Tamil Nadu   

A new introduction to engineering

K. Ramachandran

B.E. and B.Tech. students will face an all-new pattern of papers

STARTING THIS academic year 2006-07, students of engineering colleges in the state under the Anna University's umbrella will see a difference in the way they learn their subjects. At least in this first academic year. This is because the university has decided to set in place an academic pattern for the first year of engineering.

The familiar pattern of two semesters will be followed only from the second year of B.E / B.Tech or B.Arch programme, and the students will be under an annual pattern for the first year of the engineering programme.

In the semester pattern, the students had to do six courses in each semester. Which means in the first year they would be taking up 12 courses. However, from this year, the students will learn eight courses, besides four practical courses. They will be evaluated at the end of the first year in all these subjects, theory and practicals, wherever necessary.

Reasons for switchover

What actually made the university change the semester pattern to annual pattern? The complicated process of admissions for government and management quotas, besides NRI quotas take their own time to complete. As an academic member in Anna University's curriculum decision making apparatus says: "By the time all the admissions are completed and the candidates finally join the engineering programme, it is September and in some years it could be even October. But we need to conduct the first semester examination by December or January, which means the students will not even have learnt a minor part of what he or she needs to know for the first semester examination. That's why we felt that at least for the first year, we will have the annual pattern and then switch to the familiar semester system for the II, III and IV years of engineering."

Among the eight courses that the new pattern envisages, six courses would be common for all branches under B.E/B.Tech programmes, academics in the university note.

But two of the courses would be from among the core subjects for the branch concerned.

For example, Civil Engineering B.E students will learn courses `Engineering Mechanics' and `Construction materials'; while ECE students in the first year would get an idea of `Electron devices' and `Circuit analysis'.

Similarly, Computer Sciences and Engineering students will have two papers from core areas, namely, `Electron Devices and circuits' and `Electrical Engineering'.

However, all students entering B.E / B.Tech programmes in any college under the university would have six common subjects — Technical English, Engineering Mathematics - I, Engineering Physics, Engineering Chemistry, Engineering Graphics, and Computer Programming. Besides, the students will have two practical papers for evaluation — Physics/Chemistry lab and Engineering practices lab (including workshop).

Academics also note that the paper Technical English would also have enriched content. Vice-Chancellor D. Viswanathan is already on record that English and Communication practices would be a compulsory part for learning in the first three years of the B.E/B.Tech courses, mainly with the aim of equipping students with better soft and personality skills and making them more industry-ready during campus recruitment.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

A PR course that rivals MBA
Studying dental disease among Chennai residents
Allowing the gifted to bloom
A new introduction to engineering
`International students enhance campus life'
Memorial for Kumbakonam school fire victims: Collector
Small ports planned in Rameswaram, Nagapattinam
Excellence award to 16 organisations
NAAC team to visit college
Ministers launch two eggs a week scheme in districts
M. Phil entrance test
B.S. Physician Assistant programme
Welfare schemes being executed with vigour, says Vasan
After Kandadevi, focus on reserved panchayat polls
Briefly

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu