BEST PRACTICES

Activity 1

a.Title of the practice:Competency Fostering Program (CFP)

b.Objectives:

• Make holistic development of student.
• Develop relevant technical skills.
• Develop cognitive and affective domain of students.
• Ensure development of students with life-long learning attitude.
• Provide industry-specific knowledge to students.
• Improve students’ the self-confidence, communication skills and teamwork
• Improve student’s collaborative approach towards professionalism and work ethics.

c.The context –

• We, AnnasahebDange College of Engineering and Technology (ADCET) are located in a rural part of Western Maharashtra. The institute aims to prepare its students as per the needs of the industry by offering a wide range of programs and activities that enhance their technical skills. Most of students in the institute are lagging in communication skills and they have average command over English language. As the students are from pastoral area, they are having shyness among them to present themselves confidently in front of others or to present themselves as a marketable product.
• The engineering industry is a highly competitive and dynamic and hence there is a need of constant updation of skills of students with the latest advancements. The industry offers employment to the fresher’s with good aptitude, communication skills, technical knowledge and decision-making power. The CFP is an initiative aimed at preparing engineering graduates to meet the requirements of the industry by imparting the necessary knowledge and skills.
• The engineering industry is rapidly evolving with new technologies and innovations emerging every day. To meet the demands of the industry, it is essential for engineering students to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills. However, most engineering programs focus mainly on theoretical knowledge, leaving students unprepared for the practical challenges of the industry. Therefore, CFP is essential to bridge this gap between industry and academia.

d.The practice

The curriculum developed by the institute is assisted with skill oriented courses, employability courses, and other activities like workshops, industrial visits, trainings etc. as their routine academic activities. Curriculum of the institute focuses on skills development, employability and professional development of the student. This helps the students to become more proficient for the placement process of the industry which may consists of aptitude test, technical round and personal interview. The various curricular and extra-curricular activities being conducted under CFP are mentioned below:

Curricular Activities:

Internships: Internships opportunities are provided for students in various industries. It help students to gain practical knowledge and experience industry culture, as well as to become adoptable to industry. It provides student with practical experience and exposure to industry practices. It also help students to impart valuable insights into the industry and develop the necessary skills.

Projects: Learning through projects is too instrumental in acquiring knowledge. The institute encourages students to work on good projects that are relevant to the industry. These projects provide an opportunity to the students to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems. This enhances problem-solving and critical thinking skills of the students.

Value-Added Courses: The institute offers value-added courses that are complements the regular curriculum. These courses cover topics such as communication skills, personality development, and entrepreneurship amongst the students.

Skill Oriented Courses: The institute provides such courses that enhance the employability of students. These courses cover topics such as soft skills, interview skills, and job search strategies.

Elective Courses: The students are free to choose the Elective courses are per their choice from Third Year onwards, which are floated by their respective departments. There are two categories of the elective courses namely; Professional Electives and Open Electives. The Professional Electives are floated by the respective department and students from the same department will opt for it. Whereas the Open electives are floated by all the departments for which the students from parent department are not allowed to choose the elective from their department. The Open elective gives an opportunity to the students to opt for multidisciplinary approach.

Seminars:Every student has to deliver a seminar on a topic which is given by his guide. This activity improves the communication as well as presentation skill of the student. Some courses Seminar / Presentation is considered as one of the activity for evaluation of the students.

Extra-curricular Activities:

Lectures of Experts from Industry and Academia: Eminent experts from industry and academia are invited to deliver lectures to students. Such lectures provide students an insights into the industry and the latest trends and cutting edge technologies and exposure to the students.

Hands on Workshops:These type of practices are helping the students to improve their practical skills and knowledge demanded by the industry. The students will get exposure for the use of latest tools and technologies.

Industrial Visits: The institute organizes industry visits for students to various industries. These visits give students a first-hand experience of the industry and help them to understand the practical aspects of their field.

Need based training:The institute provides need-based training for students based on their requirements. These training programs such as language trainings, aptitude trainings and tests those help students to acquire the specific skills and knowledge required for their field. Value added courses are added into curriculum which are necessary for all round development of students. External agencies are invited under which trainers from the agencies train students regularly to boost students on various domains of student’s development. This helps students to focus on campus interview, development of self-confidence.

Project Competitions:The students are encouraged to participate in the competitions organized by the parent institute/department as well as outside institutes. The students will get an opportunity to showcase their technical knowledge through their projects to the outside world. Also, this gives them a chance to look towards the outside world projects.

