TReE-Teaching, Research and Empowering

TReE (Training, Research and Empowering)?????????

Branch 17

Changing Paradigm of Higher Education and Challenges

Dr Gopalkrishna Joshi

Executive Director

Karnataka State Higher Education Council, Bengaluru

I continue summarising various TReE (Faculty Development Program) sessions. This summary is about the session taken by Dr Gopalkrishna Joshi. TReE is organised under the auspices of the Centre for Professional Development and Training, Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences.

TReE, the first in the series of Faculty Development Programs, was organised on 20-24th February 2023. The program focuses on Teaching, Research and Empowering the faculty to aid them in enhancing their performance. Experts and experienced faculty from reputed academic institutes and the RUAS have delivered talks in various sessions.?

Dr Gopalkrishna Joshi took the seventeenth session in the series on 24th February.

Dr Joshi is an experienced Professor with a demonstrated history of working in higher education, particularly engineering education. Known for leadership and innovations in Engineering Education. Skilled in Outcome Based Education, Curriculum Design, PBL, Educational Technology, and Engineering Education Research. Has done his PhD in Computer Science from JNTU, Hyderabad, M.Tech. in Computer Science from NIT (Warangal), AP, India (formerly REC, Warangal), and BE (Electrical Engineering) from SDM College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad. He is presently involved in implementing the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) in the state of Karnataka's higher education space, including policy, curriculum transformation, leadership and faculty development and outreach activities. ???????????????

A summary of the talk written based on my notes is given below.

Dr Joshi started his talk by referring to what a paradigm shift is. He states it is a fundamental change in thinking or understanding of a particular concept or phenomenon. It often involves transitioning from one dominant perspective to another, significantly changing how we approach and understand the subject. The change that is happening is teaching in small versus teaching in large. The components of changing scenarios are Online Learning, Competency-Based Education, Experiential Learning, Personalised Learning, Open Education Resources and Interdisciplinarity. ?

He touched on the drivers of change in education. These are driven by: Technological advancements, Globalisation, Changing demographics, Economic Pressure, Environmental concerns, Workforce Demand, Funding and regulatory pressures and Societal expectations. The challenges are:

·????????Teacher-centred learning to students centred learning

·????????Content-based learning to outcomes-based learning

·????????One size fits all to personalised learning

·????????Digital migrants teaching digital natives

·????????Research – Teaching balance

·????????Regulatory mindset

·????????Inadequate investment in leadership development

Dr Joshi dwelled on the significant problems faced by the higher education system in India. Some are: less emphasis on developing cognitive skills and learning outcomes, a rigid separation of disciplines, early specialisation and streaming of students into narrow areas of study, and limited access, particularly in socio-economically disadvantaged areas, with few HEIs teaching local languages. Large affiliating universities result in low standards of undergraduate education.

He brought to the participants' attention the critical recommendations of NEP 2020. Some of the important recommendations are: moving towards a higher educational system consisting of large, multidisciplinary universities; revamping curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and student support for enhanced student experiences; governance of HEIs by highly qualified independent boards having academic and administrative autonomy;

Dr Joshi discussed the challenge of change. He talked about the mindset and the need to take a call on survival versus growth. Taking a cue from his personal journey, Dr Joshi indicated the importance of Sighting of problem, acquiring competence to solve and finally getting a successful solution. Continue to learn so long as we teach and move towards excellence. Dr Joshi mentioned that there is a need to acquire: Disciplinary competency, Pedagogical skills, Technical capabilities and Research competence.

He concluded his talk by indicating that what is required is teamwork, collaboration and coordination in addition to an individual's competence and willingness to work.

Dr Joshi's scholarly talk gave input about managing the higher education ecosystem—the challenges and the way forward. The participants benefited from listening to his talk.

The articles posted on earlier sessions can be accessed at:

Session 1: Prof P N Razdan: (2) TReE - Teaching, Research and Empowering | LinkedIn

Session 2: Prof M Sai Baba: TReE-Teaching, Research and Empowering | LinkedIn??????????????

Session 3: Dr Nayanjeet: TReE-Teaching, Research and Empowering | LinkedIn?

Session 4: Major General JV Prasad: (1) TReE-Teaching, Research and Empowering | LinkedIn

Session 5: Prof MH Bala Subramanya: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-4c

Session 6: Dr Gangadharan: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-5c

Session 7: Dr Prathima Khandelwal: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-6c

Session 8: Dr Chetan Singhai: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-7c

Sessions 9 & 10: Dr B S Padmavathi: ?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-8c

Session 11: Dr Kharbanda: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-9c

Session 12: Dr Krishnamurthy Jayanna: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-10c

Session 13: Dr KV Sandhya: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-11c

Session 14: Mr Ben Sowter at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-12c

?Session 15: Shri Manoj Kumar at TReE-Teaching, Research and Empowering | LinkedIn

Session 16: Dr Chetan Singhai, second talk at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/tree-teaching-research-empowering-sai-baba-magapu-2f