Mushrooming of engineering colleges,availability of lakhs of seats in various engineering branches and their affordability and accessibility are throwing the doors open to a large number of Inter passed students, who by default are opting for an engineering professional degree. The engineering study opens up many opportunities of quality higher education abroad, immediate placement with attractive package, scope for research and development and entrepreneurship. This study provides excellent job opportunities in many multinational companies having facility centres in every nook and corner of the globe.
The study of B.Tech which was once a choice of the most meritorious and an opportunity of the rich is now open to all and sundry because of the liberal funding of both Central and State governments by way of fee reimbursements and scholarships. This technical course gives new skill sets and competencies to these technical students who are wanted in both government and private sector organisations. The governments, both state and centre, universities, colleges and parents are investing huge sums of money for their education and are naturally expecting a lot from them. These students are also taking admissions in B.Tech with rosy dreams about their career and life.It appears to augur well, but these students of first year B.Tech are confronted with many specifics, be it study, branch or college, in their respective professional colleges.
The first and foremost problem of a first year B.Tech student is the problem of ragging. This menace is being perpetuated by the seniors and is unfortunately taking a very heinous, criminal, vulgar, obscene and uncivilised form. Hence, the first year students are very much concerned with this sensitive issue. To curb this nefarious practice, several stern steps are being taken by the authorities resulting in the reduction of its gravity. These junior students need not be over sensitive on this and they should be aware of the advantages of interaction with their seniors. It is these seniors who guide them in the areas of faculty performance, books, question papers, examination preparation, internal tests, labs, projects etc. Structured interaction sessions in the presence of the faculty between juniors and seniors will contribute a lot to make the juniors understand the specialties and features of a professional college with which they have no familiarity in the past.Lack of infrastructure facility in terms of buildings, qualified and expert teachers, adequate number of teachers, equipment and labs/ workshops, sufficient number of books in the library, proper facilities for transport to & fro to the college, coupled with their personal problems of staying in private rooms/ hostels for the first time, missing home food, diffidence to speak in English, not able to follow English medium instruction being a product of mother tongue media, absence of parental guidance being a first generation student, relocation to cities and towns and consequent attractions and distractions, the temptations of adolescent age,new friendships, surroundings, relationships, coeducation environment, urban rural divide, digital divide are the major problems that confront an engineering student. Under these circumstances, there is every possibility of some students going astray from their main focus. Itis better to sensitise the students with the possible aberrations and suggest some tips so that they can steer well and successfully complete their four years of engineering course with flying colours and emerge as a useful and well-equipped professional.
They should be first motivated to get good percentage of marks in all the papers as it is the backbone of their academic achievement. It is observed that in majority cases there is a down ward trend in the average percentage of marks in engineering when compared to their 10th and Intermediate percentage. It may be because of ineffective teaching due to absence of qualified and experienced faculty in many of the engineering colleges. First B.Tech students hailing from corporate, established private and government junior colleges experience a shock at the performance of some faculty in their First year B.Tech classes as there is a marked difference between the eminent faculty of the junior colleges mentioned above and the faculty that are handling First B.Tech classes.The composition of First B.Tech section having good ranking students of OC category, average and less average ranking students of other social categories, affordable management quota students with less academic rating makes the task of the faculty very difficult as he/ she has to reach to every student. For that he / she has to make presentation in different ways using different aids to make every student understand the topic of discussion. The meritorious students of that section may feel bored for the repetition of same thoughts by a teacher as it is unknown to them as the meritorious students of junior colleges are made to sit in the same section in a corporate junior college. This deficiency in the classroom instruction should be compensated by referring to text books and elearning material available in plenty by the students concerned These First year students should quickly acclimatise with the systems and procedures of professional course and college, its working hours, long distance travel. They entered an engineering college after a hectic schedule of two-year Intermediate education and an academic gap of nearly six months. The indolence and lethargy, newly cultivated and time spending habits of cricket, cinema, TV, chatting and gossip of this gap period might have spoiled their mind set for serious learning. They must be made to realise that this four-year professional course will decide their destiny of life. The study of each branch of engineering requires some specialcompetencies like command on mathematics, physics, accuracy, precision, creativity etc Some students are opting for a branch without knowing the real acumen the branch demands and later regret. They should first understand the importance of their branch and what abilities the study of that branch requires.
They should also understand even before the admission or at least in the beginning of the course, the curriculum of the branch, what competencies and skill sets the branch empowers the student. Once they know the skill sets the branch gives in their four-year of study,their road map is clearly visible and they will be aware of the organisations/ industries/ companies/ sectors to which their academic profile and skill sets match. The student must know beforehand the KRA of the industry/ organisation to which his KSA is suitable. It is observed that majority of the students even in their fourth year are not aware of the names of the organisations/ companies/ industries/ sectors that require their services and absorb them. They should be aware of the entire gamut of the examination pattern because for the first time they are writing internal tests, doing practicals seriously with considerable marks. All this information is available in the syllabus book published by the university concerned. They should carefully watch their academic performance in slip tests, internal tests and know their ranking in the class and take remedial steps to improve their academic performance by having peer consultation, combined study and faculty help. They should pass all the papers in the annual examinations at one time. They should not have back logs as it will be a burden to clear them along with subsequent semester papers.
