Higher Education in Electronics and Communication Engineering

Submitted by

Vinay Jha Pillai

Higher Education in Electronics and Communication Engineering

INTRODUCTION

Higher education is ready for a major revolution. For those who wonder about future of education, this proclamation will come as no surprise. It is so typical of us to think and talk about the changes to come, and we have become an expert at it. Our familiarity with upcoming change, however, may have numbed us to what it will really mean. Technology has made great and deep impact on us. Technology has changed the way we order life. It has moved us toward a different kind of economy and modified ways of living. We are in the midst of changing from an energy-based to a knowledge-based economy which will alter the rules of international economic competition, thrusting universities into roles they have not traditionally played. Two of the greatest challenges our institutions face are those of harnessing the power of digital technology and responding to the information revolution. Addition to it, our institutions are looking forward to the needs of industries to frame their curriculum. To a great extend, institutions are exploiting the available resources and technology with constant updation.  The opportunities and challenges technology presents are far greater than at any previous time in higher education's 750-year history.

There is still debate about exactly where higher education's history began. Irrespective of whether it was in Paris, Oxford, or Bologna, historians agree that it began at the start of the 13th century. It has not changed much since. Fundamentally, higher education is still a process of imparting knowledge by means of lectures to those who want to acquire it. This essay describes the forces accelerating change in Higher education with respect to Electronics and Communication Engineering, raises difficult questions that will help us determine what a transformed learning environment could be, and offers some thoughts on why it is important for higher education to take the lead in realizing that vision.

 

WHAT IS ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING?

The word “electronics” is a combination of two words, “electron” and “technology”, electron being derived from the Greek word “elecktron” which means amber. The word was first referred to describe amber's attractive properties by William Gilbert in his 1600 text De Magnete. In physics, an electron refers to a particle of charge quantified in terms of Coulombs. The word “electric” was first used by Francis Bacon to describe materials like amber that attracted other objects. The first usage of the English word electricity is ascribed to Sir Thomas Browne in his 1646 work, Pseudodoxia Epidemica. Scientists like Einstein, Feynman, and Maxwell used the word “electron” more frequently to elaborate on their findings of quantum physics and electromagnetic theory.

Accepting electronics as a circuit science is now generally referred to as a subject that deals with the flow of electricity or current and its behavior when it passes through a conducting material or a semiconductor to precise. Various electrical phenomenon like voltage, current, power, watts, amperes are used to quantify various metrics in the circuit science engineering domain. Electronics is not confined to circuit science and semi conductor theory as such but a general intuition with the word “electronics” gets linked with the notion of flow of charge carriers in a conducting material. Cambers Twentieth Century Dictionary (1972) defines electronics as "The science and technology of the conduction of electricity in a vacuum, a gas, or a semiconductor, and devices based thereon". Electronics is hence an age old concept which gradually evolved and is now a significant part of human existence.

 

EDUCATION EVOLUTION

Electronics and Communication engineering today is centered around reliable communication networks and data transactions at high speeds. The internet has become the backbone of almost all existing communication networks. Electronics and Communication is a vast field in itself.

Communication, signals and systems, control systems, power electronics, computer networks, image processing all integrate to form a part of electronics as a whole. Initially, Electronics and   Engineering was a small domain of Science. Science has been ever evolving reflecting the human mind and education has always been an integral part of learning and evolving. Education system has been such that it has tried to practice the human mind to think, learn, unlearn, relearn and innovate. Alvin Toffler said “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” To keep this motivation going, education system has slowly structured itself in the technical side to aid learning.

In the ancient period, science was taught to students through practical understanding with nature. For example, when a stone is dropped in water, it creates ripples and with time, these ripples settle down to become still water. This is a good example to illustrate stability of a system in a very basic sense. The example coated is associated with nature rather than a laboratory with equipments to illustrate simple science. Not to negate the current methods to make one understand, but to state that as time as passed, sophistication is reflected in every aspect of life and in some way or the other, has caused more damage than good!

 

IMPACT OF MARKET AND TECHNOLOGY

Technology has advanced magnanimously and the pressure is now on the students to know everything and anything that is up in the market as a consumer electronic device. Students who take up engineering, especially electronics and communication engineering are often unaware of the course structure and what are its further implications in their career front. Previously, students were not as confused as to what stream leads to what kind of a job and where to they fit themselves well. But current education systems simply creates pressure in the minds of the students and parents as to how to choose a stream in engineering and what is the job opportunities related to it.

A lot of introspection is required to intricately design a course structure for technical education. A decade back, one could conveniently say that there was significant distinction between a hardware oriented technical course and a software oriented technical course. But now things have changed and the fast moving modern world only demands of an inter-disciplinary course which can fetch employment in many different industries. Every subject is interlinked to every other subject and this inter- disciplinary aspect of making a course well suited for multiple industries of hardware or software or hardware-software co-design has played a significant role in making a structure of a particular technical course.

Once the student has chosen the field of interest of electronics and communication, he/she is less motivated to do the basic understanding of the subjects like signals and systems, basic communication theory, electronic circuits to name a few. The reason for lack of motivation is them being prejudice that those subjects are made to kill their confidence and only make them slog to pass an examination of 100 marks in which they got to score a 40 to pass through. Laboratories concerned to subjects are also taken as a burden rather than enthusiasm to learn and understand the basic concepts taught in class. As time has passed, education in the technical side has simply degraded and not many quality engineers are produced to contribute towards a better country technically.

