Striking the right balance...

IN THE recent article that has appeared in the journal Science (9 March, 2001) there is a stirring banner that states The college that doesnt exist.

This article aims to fix what is wrong with U.S. engineering education, on which the courses, curricula, internal assessment through periodical tests and grading system in our engineering colleges/institutes of technology are modelled.

The article strikes a cautious note, even if you agree we must do better, it is hard to make a change.

For, the engineering schools since World War II have earned a good reputation and made the U.S. economy the undisputed leader in the world.

The focus is on the three points, which are listed below:

(A) Most engineers end up being trained rather than educated. When we deprive students of a liberal arts education, we make them poorer engineers, observes, William Wulf, President of the National Academy of Engineering, U.S.

(B) Many courses have remained the same for decades, because the allegiance to tradition is strong. The field of research is constantly changing, creating the need for strong science base: Yet the educational system stays the same. Not many are enthused to take to research as a career.

(C) More attention to instruction rather than research is emphasised. So teachers should bear in mind the cardinal role of pedagogy, while planning to retain ties to research. The motto should be: learn and apply and not study and forget.

It is not recognised that teaching is hard and those in higher education traditionally do not have much respect for classroom teachers.

An illustrious example lends support. Robert Millikan (1868-1953) who started his career in 1896 in the University of Chicago as an assistant in physics.

American physics was then in its infancy. He wrote several influential textbooks compatible with his educational philosophy, which won him laurels as a teacher.

Eager to establish his name in research, he switched over to research; he invented the oil-drop experiment to measure the charge of the electron.

The OLIN Foundation

The answer to the above challenges to the engineering establishment has come in the form of a largess, $500 million endowment, by the Franklin W. Olin Foundation founded in 1938.

It has an enviable track record, as for two decades it ran a programme that built 72 labs at 57 institutions to raise the sights of the technical schools by providing the necessary facilities.

Now the foundation is planning to provide an alternative and set up a college in New England seeking an elite group of students.

Our goal is to produce graduates, 150 a year, with the ability to predict, create, and manage the technology that will shape the future, says the college president citing the target date of September 2002.

Reformers are in general agreement about what needs to be done but have barely made a dent in the established programmes.

What is new?

The discussions for realising the lofty ambitions of the Olin ndationx centre around the following:

* Searching for the right balance between specialised training and a broad undergraduate engineering programme

* Providing a more well-rounded education in creative arts and sciences

* Including special courses on Leonardo da Vincis achievements in arts and science, fluency in foreign languages, starting a dot com, in-depth study of fundamental subjects such as thermodynamics

* Adding a fifth year to the existing four-year degrees.

Such efforts to change are not new in the U.S. scenario. Arthur Compton (1892-1962), after a spectacular career culminating in great discoveries of 20th Century in physics, took over in 1945 an administrative post as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis to meet such challenges in the development of a great university.

This decision surprised many of his physics colleagues. His own deep interests in the humanities ensured that he did greatly support these activities. He served in this post with great distinction, till 1953.

Recently, quite a few institutions have been given Deemed University, status, who can take up the suggestions given in this essay.

5As stated earlier, it is hard to make a change. But the effort will enable them to reach new audiences or attract mid-career professionals.

W. B. Yeats said Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. Our country can claim some of the worlds oldest and most distinguished traditions of higher education.

Where there is creation there is progress. Where there is no creation, there is no progress: know the nature of creation. Where there is joy there is creation. Where there is no joy there is no creation: know the nature of joy (CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD).

R. PARTHASARATHY

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