Dr Harshvardhan Tiwari is the Head of the ISE Department at Jyothy Institute of Technology, Bangalore. He has completed Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering, post graduate study (M.Tech) and graduate study (BE) both in Computer Science and Engineering. His research interests include Data Mining, Machine Learning, Data Science, Deep Learning, Algorithms, DBMS, and Information Security. He has more than 7 years of teaching and research experience besides having published in national and international journals alongside conference papers. He has also completed several certified programmes in new technologies under The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) initiative. 

Jyothy Institute of Technology

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“Ensuring smooth functioning of student-centric and academic activities in the institute”

  • Monitoring the academic progress of the departments.
  • Monitoring the functions of Proctor system, Test Coordinators.
  • Approving the Internal Assessment marks for all students in all classes of UG.
  • Monitoring the students’ online and offline feedback.
  • Monitoring the faculty performance in University results.
  • Monitoring and controlling students' discipline on campus.

How do you tend to establish healthy relations with the students and fellow faculty?

“A healthy combination of trust, social activities and mutual understanding is essential” 

Building a positive and harmonious relationship between faculties goes a long way in building a positive culture in the institute. It leads to imparting better education for the benefit of the students. We celebrate birthdays, social events, tournaments and get-togethers to facilitate a sense of family in our institute. We examine best internal and external practices, seek better alternatives and jointly form a path to success. Also, faculties who cultivate empathy for and with their students are able to manage students’ behaviour and academic engagement better.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects of your department?

“The integration of industry links in teaching pedagogy is essential”

Faculties should introduce an Industry-oriented teaching approach in order to offer students the opportunity to be involved in industry projects. To prioritize industry hands-on activities for students and shape the traditional classroom toward an industry environment, three entities are important. These are industry guest speakers, teachers, and students. A blended learning approach needs to be adopted between all entities to allow more flexible learning opportunities.

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How do you strategize the curriculum and how often it gets updated?

“The department follows the Academic calendar issued by the University and executes it rigorously”

The department regards effective delivery of the curriculum as the most vital curricular aspect. The Heads of Department conducts the meetings to distribute workload, allot subjects, and plan the activities of the department and review the completed syllabus. The teaching plan is prepared by every faculty member at the beginning of the semester and the periodic assessment of curriculum delivery is conducted by IQAC. There is optimum utilization of well-equipped laboratories for curriculum delivery of practical. Educational field visits, industrial visits, tours are organized. 

Do you have any extracurricular activities to enhance the skills of the students?

“Technical, educational and sports events for students to discover their innate passions”

Outside the standard framework of any educational curriculum, there are endless opportunities for students to learn new skills. Extracurricular activities are a vital element in any student’s skill development, often building on lessons and learning that begin during college hours. Department conducts industry visits, Gamethon, Hackathon, Ideathon, sports and cultural events for the students. Conduction of technical events like mini project exhibition and Birds of Feathers allow students to explore the opportunities. 

What are the challenges you are facing to uplift the quality of education of your department?

“Standardization has been a difficulty in the process of experiential learning”

When we did not standardize the entire TLP, teaching was expanding beyond classrooms. After standardizing the excessive need to satisfy various criteria in the system, part of that creativity has ended. Students would have different speeds of learning. But standardizing TLP expects them to learn at the same pace. The quality of education goes hand in hand with standardization, but we have to separate them from the teacher's perspective.

What are the interventions you bring in apart from the curriculum to train the students?

“Organizing various knowledge sharing sessions within the class and promoting practical activities” 

With the advancement in technology and tools, students tend to learn the topics on their own. As a faculty, I would like to approach the topics linking them to the real world. This maily involves case-based studies of a particular technical topic. We also encourage the students to participate in hackathons and coding contests. This would help them to think logically and beyond the textbook problems. Additionally, having an open conversation with the students on their interests helps them build a career orientated learning plan.

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What do you see as the department’s greatest strengths and how it can be enhanced?

“Strong industrial linkage, excellent faculty and library filled with exceptional study material”

  • The Department of ISE has well qualified and dedicated faculty.
  • All the laboratories are as per the curriculum and are established on par with state of art technology. 
  • Excellent department library with Internet facility.
  • A strong proctor system for mentoring students
  • Department hasstrong links with Industries in the form of regular Industrial Visits, Guest Lecturers, and Training for all students.
  • Regular support for Co-curricular and social activities.