Students today face the pressure of keeping themselves updated with the latest versions of software and hardware as a part of peer pressure. The basic understanding being novice to them are simply getting lost in the rat race to know every trendy technical advancement and trying to be the so called “techie tech”. Lot of research goes in to make those high speed gadgets but as Moore’s law has predicted that the no. of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every 18 months is simply a pressure point to technical education.

Technical education in our country has always been talked relative to the IITs , IISc and NITs where the quality of education imparted are supposedly far more better than the same being taught in a regular engineering college. It is also seen that these institutes have actually progressed in technical learning and imparting knowledge and also growing in terms of research and innovation. Statistically, a student who has completed a degree in electronics and communication from the top technical institutes holds a better opportunity in the market than a student who has passed out of any other engineering college in the country. The point of reflection is how these institutes are working towards a better higher education than the others. By simple observations, one can make out that these institutes take up huge projects from various research organizations funded well enough, and faculties and students work hand in hand to complete those complex tasks with deadlines. They also employ internet based learning, lectures given on the internet, e-learning, collaborating with other foreign universities to explore other perspectives of the same concepts. So with these institutes as a reference, one can say the country is growing in terms of technical education. There are other universities and institutes who are trying to establish themselves with quality learning, excellence and service.

 

Conclusion

The challenge to educators is to preserve the essence of traditional education while changing with the times. Our highest obligation to society and to ourselves is to work within the context of change to ensure that it follows a trajectory of maximum benefit to society.

History of Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Mechanical Engineering is probably the forerunner of many branches of Engineering. The History of Machines embraces a very broad period of the history of mankind, and can be studied from many perspectives. The seeding of Mechanical engineering started at ancient time and gradually progressed through the medieval time with the mankind. At different points of time, many people contributed a lot (say Archimedes, Newton, Arabs , Chinese etc.) and it grew very fast . Industrial revolution started at many place of the world which  made the progress faster. Now Mechanical engineering is a fully developed science which handles enormous quantity of knowledge and machinery to make the life safe and comfortable .

Mechanical Engineering in ancient time

Many studies reveal that the evolution of Mechanical engineering started in China much before than in Europe till 16 th centuary. Extremely ancient documents like the “Kao Gong Ji” (“Book of Diverse Arts”, 770-221 BC), reveal a concern for the development of science in all its forms: Astronomy, Biology, Mathematics, Physics and Engineering.  Numerous written examples followed this work. compendiums on war machines, agricultural and hydraulic machines, textile machinery, clocks and automations follow one another through countless pages of diagrams and explanations. which dates from 2600-1100 BC and Su Song’s astronomical clock built in 1089, which, with its more than four hundred parts was undoubtedly a technological wonder.

Applications of Mechanical Engineering is evident in ancient and medieval period throughout the mankind. Many discoveries and works of Archimedes ( 287 BC – 212 BC ) have contributed  a lot to Mechanical engineering field. Widely known Archimedes principle was a turning point in the engineering field. He developed a screw mechanism to pump leaked water from the  ship and the same principle is used in the screw pump, now a days. The claw of Archimedes also known as the ship shaker was an engineering marvel.  The claw consisted of a crane-like arm from which a large metal grappling hook was suspended. When the claw was dropped onto an attacking ship the arm would swing upwards, lifting the ship out of the water and possibly sinking it. Modern days experiments proved that  it can be a reality. Focusing of sun light using mirrors to burn enemy ships was another invention by him.  In 2005 a number of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students conducted the experiment and proved that this is possible under certain conditions. He designed some pulley system   to help sailors to lift heavy items which was otherwise very difficult to move.

Hero (or Heron ) of Alexandria (BC 10 – 70 AD)was an ancient Egyptian mathematician and  engineer who contributed a lot to the engineering field. He is considered the greatest experimenter of antiquity. He is the inventor of first recorded steam engine. The first vending machine also is one of his many constructions.

Mechanical Engineering in Medieval time

During the years from 7th to 15th century, the era called the Islamic Golden Age, there were remarkable contributions from Muslim inventors in the field of Mechanical technology. Islam spread to the confines of the known world during the Middle Ages and

Arabic became the vehicle of culture in its area of influence. The “House of Wisdom”, founded in Baghdad (9th C), contributes to the apparition of the book entitled “Ingenious Devices” written by the three Banu Musa brothers, whose pages contain the diagrams of one hundred machines and mechanisms. Some machines were copies of those produced by Hero and Philo but many others were improvements of these or new models.

Al Jazari(1136– 1206) the muslim polymath , in his “Book of knowledge of ingenious Mechanical devices” in 1206 discussed 100 Mechanical devices along with instructions on how to construct them.  Theses include  fountains, clocks, water wheels and automatons with a precision of detail in both drawings and explanations that had been unknown up to that time. His machines reveal an increase in complexity that turned out to be not only useful but also of spectacular appearance, as was the case of the elephant clock that combines Mechanical engineering and design in equal parts.

The Re-birth of Western Europe in the14th, 15th and 16th centuries marked a stage of renewed activity and vitality on a level of arts, sciences and literature, as it was sought to leave behind the stagnation of the Middle Ages. Unlike what happened in the Middle Ages, the opening up of Renaissance society paved the way to the spread of machines. The 15th century can be taken as the high period of machine development, with celebrities like Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco Di Giorgio whose success was partly due to an environment that was open to their creativity and new ideas. Parallel to this an interest in the theoretical aspects of machines led to a recovery of the knowledge of Antiquity with the study of authors from the Greek and Roman culture.

