Specially designed textbooks for first year engg students in Pune
In a bid to increase student engagement, Pearson Education
India (PEI) has tailored and customised six books for first year engineering syllabus
of the University of Pune (UoP) and institutes affiliated to it. The
books were launched at a seminar held on August 27, at hotel Le Meridien in Pune.
Speaking on the occasion, chief marketing officer of PEI, Anish Srikrishna said,
"This is our second attempt at tailoring the content to the specific requirements
of a university. We offered our custom publishing solutions for the first time to
Gujarat Technical University (GTU)."
He said that in Maharashtra, PEI plans to customise college textbooks for seven
universities, starting with the UoP. Bombay University and Marathwada University
are among the other universities from the state.
The day-long seminar started with eminent academicians, including Aruna Katara,
president and dean, International Institute of Information Technology; Brig (retd)
Swapan Lahiri, director, Army Institute of Technology; Tejinder Paul Singh, director,
Symbiosis Institute of Technology and S. Y. Prabhu, academic dean, Vishwakarma Institute
of Technology; addressing critical issues in the area of engineering education.
The seminar also featured a panel discussion, chaired and moderated by Anil Sahasrabuddhe,
director, College of Engineering Pune (CoEP), highlighting the role of study material
in engineering education.
Keeping in mind the evolving needs of the students and faculties, Srikrishna said,
"The books cover essential subjects of the first year, created as per the needs
expressed by faculty members and feedback received from students. The books fully
cover the UoP syllabus, structuring the contents as per the topics."
The engineering textbooks explain concepts with the help of numerous examples, and
also highlight important topics from exam point of view.
Every chapter begins with a summary. The six books which will be available in the
market are Applied Science - I, Engineering Mathematics - I, Fundamentals of Programming
Languages, Engineering Graphics - I, Basic Electrical Engineering and Basic Civil
and Environmental Engineering.
Revamping the engineering education system, Katara said, "We need to design undergraduate
engineering programmes in local language and ITI courses must be converted into
degree programmes, to give them recognition."
The synergy of industry and academia is essential for engineering education, to
bring in real-time internship.
Referring to improving employability and recruitments, Lahiri pointed the need to
bridge the gap in industry exposure.
"There is no inspiration for engineering students to study further. After graduation,
hardly 8% do masters and only 2% go for doctorate," he said.
Courtesy: DNA India
