Curriculum
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The Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) is implementing an enhanced syllabus in the area of computing across all undergraduate engineering courses from this academic year. Although this revision will apply to all disciplines in the first year as they have similar course content, in the subsequent years it will be applicable only to computing and allied streams.
Announcing this here on Thursday, VTU Vice-Chancellor H Maheshappa termed it a “unique initiative which will revolutionise the teaching of microprocessing technology and its programming in undergraduate courses”.
Aiming future
Tailor-made with the help of Intel Technology India, the Centre for Electronics Development and Technology of the Indian Institute of Science and VTU faculty, this syllabus review is aimed at integrating parallel programming to prepare future software developers to write codes on emerging technologies. Though training in multi-core processing is conducted across the country regularly, implementing its curriculum remains a difficult task, said Maheshappa.
Things, however, would change with the VTU initiative which would also encourage the teachers to take part in the course and lab development in an open source model, Narendra Bhandari, Director-Software & Solutions Group, Intel Asia Pacific, said. The Vice-Chancellor hoped that this revision would give students the required edge to develop skills relevant to the market needs.
About the claim that it’s the largest ever and first-of-its-kind multi-core curriculum revision, former V-C Prof H P Khincha, during whose tenure the initiative was launched, said no state university anywhere in the world has revised the syllabus in teaching micro-processing technology before.
“As this revision will take place across all semesters in one-go, the claim is not unjustifiable,” he added. Although VTU and Intel asserted that the revision won’t have any financial ramifications as all software tools will be provided free of cost by the latter, Intel will supply certain books on the subject at “very affordable prices”.
The VTU, with 174 affiliated colleges, 27 undergraduate and 71 post-graduate programmes, revises the syllabus for every new batch. While the curriculum of BE is revised every four years, it is modified for MTech every two years. The various Boards of Study carry out this task.
For revising the curriculum of computer science/information science/MCA from academic year 2010-11, the Board of Study received significant inputs from the Multi-core Curriculum Revision Initiative for Engineering Institutes, a joint effort of Intel and CEDT, IISc. After further discussions, VTU decided to revise the curriculum.
As similar institute-industry linkages, VTU has Memoranda of Understanding in research, curriculum, and faculty development programmes also. It also set up state-of-the-art laboratories and training centres viz VTU-Microsoft Centre, VTU-Sun Knowledge Laboratory, VTU-UG PLM Centre of Excellence, VTU-IBM Centre of Competence, VTU-Bosch Rexorth Centre of Competence in Industrial Automation, etc.
Bhandari said that it was an “education service” of the chip giant. “It will not only help our expertise in the field, but also also benefit the entire industry.” DH News Service
On a new course
- The syllabus revision will apply to all BE disciplines in the first year from 2010-11. Classes will begin in September.
- From second year, it will be applicable to computer science and allied streams where micro-processing technology is taught. In the final year, an optional subject integrating all computing concepts will be added.
- Intel, IISc, and VTU faculty jointly revised the curriculum. It will give students the edge to develop the required skills, thus making them “industry-ready”.