The publication of knowledge in the form of treatises began at the end of the 15th century. A first line of activity was the study of machine mechanics as an application of physics, by well-known figures such as Guidobaldo del Monte and Galileo Galilei. The second line consisted of a development towards a discipline in the shape of a rational collection of machines, outstanding of which were the machine collections of the aforementioned Francesco Di Giorgio and Agostino Ramelli

The Machine Renaissance, from Italy, spread throughout Western Europe from the second half of the 15th century with outstanding works such as Georgius Agricola’s “De Re Metallica” and Jacobus Strada’s “Kunstliche Abris allerhand Wasser”

The printing press was a decisive factor in the dissemination of these treatises. Not only the text but also the accompanying illustrations attained a quality hitherto unknown in the previous books on machines that had been painstakingly copied by scribes. Although some significant treatises have survived to the present in the form of manuscripts, most authors published printed books whose readers no longer needed to belong to the privileged classes. Machine knowledge became popular and spread on a qualitatively different scale from previous periods.

Important breakthroughs in the foundations of Mechanical engineering occurred in England during the 17th century when Sir Isaac Newton both formulated the three Newton's Laws of Motion and developed Calculus, the mathematical basis of physics. Newton was reluctant to publish his methods and laws for years, but he was finally persuaded to do so by his colleagues much to the benefit of all mankind. German mathematician and philosopher  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 – 1716) is also credited with creating Calculus during the same time frame.

Mechanical Engineering during Industrial revolution

This period in history arose after the accumulation of knowledge from preceding eras and due to the coming together of a series of factors that resulted in a period of continuous advancement and progress that led to a change of focus, both social and engineering. The construction of the steam engine by J. Watt (1736-1819) was a turning point, but on a Mechanical level maybe establishing the search for automation in every field was more important. The machines began to replace people as a result of the new technologies that were being discovered in agriculture, mining or textile industry. A fine example of this generalised progress came about in the sphere of textile engineering, where developments arose in every field (spinning, weaving and sewing, by the men like Arkwright, Hargreaves and Crompton . The industrial evolution was continuous and in very few years all industries that were unable to move forward with technology, became obsolete.

Actually  the industrial revolution did not spread and appear everywhere at the same speed. For example, while England was the pioneer in introducing mechanised and automated industries, neighbouring France was caught up in a social conflict that set it aside from this type of progress.

During the early 19th century in England, Germany and Scotland, the development of machine tools led Mechanical engineering to develop as a separate field within engineering, providing manufacturing machines and the engines to power them. The first British professional society of Mechanical engineers was formed in 1847, Institution of Mechanical Engineers. On the European continent, Johann Von Zimmermann (1820–1901) founded the first factory for grinding machines in Germany in 1848.

In the United States, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) was formed in 1880, becoming the third such professional engineering society, after the American Society of Civil Engineers (1852) and the American Institute of Mining Engineers (1871). The first schools in the United States to offer an engineering education were the United States Military Academy in 1817, an institution now known as Norwich University in 1819, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1825. Education in Mechanical engineering has historically been based on a strong foundation in mathematics and science.

Conclusion

Comparing the “History of Mankind” with the “History of Machines” reveals a parallel evolution throughout the history. Technical progress has led man to use his imagination and resources not only for his own benefit but also as a way of providing help to the whole mankind. This work has always been done jointly and under the considerable influence of the scientific and political environment of the time. Perhaps the most appropriate example of this type of development is the Industrial Revolution, which, as we have seen, gave way to automated industries and the replacement of men by machines. A “History of Machines” which is also the history of Mechanical engineering will never be complete, but this review will help to understand how the minds of “Mechanical engineers” gradually evolved and changed, adapting to their era while looking to a “beyond” that led  them to discover new and improved machines and mechanisms that would become a new step on an endless flight of stairs

The History of Psychology in Higher Education In India

By Dolly Jose

 1.0  Introduction

Indian psychology and educational psychology have roots in history of India. As India has historical roots which is grounded in socio-cultural-economic situations, so the Indian psychology too. In India, the psychology has been dominated by the Euro-American and British tradition until the last decade. The recent researches and findings in psychology call for integration of modern psychology with Indian thought. The realization that of Western psychology has failed in dealing with Indian social issues brought out a shift in the history of Indian psychology. The aim of this paper is to present the historical root Indian Educational Psychology.

1.1. The Term Indian Psychology in Education

Sinha (1990) describes Indian psychology as a distinct psychological tradition that is rooted in Indian ethos and thought, including the variety of psychological practices that exist in the country. He adds that Indian models of psychology would have enormous implications for health psychology, education, organizational management and human and social development. Educational psychology is the branch of psychology that uses psychological theories and teachings to understand teaching and learning in educational settings (santrock_edpsych_ch01.pdf, 2014) . Educational psychology is a best tool for effective teaching and learning. The field of education psychology was introduced by several pioneers in Western psychology theories.

