple question the teachers of engineering institutes to ask themselves, why only 10 to 15% of engineering graduates passing out every year are employable. Today (5^th September 2016) being Teachers Day, on this auspicious day, we the Teachers connected with teaching at engineering institutes to rededicate for the cause of all round development of students in particular and for the metamorphic changes in education system.

India being one of the largest democracy with over billions of people and 60% of its population being youth, eagerly waiting to excel in their chosen career. The scientific temper plays a very important role in the progressive development of citizens in particular and the nation in general. According to the Constitution of India, developing scientific temper is one of the fundamental duties of Indian citizens. In order to develop scientific temper in students there is a need to refine and strengthen the three components such as Knowledge, Skill (Skills: too difficult to master by the students on their own, however that can be done with the guidance and encouragement from the knowledgeable teacher) and Creativity in students. 

Traditional engineering instruction is deductive, beginning with theories and progressing to the applications of those theories. Alternative teaching approaches are more inductive, including inquiry learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching. Topics are introduced by presenting specific observations, case studies or problems, and theories are taught or the students are helped to discover them only after the need to know them. However we need to impart the knowledge:

• Firstly, functional knowledge like teaching basic concepts of science and application of these concepts in real sense, i.e., ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability.
• Secondly, emphasis must be on behavioural knowledge, like inculcating professional ethics, moral values, protecting the environment and public property and strive towards excellence in all spheres of life. 
• In addition to these, the need of the hour is to ignite the curiosity in young minds, i.e., to ask questions like Whys & Hows to themselves and also to the educators.  This is possible only if the explicit connection of engineering concepts with cognitive levels suggested in table 1of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (BRT) in the implementation of course materials. Subsequently transforming tradition classroom spaces by promoting active and collaborative learning, both learner centered approaches that foster adoptive expertise (i.e., Creatively utilizing available resources in various situations) and effective self-learning habits’ (i.e., connecting concepts from previous courses and other disciplines) in students.

Table 1. BRT steps and process descriptors

S No.	Step	Process Descriptor
1	Remembering	Can the student recall or remember the information?
2.	Understanding	Can the student explain ideas or concepts?
3.	Applying	Can the student use information in a new way?
4.	Analyzing	Can the student distinguish between two parts?
5.	Evaluating	Can the student justify a stand or decision?
6.	Creating	Can the student create a new product or point of view?

To assess the knowledge gained by the students during the academic sessions, we need to shift from conventional methods such as standard examinations or credit system, to examine the qualitative changes in students’ thinking process, problem solving approaches. This can be achieved by providing exposure to higher level of experimentation setups; effective contact hours with subject teachers; interactive sessions with the experts, and eminent personalities. The knowledge and skills of the students have to be tested frequently at various platforms to ascertain the desired transformational changes contributing to the creativity in them.  

The metamorphic changes in the education system solely depends upon how genuinely the teachers (however, the support of the authorities concerned and students wholehearted cooperation will definitely accelerate this process) provide inputs required in transforming the engineering students to acquire the knowledge to the level needed in order to transfer this knowledge to create innovative prototypes of technology.

“Teaching is not a profession; it's a passion. Without passion for your subject and a desire for your students to learn and be the best in the world, then we have failed as a teacher and failure is not an option." -John F. Podojil