Is IITs Education System Competent Enough??

Yes sir I too think that there should be some changes in our course structure. In my point of view MME424(modeling in steel making) and ESO218(Computrational methods in engineering) should be the compulsary courses for our department.Most of our courses are like mugging type courses. we don't have any course which gives exposre of any software. yes I agree that we have some lab courses too but some of them are boring. Boring in the sense of that almost repeating the previously done experiments.
Apart from course structure we don't interaction with each other. Yes in B.Techs students of same batch have interaction but with other batch students it is very less. B.Tech M.Tech interaction is almost nil. Some told me that in M.Tech students of same batch have very less interaction. I dont know how much but a good interaction among students add something positevly.

First up , I would say the content of what we are being taught should be changed . In 1970's or so , IITians were prepared to know everything which they MIGHT need to know in their careers and hence , every student learnt the basics of every major field of study . But in today's age , when we have PDA carrying , laptop-using IITians , there is no purpose in reading(or should I say mugging ? ) so many core courses , of which we use less than 5 % of the acquired knowledge . We just have too many courses to do to get a degree here .

Second , there is a definite communication gap between professors and students . And the students being extremely studious and nerdy people ( They have passed the JEE after all) , I don't think they'll take any steps to close this gap .Professors will Have to put an effort in this direction .

Third . Face it or not , we have very little cultural or sports activities going on in our campus . It is an altogether different matter that we don't have much technical activity either . The first retort of the IITK authorities will be that students are glued to their computer screend and refuse to budge .NOT TRUE .
Example : Every week , 4-5 students go to the cricket coach and ask to be included in the practise sessions . A week later , none of them will still be there.....for all they would have done will be standing behind the nets and acting as ball boys for the select priviliged few who get to play. We have 5000 students , mostly male , and we have JUST two criket nets . And horror of horrors, we don't have enough equipment to fully use even these two nets .

Fourth point . Grading Sytem has to be re-structured . Most important factor is the psychological aspect . Apart from this , the whole logic of our grading system is skewed . In most courses , average marks gets you a C . And by the very definition , there WILL be below average students , and in large numbers as well . So many D's and F's . And whats more , we have professors telling us that everybody in his class should aim only for an A or a B . Crazy ???

Lots more minor points are there which can be improved in IITK , but I guess whoever is reading this will be bored by now .

Also, I DONT hate IITK or something ...there are some great aspects of IITK as well . It's just that there are some glaring fault-lines emerging in our college .

Definitely some courses should be removed.As for as Maths Integrated student there is no sense in teaching ESO & TA201 in second year.Again Chemistry can also be removed.Instead of these we could have more departmental or something related to mathematics.They have nothing to do with mathematics and our 2nd year is mostly wasted.This idea of studying everything does not make any sense given the fact that we have no use of what studied during above mentioned courses.

nothing will chamge from such nonsense , so every one stop spreading your shit

I am a 2nd year chemical engg. student.I also think that some course content must be change.For example in ESO 218 rather than stressing more on mugging method of problem solving stress should be laid on development of computer programs for particular methods.And some more lab course must be introduced in accord with newer emerging areas and eliminating the previous ones which are of no more use e.g chm101 lab.The main flaw in the system is most of the courses are of "mugging"types rather than analytical ones.And in last i expect our comments will be taken in account

some more minor points....obviously useless courses like chm lab nd phy lab in 1st yr , PE nd all should be immediately closed down . Too much waste of time and resources .
Infact , these are the courses where the culture of FRAUD MAARNA starts in the IITK UG life....
HSS courses should be supervised( by whom??...whoever really knows what the intent of the HSS courses is) ....they hv become just courses for grades and nothing more.And some professors suck Big Time . My SOC171 prof is a case in point , doubts were looked upon suspiciously , creativity questioned and original thought forbidden .

I believe, the real problem of the IITK education system is its incapability to draw the passion of students in the studies and extra curricular. This is partly because of our present education system and partly because of the context in which any student enter in IIT.

We are talking that interaction is not enough among students and professors and so we need more interactive sessions. Are class rooms not the kind of interactive session, at least for studies? If we think, that we need more interactive sessions to figure out our career paths, this is something that we need to figure out ourselves. We need no one to tell us where we should go, we just need to understand ourselves and college life is all about this. We of course need advice, for which we can make an appointment with any authority in IITK. That is not a problem. We are talking about presentation skills. You make some one so passionate that he puts his heart and soul into his work and I bet, you will find it impossible to stop him discussing his work. Presentation and communications are important, but not the point of focus. They are the byproducts of the life you live in your college.

Most of us absolutely feel that the classes and projects as a burden not at all a subject of interest. We don’t pay attention in classes, don’t understand what is being taught. On the contrary we are the best of India. I think, the things are not made in the way that they can be lent easily to our minds. Studies and the way of teachings should be in focus of individual’s ability. Many of us enter in IIT for good jobs not for good studies. So, many of us also don’t try themselves to ponder in the subjects and here, after four years of studies we are not the substance we should be, in absolute sense.

Extra curricular must be in everyone’s life to develop his personality. Let’s talk what extra curricular we have? Most of us, who have some extra curricular, are the cordi, secy or volly of some event (antragini, udgosh, teckriti…….etc.) at most. For this kind of extra curricular we work for 2 weeks before the event and 4 days in the event, if we work at all. This is the maximum level of extra curricular for most of us (not everyone). Now compare someone who is playing football uniformly for four years or working in M-club, photography…..etc. clubs for four years. Playing sports or working in club (if properly organized) demands much more work and interest than working in an event. It gives a taste, a shade or better, I can say it gives a style to our lives and here, we, the proud IITians, lack these shades in true measures. I am just giving a description of a normal IITian.