1.2 Dawn of Psychology in India

The emergence of an Indian psychology is the result of British intervention and western domination in Indian education. In 1850s the British East India Company adopted a policy of finding only European style education within its territories in India. The aim of this policy was to produce a class of Indians with English thinking. To attain this goal, the college and university education was modelled after Cambridge and Oxford ( (Misra G. &., 2012). The applied education system has psychological influence and Indian intellectuals exposed to European thought and modern science. However, Indian psychology has its roots in the diverse traditions of knowledge deliberated upon in various texts (Shastra, Upanishad), as well as practices, shared by the people in the zone of Indian civilization. From this well-known spiritual tradition, Indian psychology emphasizes a holistic-organic world view, coherence and order across all forms of life, nonlinear growth and continuity in life, the socially constituted nature of person, behaviour as transaction, the temporal and eternal existence of human beings, the search for eternity in life, the desirability of self-discipline, the transitory nature of human experience, control that is distributed rather than personalized, and a belief in multiple words including both material and spiritual realities (Sinha 1994b). This spiritual tradition has distinct ‘sects’ (teacher-disciple relation) which followed their own theory and practice. Here the psychology has evolved through rigorous observation, experimentation and reflection, through training under gurus, continuous contemplation and sharing of personal accounts of inner experiences. The fruition of Indian psychology would differ greatly from the western emphasis on individualism, mechanism, and objectivity. (21) The culturally appropriate application of psychology in India is leading to the formulation of a truly Indian Psychology that integrates Hindu constructions of psychological functioning and personhood.

1.3 Pioneers in Indian Psychology

In 1883, one of the well-known teachers of Guru-disciple sect, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa gave a lecture at the world conference on religious in Chicago. The lecture made a deep impact on William James, who is the founder of educational psychology and his ideas about the higher states of consciousness. Sri. Aurobindo, who wrote on psychological topics on the basis of his profound experience as yoga, has contributed significantly to Indian psychology; his contribution to psychology is his work called The Synthesis of Yoga.  Narendra Nath Sengupta of Calcutta University, a former student of Wundt  and Girindra Shekhar Bose are the pioneers of Indian academic psychology, who trained in abroad and have continued to bring Western trends into psychology in India. Most psychologists working in other centres had graduated or received short-term orientation in Calcutta University and there occurred a diffusion of Wundtian influence to other centres (Sinha, 1990). India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was an ardent promoter of psychology, encouraging students to go abroad to obtain their degrees under eminent psychology professors (Jain, 2005). Mahatma Gandhi, though he was not an academic psychologist, his style of leadership demonstrates his deep understanding of what modern psychologists have called “group dynamics”. Gandhi’s work reflects the practical orientation of psychology in India and he may be considered as applied social psychologists par excellence (Misra G. &., 2012). M.V.Gopalswami who headed the Department at Mysore was trained at London university with spearman in the mental testing tradition and he developed Indian adaptations of Western intelligence tests and applied psychological principles in the field of education. 

1.4 Psychology in Universities

The first Indian university psychology department was established in 1916 under the leadership of Dr. N.N Sengupta, along with multiple psychological departments, associations, and journals (Paranjpe, 1981). In 1922 Dr. Girindra Shekar Bose, who succeeded Dr. N.N Sengupta established the Indian Psychoanalytical Society, affiliated to the international psychoanalytic Association. In 1925 the Indian psychological Association is established. At the beginning, psychology was part of philosophy departments. Separate psychology departments were started largely between 1940 and 1960. In 1946 the Institute of psychological research began at Patna and services headed by H.P. Maiti (Dalal, 2002). Some of the foremost universities are the Calcutta University, the University of Madras and the University of Delhi. The University of Allahabad has been recognised as the prime department of psychology in the subcontinent and has the large history of research and publications. The University of Mumbai instituted a department of applied psychology to train clinical and social psychologists and undertake research. The national institute of Mental health and Neurosciences is an institution of international repute for research in clinical psychology and training clinical psychologists (Jain, 2005).

The first generation of academic leaders in most of the Indian universities were products of Western training and psychology modelled after natural science remained the dominant voice. In the establishment of the section of Applied Psychology at Calcutta University in 1938, Indian psychology assumed an applied stance from the outset. Today, seventy universities in India have well-established psychology departments and institutes for both applied research and the provision of psychological services to the public (Robert B Lawson, Jean E. Graham, Kristin M. Baker, 2008). The Indian association of clinical psychologists was started in 1968 (Jain, 2005).

1.5 Academic Psychology

To engage with rapid growth of higher education and rapid expansion of professional institutions, Indian psychology departments began to do wide range of studies related to Indian traditional theories and it contributes to understand specific psychological issues. Using the western-style tests and measurements, there were efforts to build theories based on traditional foundations (Misra G. &., 2012). The insights contributed to publish numerous publications in the field of consciousness, self, emotion, cognition and perception. However, there raised the strong need to make methodology relevant for understanding of its social problems. The indigenisation of psychology became a necessity.  Sinha continuously endeavoured that psychology has to be culturally relevant and called for indigenisation of the discipline (Misra A. K., 2010).  It was the need of the nation to have psychological understanding of the problems arising from social changes and developments. On 12 December 1968 an autonomous organisation (Indian Council of Social Science) was established to provide valuable help to scholars from all over country through fellowships and project grants. Today, higher education includes a paper on Indian psychology (Jain, 2005).

Conclusion

In India, psychology has European roots. However, in the 21^st century, Indian psychology is capable to stand in its own foot with several universities, significant psychologists and outstanding organizations rooted in psychological interventions. There is a remarkable shift from experimental work to the understanding of the psycho-cultural context using Indian traditional ideas in research, in building psychological theories, in developing psychological tests and in the application of psychology to all the disciplines of university studies and to the needs of nation.

Bibliography

Dalal, A. K. (2002). A journey back to the roots: Psychology in India. Foundations of Indian Psychology.

Jain, A. K. (2005, April). Psychology Toady. The Psychologist, 18(4), 206-208.

