`Cool' ways to learn

ARE YOU sweating it out for the TNPCEE ? Here's a scholarship exam which might save you the money you might have to pump into preparatory courses.

E-Gurucool will organise scholarship exams in 31 centres across the state. The e-learning company has eight study centre partners in Chennai where students could take their scholarship exams between October 6-13. Interested students could call 8224213/ 8206785 for registrations.

The one hour test, will comprise of 40 objective type questions in Maths, Physics and chemistry (for Engineering students) and questions in Physics, Chemistry and Biology for medicine students-2O on Maths or Biology and the rest on a combination of Physics and Chemistry.

The topper of each of the eight centres would get to do the E- Gurucool programme free. Anybody who gets 14/40 gets Rs.500 off on the course.

``It is the methodology and the approach to the course that makes all the difference. The student centre partners are implementation partners. The content is provided by e-Gurucool,'' Ms.Madhumati N. of E-Gurucool says.

``We all know that the level of understanding is different in different schools. Hence, every chapter in our course has a pre- test. We give the students a building block, primarily learning material,'' she explains.

``For example, before a Trigonometry class, the teacher gives the child a self-evaluation test on Trigonometry. So the students are evaluated on a similar scale. After a point of time, the group becomes almost homogenous. Few chapters form a unit. We then have a unit test. The Unit tests are available online. Students who enrol for the offline are given the online component free,'' Ms. Madhumati reveals.

Experts from E-Gurucool have arrived at an evaluation pattern that rates the students on the basis of memory capability, comprehension of the subject and concept and application of concepts. While IIT exams focus on applications, TNPCEE focusses only 25 per cent on application, she says. The unit test online provides a feedback on the student's break-up under the heads memory, concept and application. And the site gives a report on the marks scored in these areas.

``So the student knows where he stands and needs to focus. So it becomes easy for him and the parent to prepare accordingly. The site also gives a break-up considering the levels of difficulty of the 40 questions and a performance portfolio maintained for the student. It is something like a progress report,'' Ms.Madhumati explains.

``Cut-off is a significant concept in TNPCEE. A student needs to understand where he/she stands before taking the exam. The programme gives him/her a percentile on where they stand,'' she adds. In addition to this, the students are put through to seven Full Length Tests, another highlight of the course.

By Sudhish Kamath

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