The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee has revised its undergraduate curriculum after a decade. The new curriculum was approved by the Institute Senate, the highest academic decision-making body on February 22, this year. The new curriculum will be offered to students who will be admitted in all BTech, BArch, BS-MS and Integrated MTech programmes, as per IIT-Roorkee.
The institute has introduced concepts which make its curriculum unique in the country introducing mandatory courses on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Data Science, Indian Knowledge System (IKS), Tinkering and Mentoring, Talent Enhancement Baskets (TEB), Entrepreneurship, Environmental Science and Sustainability (ESSC), Community Outreach (CORE), soft skills and more.
Further, students will be getting the opportunity to pursue theme-based minor specialisation, design thinking-based projects and a lot more.
The curriculum has been designed keeping NEP 2020 guidelines in mind, IIT-Roorkee informs through a statement. Enhancing the flexibility in the structure, the new curriculum has been designed with the philosophy ‘STEPS’ (Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Project-based education and Societal commitment). After much deliberation, the institute has decided to emphasis on the overall development of students as per their interests rather than making them learn pre-programmed courses.
The credits required for core courses have now been reduced while increasing the components of elective programme courses, humanities and social sciences, community outreach, open elective courses, entrepreneurship and more.
The curriculum offers the students flexibilities such as a provision to pursue a minor specialisation in another department, complete graduation with honours in their parent department, earn two degrees (Bachelor and Master) study one additional year or exit with a four-year BS degree in the five-year BS-MS programmes.
In the new curriculum, students in all programmes will be studying courses on soft skills, mathematics, physics, computer programming, tinkering and mentoring and engineering science in their first semester.
The course on soft skills will enhance students’ overall personality, including communication, presentation, and group discussion skills. In order to develop an interest in project-based learning and to create awareness of relevant professional/ ethical/ career development, tinkering and mentoring have been introduced.
All undergraduate students will be exposed to the significance of the traditional Indian knowledge system through a mandatory course. The course will provide in-depth knowledge of the age-old contributions of the Indian knowledge system and their relevance in modern technologies and technology-driven society. The course will be taught by a group of professors with interdisciplinary research background.
Talent Enhancement Basket is another addition to the curriculum, first in the country, IIT-R claims. Students will get the opportunity to develop or hone specialised skills in their areas of interest. This will enable the students to utilise their skills.
There is flexibility in the new curriculum for the students to opt between project, entrepreneurship or internship. With an objective to enhance awareness of the environmental aspects related to different disciplines and to equip the students to find solutions to the environmental issues in their relevant fields, different Environmental Science and Sustainability courses will be taught.
Various departments are grouped together to promote multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve sustainable consumption and sustainable industrialization and to foster innovation in line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
IIT Roorkee will also have a course on Community Outreach (CORE) mandatory for the degree requirement. As part of this course, students will be enrolled in a project individually or in a group working on societal aspects in the nearby areas. This will enhance the social connection between the institute and society, and also a sense of social responsibility.
Courtesy : The Indian Express