Misra, A. K. (2010). The Core and Context of Indian PSychology. psychology and Developing Societies, 22(1), 121-155. doi:10.1177/097133360902200105

Misra, G. &. (2012). Psychology in Modern India. Retrieved February 24, 2012, from http://www.springerlink.com.

Robert B Lawson, Jean E. Graham, Kristin M. Baker. (2008). A History of Psychology. New Delhi.

santrock_edpsych_ch01.pdf. (2014, March 27). Retrieved from www.mcgrawhill.ca/college/santrock.

Sinha. (1990). Wundtian tradition and the development of scientific Psychology in India. The Creative Psychology, 1-6.

Origin and History of Economic Thought in India

Economic phenomena are diverse and the structure of economies is essentially dynamic and complex, amenable to changes from time to time. Economic universe, on the other hand, has a logic of its own. It has an inherent order through which there is a constant exchange between rational human beings, each seeking to attain maximum gain. Economics, as a science, is an attempt to understand this orderly working of the economy, and an individual in his business of life with a goal to maximizing his gain choosing among his innumerable wants with the limited resources he has at his disposal. As the structure of economies change over time, the science of economics also changes as the tools and analytical methods to study the economic phenomena, its working, problems and solutions keep changing. That is the reason, Economics as a science and discipline has always been influenced by the prevailing social structure, system of governance, institutional structures, ethics and norms. For example Kautilya’s “Arthashastra” is based on the then religious, spiritual and social systems, customs and standards. The individualism of the classical economist’s is essentially a product of the industrial revolution.

 The systematic study of economics is of recent origin, but economic analysis has always been prevalent across the world in one form or the other. The science of Economics is as old as human life. The initial attempts to study economics as a subject as part of the education system were first made in Europe at the end of the 17^th and the beginning of 18^th century. The study of economics in India can be traced back as early as 4^th B.C when Kautilya came out with his Arthashastra which provides an authoritative account of the political and economic thought that prevailed in ancient India.

Historically, Indian economic thought can be divided in to four periods:

1.      Ancient Economic Thought

 Ancient Indian scriptures like the Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur, Aharva), Upanishads, Brahmanas, epics, Smrities (particularly those of Manu, Yajnavalkya, Shukra, Vidur, Kamandok and Narad) give an account of the ancient economic philosophies. While Arthashastra and Nitishastra deal with production and exchange, Dharmashastra lays down the rules to be followed in consumption and distribution.

 Varta and Arthashastra were the set of guidelines as far as material life was concerned. Varta has been defined as a branch dealing with agriculture, commerce, cattle breeding, money lending and artisanship. Arthashastra covered a much wider field with its insights on jurisprudence, politics and economics and life as a whole. Consumption was based on the principle of Kama, Artha, and Dharma ( aesthetic, economic and religious aspects of worldly life) as separated from Moksha ( or the subject related to non-worldly life).

The ancient economic thought recognized the four factors of production, land, labour, capital and organization. Land was regarded as the source of all wealth, with many kings laying down their lives for it.

2.      Medieval Economic Thought

 Medieval economic thought was basically shaped by the rulers during that time. Rulers like Ala-ud-din Khilji, Mohammad Tughlaq and Firozshah Tughlaq introduced economic reorganization and improvements during 8^th century to 15^th century after which Sher Shah Suri and Akbar brought in various transformations.

Alauddin Khilji deliberately controlled the markets in order to keep the  basic necessities of life at a cheaper rate. This was done with an n intention to maintain a large army for his empire and to prevent rebellion on account of dwindling treasury. Mohammad Tughlaq brought in a new system of token coins, which failed as its monopoly could not be maintained. Firozshah Tughlaq realized the role of the state in production and employment way back in and engaged in a large number of public works in the form of construction of canals, public buildings etc. He reformed the taxation system on the basis of the laws of Quran by introducing four types of taxes ( Khiraj, Zakat, Jizya and Khams). Sher Shah Suri graded and fixed land rent as per its productivity and brought in reforms in the land revenue system.

 Far reaching changes were brought in by Akbar in the form of reorganization of the revenue system and promotion of state enterprises. While, the rent of the land was fixed on the basis of last ten year’s average price of land, peasants were brought directly under the state by abolishing the power of jagirs.

3.      Nineteenth Century Economic Thought

 The foundations of modern Indian Economics were laid in the early British period by the leading thinkers of that time, namely Dadabhai Naoroji, R.C. Dutt and Gokhale. The economic philosophy was built as a reaction to the misgivings of the British Empire and to bring in systemic changes to the eradicate of widespread poverty prevalent that time.

 Their prescription was to bring in a welfare state which would work for the interests of the general public at large. They wanted the heavy tax burden on the Indians to be reduced and the budget surplus to be spent for the betterment of people rather than on military expenses. They advocated the permanent fixation of land tax and the representation of tax payers in the body which controlled the government expenditure.

4.      Twentieth Century Economic Thought

 During this time the economic philosophy verged on the practical problems faced by the country rather than on abstract concepts. The prominent thinkers of the time like C. N. Vakil, D. R. Gadgil, Gyan Chand, V. K. R.V. Rao, and R. Balakrishna favored planned economic development by the state and that Laissez Faire is not suitable for India. The balanced utilization of resources suggested the development of agriculture along with all kinds of large scale, small and medium enterprises.