Having backlogs is a disqualification in the On- Campus placement process for a few MNCs. They should be familiar with the norms of attendance and they should know that there is detention system on the grounds of attendance shortage.They should know that subject wise attendance is the criteria for calculating the average attendance, but not day-wise. They should know the rules relating to the extent of medical condonation of attendance permissible and if detained that they should repeat the course in the next academic year after paying the required fees.Due to absence of this awareness among some students, many college managements and universities are facing legal cases in the Honourable High Courts.
They should set their goals, short term (after four years), middle term (after seven years), long term (after 12 years) and life goal (after 23 years) from now. They should visualise where they want to see themselves at various stages of life mentioned above. For this, they should make a critical evaluation of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. They should know that they can regain anything like wealth and health but not the time. Hence they should calculate the time they are spending in a day on study, sleep,entertainment, travel, gossip, TV etc., and then automatically they realise how wastefully they are spending valuable time on unproductive items. They can plan to eliminate gradually plan to eliminate wasteful use of time and focus more time on their academics. A chart of time management is a must for every engineering student. It may be a bit difficult in the early stages to reduce time on the above said unproductive activities but by consistent efforts they can make the best use of the time. The habit of bunking classes even after attending the college, chit chatting in the canteen and other hangover corners should be checked. A good student must cultivate the habit of going to the library, sit for sometime in the reading room to go through reference books, magazines, journals and daily newspapers which will broaden their knowledge and enhance their general awareness. They should have the habit of noting down running notes in the class while the faculty is explaining a topic or a lesson. Dependence on All-in-One guides should be dispensed with and they should study only standard text books. They should not postpone the study at home of the lessons covered today as the study of the topic on the same day makes them memorise the content of the lesson. In the class room, they have to follow the lessons with all concentration and they should not indulge in mutual conversations and diversions.
They should be ready to answer any question that may be posed by the teacher. They should clarify their doubts with the teacher concerned either in the class room or in the staff room. For hands on experience, they should take lab/workshop classes with a mind to know and do what is expected in that practical class and develop skills in handling the equipment, follow the lab procedure meticulously. They should know that these lab practicals carry good percentage of marks in the annual examination and there is a chance for every student to get good score which contributes for higher percentage. The lab records should be maintained neatly, regularly in a correct form. The charts and assignments should be prepared by the student concerned in their own hand writing. The services of the scribes should not be taken.
Communication skills of a student are an important factor for campus placements in addition to the technical knowledge of the student. Hence they should make deliberate extra efforts to enhance their four language skills namely listening, reading, speaking and writing. Students from mother tongue media should take special care on this aspect. Improving English language skills greatly help the students in understanding the lecture in English medium, to develop confidence in themselves and to maintain good inter-personal relationships, team building and leadership. Hence it is recommended that such students have to attend English speaking courses conducted by agencies like British Council,Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, RK mission etc,. as fluent English speaking is a value addition to any student for better career prospects.In addition to language skills, they should also focus on other soft skills like attitude, behaviour, creativity, discipline, honesty, knowledge, leadership etc,. They should actively participate in all co-curricular activities like seminars, guest lectures, tech fests, conferences, panel discussions etc., to expose themselves for developing their intellectual pursuits and organising abilities. The extra curricular programmes conducted on or off campus, like debates, elocutions, essay writings, quiz,,sports, games, NSS, NCC etc., provide excellent opportunity to the students to show case their intrinsic creative talents.
Participation in inter collegiate events and inter university events like IIT Sastra will broaden their mental horizon and circle of friends. They should not miss such opportunities thrown open to the students of professional colleges. They should be familiar with professional bodies like IEEE/ ISTD/CSI etc and participate in the activities of the student chapters which definitely elevate their technical strengths. Hence they are advised to take membership of these bodies to update their knowledge, float new ideas for incubation and innovate technical solutions for human comfort.They should have the habit of sharing their academic, economic, emotional, personal and psychological problems/ concerns with their proctor/ mentor. They can be a great help in addressing their problems by their experience and expertise. The student must have an open mind to receive all good ideas and thoughts from any source or direction but they should not be introverts, they should be extroverts with positive thinking. They should be selective in choosing friends as friends influence a lot. A good student with a good Eamcet rank should select friends of his academic rating to progress well in his academics. The travelling time to and fro to the college shall be gainfully used by having discussions with friends in the bus on academics, current affairs and the topics of public interest instead of plugging their ears with ear phones for cine songs. As there will be more pressure on an engineering student from many quarters,he should not be tensed up and he should practice meditation, yoga to clean his mind and to free himself from mental tension. Whenever possible he/ she should watch programmes on TV channels like CNN, BBC, NDTV etc., to improve their pronunciation and construction of the sentences. They should browse good knowledgeable websites. They should take advantage of the study of computer basics paper and get mastery which will help them in using those computer applications in every walk of life, professional and personal.
The students of core branches like Civil, Mechanical and Electrical should stick to their branch and work for career growth in that area. At the end they are advised to develop confidence in themselves as they are the creators of their own destiny. He/ she should take an oath that “I will achieve” and “I can achieve”. Please ponder over the following quotation and resolve “We are brought into the world with a purpose. We just have to justify our existence and serve our term on mother Earth”.
(The author is Dean, SLC institute of Engineering and Technology)