First of all heartiest thanks to Prof. Brahma Deo for taking such an important initiative which if followed "might"(not would) make life a lot better for the future incoming iitians.
As already laid down,so and so courses should be removed(examples there itself given),interaction between students and profs should be increased,all that is fine guys!!!
But have you guys ever thought how responsible are you from your perspective.As an instant i would like to lay down the point that we have exams every one month.
Each exam you give on an answer sheet that contains a pledge right at the beginning of the sheet which says"I would neither take assistance nor provide it during examination" and we people sign it so casually never bothering about the importance that oath matters.
Finally,its a shame when a lot percent of sudents indulge in illegal activities.
I dream of an IIT-Kanpur examination system where students take a pledge not to cheat on their answer sheets and immediately send invigilators out of the examination hall and the schedule goes in harmony.
So it would be a lot better if instead of pointing a finger on the other side,you all realize that three of your fingers are already pointed towards you.No offense.
Ankit Gupta
Y6 Batch-Hall 2.

The Counseling Service – A Joke never laughed on…….

Disclaimer: The language we use in the article might be a bit offensive. Every article is, after all, a representation of personal views. The editors are not in any way responsible for our words, for we requested them not to have the piece changed, because we feel the CS deserves it every bit.

Counseling Service? Aah! Ooh! …the demigods for almost 90% of the geeks and nerds that land up here in their first 15 days as it protects you from the so-called interaction. And then, as the semester progresses, role of CS dies down on majority of students, as the baaps are busy in the library or the others are busy fighting for their identity in this place. At the end, we are left with a handful of SGs who do justice to their job.
Let’s get down to the real question: What is the Counseling Service’s primary role?
Answer: “We understand that you want to gain as much from your time at IIT Kanpur as is possible, both academically and socially. The Counseling Service is here to help you achieve this when difficulties of an emotional/academic/ financial/psychological nature develop which interfere with your life.” – From CS website.

And let’s see now how they do it.
Imagine this case: There is this guy who has got a warning in the previous semester. He knows that he has got a warning and he might be sad for the first two days, but then after he gets back to his usual self and starts moving forward. At about this point, the CS sends this student counselor who is supposed to be your messiah who is gonna save your life from grave peril.
The first thing he says when he meets you is , “Are you depressed?” and that too in a tone as if this poor chap has been terminated or as if a plague has ripped through everyone around them . And the only thing he talks is about how screwed up you are and how fucked up your life is. I don’t know whether the student with the warning is depressed or not, but after listening to the messiah, he will surely feel depressed. At least, I (for a guy who is so confident of my self) did feel depressed for an hour.

I feel the CS is the one which needs counseling as to how to select people. I don’t understand how , for god’s sake , a guy who himself does nothing but study counsel/motivate another guy whom he sees as some sort of a useless chump .When will this organization realize that it takes much more than just the dreaded CPI to be a good counselor . To bring a smile to another’s face, we need a smile on our own. Sorry to say this, but half of the CS look like zombie’s when it comes to academic counseling, while the other half is only a bit better.

The best person to counsel a person on AP/warning is a person/senior who has actually experienced the depths of so-called failure. It’s at least definitely not some maggu 9 pointer who can’t even think broad-mindedly enough to feel the other chaps pain.

Secondly , one more ugly experience with the CS , was when I had a warning the last sem and the DOAA office sends one awesome letter to your house describing your life in IITK as a complete disaster and as if my whole college life has been an utter waste and am this good for nothing idiot . And then, they politely ask your parents to sign across the letter telling them they shouldn’t mind if they throw this idiot (their ward) out the window.
As if this is not enough, within 25 days of the starting of the new sem, the CS sends another letter saying that their son is screwed and that he has to do nothing but eat, sleep, shit and study in a day. Now, for a normal parent who is not much enlightened about this wonderful academic system in IITK, they would actually think their ward has managed to get a second warning in a matter of 30 days (this happened in both our houses). How would they react??......
Simply put, I got f***ed over a phone conversation.
If that doesn’t depress, what will? I ask the CS – how foolish can you guys get?? Seriously, this was ridiculous. Here I am, having already gone all over the warning with my parents, all set for this semester, and I get this call.
If you call this counseling!! Then kudos to this organization.

As for the SGs and SSGs and other student members of CS, I pity you guys. For heavens sake, don’t think like faculty or as if by being part of the CS, you have already conquered success in your life or something. The very purpose of having students in CS is so that they know how we feel, but being the geeks, nerds and morons we are …….
The Anxiety Helpline is another comical aspect of this CS. Say, there is a student very depressed and toying with the idea of committing suicide. Half of his wing treats him like some disease while the other half politely avoids him. His baap thinks of him as a lump of crap and keeps pointing this out to him. Is he going to go all the way to the notice board in the hall and make a call to a counselor, who is a professor him/her-self? I don’t think so.
Finally, everyone knows that the Counseling Service is not working. If someone thinks it IS working, rest assured, you are definitely disillusioned.

Sorry again for my offensive language but we had to get our emotion and sentiments across to the readers. And our last line before we leave it to you

“The Counseling Service creates its own need and defeats its own Purpose”

That I feel is the best way to sum up the Counseling Service in one line.

By
G. Sai Srinivas Kiran
Pavan Madhini