 Economics as a subject in India was first advocated by Dadabhai Naoroji but it was Mahadev Govind Ranade who first gave shape to Indian Economics and actually succeeded in establishing it as a separate subject.He is hailed as the “Father of Indian Economics”

 B.R. Ambedkar  favoured radical ideas even in those times by supporting free banking (aginst monopoly of printing legal tender), gold standard, decentralized planning, individual liberty , private property rights etc. Eminent economists like Rajaji and B. R. Shenoy also advocated economic freedom as against the principally socialist structure prevailing at that time. Unfortunately a lot of those pertinent economic thought by eminent economists like V S Srinivasa Sastri, C. Rajagopalachari, B R Shenoy, N A Palkhivala, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, Minoo Masani were marginalized and don’t find mention in the history of economic thought.

 Alfred Marshall in his eighth edition of “Principles of Economics” commented that “economic conditions are constantly changing, and each generation looks at its own problems in its own way”. The education in economics as a whole in the world as well as India has also changed its paradigms in tune with the current state of affairs, trends and developments in the world. Here is a list of India’s top 10 institutes in the field of Economics:

1. Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi,

2. Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India

3. Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi

3. Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

4. Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi

National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi,

Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta,

5. Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, India

6. Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai

7. Department of Economics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata

8. National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi

 9. International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), New Delhi

10. Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata

 The following is a list of top 10 universities in the world in the discipline of Economics:

1. Harvard University, United States

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States

3. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom

4. University of Chicago, United States

5. University of California, Berkeley (UCB), United States

6. Stanford University, United States

7. Princeton University, United States

8. Yale University, United States

9. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

10. Columbia University, United States

History of Higher Education in Engineering

Submitted by Kukatlapalli Pradeep Kumar – Research Scholar – Christ University - Bangalore - April 2014.

Engineering education is the process of imparting knowledge and values in connection with the professional practice of engineering principles. The roots of engineering education was found in a movement which emphasized on engineering science and quality in engineering education. This movement took place at the end of World War II. Later on, the practical exposure in engineering undergraduate programs was not perceived due to lack of focus on the same. To resolve the issues in the engineering education, early 1980’s researcher bodies and different organizations piloted many studies. They agreed upon the common results achieved, to deliver strong base theory knowledge in all engineering institutions. They also concluded upon the exposure towards the societal context and the interdisciplinary research for engineering education as one among the initiatives of the studies.

Service learning contributed to the transformation in engineering education, focusing on the self-learning, and development of professional and interpersonal skills.

As far as engineering education in India is concerned, a recent study says that there is 10.4 percent increase in the number of engineering graduates on yearly basis. This number is more than that of China, South Korea, the UK, and US. This leads to the question on quality of graduates coming out from universities and colleges. It results in unemployment or underemployment. A study said that about 30 percent of the fresh engineering graduates are unemployed because of lack of quality in education pursued. The engineering institutions in India are good at undergraduate programs, however lack in progressing towards the graduate and research oriented programs. One of the reasons is, undergraduate students not opting for M.Tech and other PG programs.

The official approval and accreditation process for technical education in the country on quality assurance started in the year 1985 with ISTE (Indian Society for Technical Education). As per the AICTE (All India council for Technical Education) India, the technical education not only mean Engineering, but also Management, Architecture, Pharmacy, Computer Applications, Hotel Management and Catering Technology, and Applied Arts and Crafts. The professional society ISTE is a program unit of MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource and Development) India. In the year 1994 the NBA (National Board of Accreditation) was established by the All India council for Technical Education. NBA as an association conducted many awareness programs, training programs, workshops on the quality of engineering education. It also focused on evaluation process and methodologies to be followed by the technical universities. However, the IISc also contributed towards the accreditation system, in which it was named as “Manyatha”. This could not attract the professors in the technical education in spite of its distinct features, and did not make further proceedings and updates on the same.  It is because of the NBA and NAAC accreditation initiatives, technical institutions could able to improve on the quality aspects with respect to the curriculum, industry institution interaction, Research and Development etc., [THE ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF ACCREDITATION OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN INDIA Prof. R.Natarajan Former Chairman AICTE Former Director, IIT Madras].

As the trend in technology is more towards product based models, there is need felt for transformations in engineering education. The engineering activities followed in the industry differs from the class room teaching in many ways. The product modelling and simulation environments have to be installed and updated on regular basis. The main challenge lies behind contributing to the already existing work with slight or major modifications. There is a need for formulating new courses in the institutions for the product based model architectures. The virtual system laboratories also have to be established and the laboratory hours have to be scheduled. Knowledge representations and application tools are to be connected with the engineering systems. With the newer results in research, the quantitative and qualitative approaches can be applied in engineering domain as well. The quantitative methods are relevant where a hypothesis or a theory justifies the direction of the research. The qualitative methods are more towards personal interviews, conclusions drawn from observations, data collection and analysis of the field work/surveys. For the product development systems a best method can be applied with respect to the area of engineering. [New Challenges in Engineering Higher Education József Gáti and Gyula Kártyás Óbuda University,  Budapest, Hungary]. The National System of Innovation (NSI) aimed at higher education in collaborating government sector, Industry and fourth pillar organizations. The    Fourth pillar organizations are innovation- enabling and multiplier organizations such as incubators, innovation support centers, technology transfer centers, and technology demonstrators.  The helix model and the triple helix paradigm also can impact the higher education system. [Higher Engineering Education in the 21^st century (June 2003) Andre’ Hattingh, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa].

The interdisciplinary approach with respect to natural sciences, social sciences can optimize the higher education structure in the education systems engineering to address various research problems. [Systems Engineering Methods in the Study of Higher education Structure Optimization 2009, Sun Shaorong, Zong Liyong University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. Shanghai, China]. Usage of audio visual means will have a positive impact on the university education. These resources also help in improving the efficiency of teaching among the faculty fraternity.

Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is a research theory which is intended to illustrate about the adoption and rejection of technology by the users. This model aims at verification of UTAUT adequacy on the information technologies in pedagogical process of Engineering Higher Education. [Applying the UTAUT model in Engineering Higher Education: Teacher's Technology Adoption, Bertil P. Marques, Dep. Eng. Informática – ISEP, GILT- Graphics, Interaction and Learning Technologies Porto - PORTUGAL].

Usage of computers and information technology leads to positive results in the engineering higher education. It not only develops education in engineering, but also the product development environments in and around the universities with high performance methods, tools and systems. The artifact developments depends on the sophisticated infrastructure with simulated environments. So the product development and the education in engineering can act as the real integration of academic systems with the field practice. The teaching, projects and problem solving aspects has to be merged in the engineering education for effective exposure on to the student community. The course models and product models can be integrated to form a new and unique approach in engineering higher education. [Computer System Support for Higher Education Programs in Engineering: József Gáti and Gyula Kártyás,  Óbuda University Budapest, Hungary]

 

Higher Education in Chemistry

REKHA KUMARI 1345102(Chemistry)

Introduction of higher education

The higher education is an educational level of post-secondary education, tertiary education and the research education. It also includes teaching and social services activities of universities. In addition, professional level education is always comes under higher education. The professional field involving the collection, analysis and reporting the data of higher education called research education. In India, there are so many institutions to teach higher education system. The United state has the top most position in higher education. After China, India has the third rank in higher education.  

An ancient history of Chemistry

The history of chemistry took long time reaching from ancient history to the present. An ancient civilization used technologies (extracting chemicals from plants for medicine and perfume, fermenting beer and wine etc) by 1000 BC.  

Establishment

Near the end of AD eighth century, an Arab alchemist also known as a father of chemistry was used the word alchemy. The ‘alchemy’ word derived from Arabic word Al-Kimya. Kimya sometimes indicated either by kemi or kemia, which means the land of black soil or the art of melting gold and silver. The protoscience of chemistry, alchemy, was unsuccessful to explain the nature of matter and its transformations. In 1661, Robert Boyle was made a clear differentiation between chemistry and alchemy.

Chemistry in the middle ages – Alchemy:

Alchemy originated from china. The alchemical writings appear in Chinese literature as early as the third century B.C. Chinese alchemy is closely related to Taoism, which is a system of philosophy and religion. But some told that it is originated from Egypt and filtered into china. But alchemy really started from the philosophy of Taoism. Ko Hung has written three goals of alchemy:

i.   The preparation of real gold from base metal.

ii. The preparation of gold from either natural or artificial but always genuine gold in an 
     edible form.

iii. The chemical preparation of other less efficacious medicines of immortality.

AL-Razi had written a book on alchemy, “Secret of secrets”, in that he divided mineral bodies into six classes:

1. Bodies, the metal.

2. Sprits, Sulphur, arsenic, Mercury, and salt ammoniac.

3. Stones, marcasite, magnesia etc.

4. Vitriols(known to pliny).

5. Boraces, borax, natron(soda), plant ash.

6. Salts, common salts, kali (potash), “Salts of eggs” (Saltpetre) used in china for fireworks.

Division of chemistry:  

Initially chemistry had divided into three different names according to location.

i.   Hindu

ii. China

iii. Europe

Hindu chemistry

 The Sanskrit Vedas mentioned five elements earth, water, air, ether and light. The later Vedas mention gold, silver, copper, bronze, lead and tin. The Samkhya system of philosophy mentions five elements (tantmantras): sound, touch, colour, taste and odour, from which proceed five coarse elements (mahabhutas): ether, air, fire, water and earth, containing one to five of the subtle elements in the above order. The atomic theory occurs in the Vaisesika system, attributed to kanada and developed in Buddhist and Jainist works from the 2^nd century B.C.

Chemistry of china

In china, the idea of chemistry came from India early in the Christina era. In this country, Bronze appeared about 1300 B.C. Chinese people used cast iron extensively in the Han dynasty. They were used many objects which made up of cast iron.

Alchemy in Europe

In Europe the beginnings of chemistry were unknown during the middle Ages. It was written on the “divine art”. Large numbers of books on alchemy written in the period 1250-1500.

Beginning of chemistry education:

Chemistry is the branch of natural science which deals with the composition, structure and properties of matter, and the changes which it undergoes. For example there are certain chemical changes like rusting of iron, burning of fuels, obtaining metals from their ores etc.

The slow progress of science among the ancients was due to the divorce of theory and practice. By this we commonly understand the pretended art of changing the baser metals into gold.

The Nobel prize in chemistry: Development of Modern Chemistry

The century 1900 was also a very important turning point in the history of chemistry. Therefore, a survey of the Nobel prizes in chemistry during this century will provide an analysis of important trends in the development of this branch of natural sciences, and this is the aim of a present essay.

Chemistry has a position in the centre of the sciences, bordering onto physics, with provides its theoretical foundation, on one side, and onto biology on the other. Living organisms being the most complex of all chemical systems. Thus, the fact that chemistry flourished during the beginning of the 20^th century is intimately connected with fundamental developments. There are some scientists who got the Nobel Prize for their invention:

1. Sir Joseph John Thomson: Electron (1897)

2.  Ernest Rutherford: Atomic model (1911)

3. Niels Bohr: The structure of atoms (1922)

4. Eduard Buchner: Biochemical research and cell free fermentation.

So, by doing experiments and recording the results, alchemists set the stage for modern chemistry.

