The SRM University, AP- Amaravati will introduce Inter Disciplinary Experiential Active Learning (IDEAL) for BTech students from 2018.
“With students in India seeking more inter-disciplinary programmes and flexibility in learning, the university has revamped the manner in which the programmes are offered, and the curriculum is designed,” Dr P Sathyanarayana, president, SRM University, said.
As a first step towards creating this IDEAL environment, the university offers the option of pursuing minors and specialisations to students joining BTech degree programme. This allows students to have additional knowledge in some focus areas, providing them a career edge, or pursue an area of higher study in their field of interest. Twenty plus minors and specialisations are going to be available to the students.
This learning experience will be further enriched by providing Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROP) programme, career-linked-capstone projects, industry internships, semester-abroad programmes and technology-enabled active learning environment (for instance hybrid learning through MITx).
“There is also an increasing focus on experiential learning (learning through doing) and technology enabled active learning. To address these demands, SRM has now introduced IDEAL, wherein a student can now design his own degree, choose his own curriculum and determine the paththat he wants his career to take”, Dr Sathyanarayanan said.
A student can pursue a Major with specialisation, if he hooses to specialise in a sub-field relevant to his major. To pursue a specialisation, the student must take a certain number of departmental and open electives from the same basket of intended specialisation. Since a minor is an option rather than a requirement, students may consider their passions and goals before pursuing any Minor in conjunction with their declared major.
A student has an option to either choose a minor within Engineering, or outside engineering. In case of a minor within engineering, it can be in any department other than the student’s majoring department. In case of a minor from outside Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering student can do a minor in Economics, History, or Journalism. The student will have to meet eligibility criteria set by respective departments in order to opt for a minor.