Realigning our Focus: How has JLU curated its courses in consonance with NEP
Jagran Lakecity University has always placed a premium on quality, innovation, and excellence. This is evident in the outcomes it has achieved and the output it has delivered. Over the last decade, the University has made a conscious effort to build on its strengths, leverage its capacities and demonstrate visible progress in reaching the targets it has set for itself.
JLU acknowledged the opportunity that the National Education Policy (2020) provided in taking the teaching/learning process to a new level of excellence. This was both in terms of the philosophical underpinnings of learning and in the content of that learning. When Prime Minster Modi launched the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, he underscored the fact that learning needs to equip young people with ‘how to think’ rather than ‘what to think’. At JLU, this focus has been at the core of designing the NEP 2020-ready curriculum. This has taken five clear routes in our efforts at implementing NEP 2020 in letter and spirit.
Firstly, the primacy of inter-disciplinarity is visible. During a learner’s undergraduate journey, we provide multiple opportunities for them to choose courses beyond their disciplinary domain. Experience has shown that they have found these courses useful and helped them not merely broaden the horizons of learning but have greatly enriched their understanding and reflection of their core area of study. Being a multi-discipline University, we have leveraged our faculty strength and expertise to offer our learners a wider bandwidth of expertise and experience.
Secondly, we have also ensured that the first year of the undergraduate program provides learners with a wide range of foundation-level papers to enhance and sharpen their skill sets. These foundation papers provide them with wider exposure and also prepare them for the `deep dive` that the subsequent years require. This calibrated process of moving from the general to the particular allows for a more effective learning experience.
Thirdly, every core paper now has a mandatory `practicum` component. This component is directly linked to the theme that the specific paper reflects on. This practicum component allows for `hands-on` experience and is tailor-made to the requirements of the specific core paper. We have also ensured that this is implemented in all Core papers across courses.
Fourthly, we have also expanded the techniques we employ in the teaching/learning process. Besides a clear focus on learner-centric techniques with classroom discussions, brainstorming, role-play, seminars, and other forms of creative engagement, some courses are exclusively project-based, while others are in workshop mode. We have also focused much more on application-based assessment of learning.
Finally, as part of our NEP 2020 preparedness, we have brought in experts from the field to provide practical exposure to the learners. Specific papers are exclusively taught by relevant industry experts. We are leveraging the opportunity of 40% online engagement, to secure the active involvement of experts from across the world to engage with our learners.
The above innovations are merely the first stage of our making our learning experience NEP 2020 ready. Each new academic year will open up newer opportunities and JLU is always seeking to experiment with exposing our learners to new age skills. Watch out for this space to hear about new exciting changes we plan to implement!
Article By –
DR. SANDEEP SHASTRI
Vice-Chancellor, Jagran Lakecity University