History of chemistry in India

The Modern science appeared only in the latter part of the nineteenth century. By the mid nineteenth century European scientists started coming to India. A science college was established in Calcutta in 1814. The study of chemistry was first introduced in the presidency college of Calcutta in 1872, followed by post-graduate teaching in chemistry in 1886. Indians had made considerable progress in the field of chemistry during the ancient and medieval periods, having evidence of P. C. Ray’s two volumes on ‘History of Hindu chemistry’. Then so many scientists started taking keen interest in modern scientific research activities in the field of organic, inorganic etc. Thus P.C. Ray established the Bengal Chemical of Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. in Calcutta. The Alembic Chemical works was established by J.K.Gajjar in 1905 at Baroda. The Indian chemical industry was established and it continued to grow with a slow but a steady pace in the 20^th century.

Internal perspective on chemistry and training

The creation of a multi-disciplinary research community on science visualization is beginning to address the internal perspective with one important forum and driving force leads to training. A chemist who holds a Ph.D. or at least a master’s degree can understand the theory easily by his thinking ability. So training or research on a particular field is very necessary.   The chemistry – biology interface program of the national institute for general medical science has funded a landmark institution training program (T32). This training program integrates biology and chemistry through a common set of course requirements, a hands-on team based approach to laboratory training, a unique preceptor training.

New direction in chemistry

In 1912, Rutherford and Bohr had to change their viewpoint on the nature of matter. On the study of the whole nature of matter was not paid attention as much as on the atomic nuclei and the movement of nuclei in the electric field. Therefore the range of chemistry was restricted to the nature of matter around us. However the meaning of matter denotes that the substances are made up of atoms and molecules. Nowadays Quantum and Nuclear chemistry are currently well developed under the chemical science but it categorized as a science based on the use of concept which describe the phenomenon matter to atomic or molecular scale.  So the field of chemistry is still, on our human scale very broad and it is everywhere is accurate.

Five decades of chemistry education in International

The IUPAC role in pure and applied chemistry was established in 1950s. The junior author (KVS) was mesmerized by the chemical demonstrations of the legendary Hubert N. Alyea, A lifelong affair with third international components of chemical education in august 1977 at Ljublajana, The involvement of KVS with the Committee of teaching of chemistry (1977-1980), to serving as India’s national representative(1981-1985), to serve as CTC Secretary(1986-1990) and then as (1991-1995).

The first Decade

When the CTC- under C.N.R. Rao and David Waddington realized the urgent need to upgrade student laboratories in developing countries, an action plan was formulated in 1979. Its implementation began at DU under the title, “Locally produced Low Cost Equipment (LPLCE) for teaching of chemistry”. The field-testing part of the project, catalyzed by generous support from UNESCO made spectacular progress beginning in the late 1980s. The senior author (NKU) organized teacher training component under auspices of the center for professional development in higher education established at DU by the Indian University Grants Commission (UGC). BBC Open University made a documentary on the social dimension on the DU project.

The Second Decade

In the second decade, to start LPLCE WAS christened “Cost Effective Science Education”.  The new label provided the multidisciplinary orientation necessary for hands-on environment education. KVS strengthened the formal aspects of the teacher training program.

The Third Decade

The Indian adaptation, titled RASAYNIKA (Sanskrit for Chemistry) was introduced in 2004. The award was chaired by the reputed Indian industrialist G. H. Singhania, who was made an IUPAC fellow in 2006. The award function was held during Chemical Education Week in January 2005.

Chemistry education in next millennium

The shapes of chemistry are fundamentally important. At the beginning of 21^st century, many forces shape the teaching and learning chemistry. So shapes depend on some factors. There are some practical ways for chemistry education to respond to those shaping forces, which include:

(a) Fundamental changes in the counters of chemistry as defined by new interfaces and
      research areas.

(b) Changes in our understanding of how students learn and how that applies to chemistry
      education.

(c) The wide spread implementation of computer and information technologies to visualize
      complex scientific phenomena and,

(d) External forces such as global concerns about energy and water resources and the
      environment, and the level of chemical literacy and public understanding of science.

Over the next decade we should take challenge related to energy in chemistry, such as following:

·         Fuel cell chemistry and technologies

·         Materials for solar energy capture and storage

·         High-energy density, rechargeable storage batteries

·         Biomass as a renewable fuel source

·         Superconducting materials for energy distribution

·         Technologies and catalysts for coal as a fuel

·         Carbon dioxide sequestration

·         Lower cost, lighter weight, more durable, recyclable polymers for vehicles.

Finally we need to understand address the energy crisis that exist in many part of our globe today and the challenge of findings sufficient food to meet daily caloric requirements for our body’s internal combustion engines and sufficient fuel to prepare that food.

In addition to required courses in analytical, organic, inorganic and physical, should study interdisciplinary course. Those interested in the environmental field also should take courses in environmental studies and become familiar with current legislation and regulations. Nowadays computer course are also become important along with chemistry. So along with chemistry can be increased computer skills to modeling and simulation tasks. Statistics are also useful in chemistry because both chemists and materials scientists need the ability to apply basic statistical techniques. Therefore interdisciplinary study takes very meaningful in life. The amount of gain of knowledge or idea is not restricted, as much as possible can gain and use in relevant fields. Because all disciplines are relatively connected to each other and used. So the higher education helps to coordinate between different disciplines. Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan is a centrally sponsored scheme which provides strategic funding to state higher and technical institutions.