Paper Presentations:The students are encouraged to participate in the paper presentation competitions organized by the parent institute/department as well as outside institutes. The students will get an opportunity to showcase their technical knowledge through their presentations, which helps them toimprove their paper writing and presentation skills.

e.Evidence of success:

The Competency Fostering Program has remarkable impact on the success of students in institute. Communication skills of students are improved and they have become more confident in their ability to work in the industry. The CFP run by the institute become successful in preparing students ready for the industry. The various programs and activities offered in the institute have enhanced the employability skills of the students and they become industry-ready and got placed. We believe that these efforts have contributed to the economic growth of the region by providing skilled and knowledgeable professionals to the industry. The success of the practice can be seen from:

• Student’s participation in various events organized in campus and off campus at national and international level with good success rate.
• Continuous improvement placement of students in reputed MNCs
• Feedback from employers

f.Problems encountered and resources required:

Students reluctance about the activities beyond curriculum hours, because most of the students cannot afford the stay in to the hostel and they prefer to travel daily from their home to college. Due to substandard travelling facilities,it is tough for student stay back beyond college hours. To resolve this problem, timetable has been prepared by considering students comfort.

Initially, voluntarily student participation was poor in the technical competitions. Problem is resolved by motivational talks to improve the active participation. We have trained human resource to conduct such sessions for the students.

Activity 2

a.Title of the practice –

ActivityBased Internal Assessment

b.Objectives

Activity based internal assessment is to:

• Enhance learning skills of students
• Impart deeper understanding of the course
• Develop team spirit among students
• Make students aware about real time application of Engineering knowledge and enhance problem solving capacity
• Produce competent and industry-ready engineers.

c.The context –

Traditional examinations of theory courses were mostly written examinations. Through such examinations only knowledge domain POs were mapped. Skill domain and affective domains remain unmapped. In this regard ADCET adopted activity-based In Semester Evaluation (ISE). It is a type of assessment which focuses on assessment of knowledge, practical skills, and attitude domain skillsof the students through various activities, which leads to mapping of the PO’s from affective and psychomotor skill domains. It is a more effective way of assessing students' performance as it evaluates not only their theoretical knowledge but also their ability to apply that knowledge in real-world situations.

Benefits of Activity-Based Assessment:

Improved CO-PO mapping: CO-PO mapping helps to ensure that the learning objectives are being met and the program is fulfilling its goals. CO-PO mapping can also help to identify areas of improvement. It also ensure that students are receiving the best education. The conventional assessment methods were not sufficient to map maximum PO’s; whereas activity based assessment, helps to map almost every PO encompassing all knowledge, psychomotor and affective domains.

Activity based assessment helps to improve learning by providing feedback on performance of the student and areas of improvement. It also motivate students to work harder and strive for better results. This Assessment method is helpful for teachers to identify areas of improvementof the students and provide targeted instructions to enhancethe performance.

Enhancing Practical Skills: Activity-based assessment can enhance students' practical skills by providing them with hands-on experience in solving real-world problems. This can help them to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.

Competency Performance: Activity-based assessment can measure students' performance in real-world scenarios. This helps to evaluate students' abilities to apply theoretical knowledge to the practical problems, which is an essential requirement in the engineering industry.

Encouraging Active Learning: Activity-based assessment encourages active learning by providing students with a more engaging learning experience. It motivates students to learn by doing, rather than just reading and listening.

Fostering Collaboration: Activity-based assessment can foster collaboration among students, as it often requires teamwork and communication. This help students todevelop interpersonal skills, which are essential in the engineering industry.

d.The practice

The implementation of activity-based internal assessment involves several steps. These steps are as follows:

Designing Activities: The faculty members need to design activities that are relevant to the course material and enable to evaluate the student's performance from knowledge, psychomotor and affective domain. It is communicated to students well in advance so that they will get enough time for preparation.

Conducting Activities: The faculty members conduct the activities and assess the performance of the students based on their performance, participation, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork.

Providing Feedback: The faculty members provide regular feedback to students on their performance and guide them on how to improve their skills.

Final Assessment: The final assessment is based on the overall performance of the students in the activities conducted throughout the semester.

Following activities are floated to the students for their internal assessment,

List of activities for internal assessment:

• Market survey
• Case studies
• Video presentation
• Group discussion
• Spot presentation
• Quiz
• Assignments
• Poster presentation

e.Evidence of success:

Activity-based internal assessment provides a comprehensive evaluation of students’ understanding of the subject matter and promotes active learning. The adoption of this approach lead to better attainment of course outcomes and better-prepared graduates who are equipped to meet the demands of the industry. The success can be observed from,

• Improved PO mapping and better assessment of students.
• Student feedback on ‘Activity based assessment’

f.Problems encountered and resources required:

Time constraints: Activity based assessment requires a significant amount of time to plan, implement, and for assessment. This is little difficult to manage as compared to traditional assessment, as student has to undergo multiple courses and multiple assessment at a time.

Activity based assessment requires out of the box thinking of the faculty and design activities that are appropriate to assess course outcomes. Courses such as NPTEL courses and FDP’sbecome helpfulfor faculties to become an expert in their subjects.