Department of Computer Science & Technology

Innovative Practices

Manav Rachna University focuses on Student Centric learning approach. Shifting from Teacher-Centered to Student-Centered learning requires a shift in mindset and teaching approaches & pedagogies.

Under this initiative of the university, the departments have adopted various teaching pedagogies such as Agile Teaching learning, Project-Based Learning, Flipped Classroom learning, and Simulation based learning etc.

Faculty members of the department have adopted these pedagogical techniques in content delivery.

In the Department Agile classrooms are being used to promote interaction via group discussions, brainstorming sessions with emphasis on collaboration, communication, self-organization and social skills.

Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning pedagogy is one of the powerful tools that a teacher can use for effective learning. It is a practice based, learning based, technology intensive, addressing UN Global Sustainable goals for making learners to get knowledge, skills and develop a behavior that is very conducive for making them useful to society. This is a resource intensive than a traditional didactic method yet it has potential to teach learners to be resilient, problem solver and to develop professionalism for working collaboratively in teams.

The method is rooted in social constructivist approach for developing cognitive, psychomotor and effective domain skills. It is a learner centric approach having a combination of discovery, participatory and experiential activities, where faculty provide a scaffolding when needed to ensure that students are making progress thus PBL leads to greater engagement, better and deeper learning along with social skills which are very essential in modern academics and workplaces. It has been found that ownership, creativity, collaboration & critical thinking at the (heart of PBL). We believe that using a combination of different pedagogical approaches that support challenge to solve some unsolved problems, and engage learners is the best strategy to make use of their strengths in a unique way. Such a pedagogy is based on inclusion, self-motivation, continuous improvement, adhere to quality assurance standards and is consistent etc.

Thus, Department of Computer Science & Technology, School of Engineering has taken the initiative and implemented Project-Based Learning from the AY 2020-21 onwards. For such courses, classroom delivery is there to cover the fundamental concepts related to the course and students are required to work on a project in a team comprising of 3-4 members. These projects are based on the respective course that is being offered in PBL mode and preferably on the current societal needs. While working on the project student is expected to apply the knowledge of all the subjects, he/she has studied till previous semesters or studying during that semester. Some of the courses which were taught through this pedagogy are: -

  • Unsupervised Learning Neural Networks
  • User Interface-I
  • Supervised Learning etc.

The number of subjects taught has also increased from 1 in AY 2020-21 to approx. 10 subjects in AY 22-23. The PBL rubrics has been carefully crafted with inputs from different faculty of the department and are under process of copyright. It is proposed to evaluate such courses in five stages of project development: Ideation, Analysis, Design, Development and Testing& Integration.

Agile Teaching Pedagogy

Agile Teaching Pedagogy is one of the best practices that university has adopted and it has helped to create a more dynamic & engaging learning environment. The initiative to incorporate Agile Teaching Pedagogy was taken by the Computer Science Department, Manav Rachna University in 2018.

In order to adopt this new concept, the traditional classrooms were transformed into Agile Classrooms (inspired by Agile Offices in industry for students of the 2018-22 Batch of the CST. The concept of Agile Class room was introduced with the association and guidance of our knowledge partner Xebia (Xebia is a pioneering Software Engineering and IT consultancy company.). Methods used for Agile Teaching are:

  • Students sit in groups and groups are heterogeneous based on the individual skill sets of each student, keeping in mind that each group member brings unique strengths such as technical knowledge, presentation skills, strong design capabilities, etc.
  • The primary objective is to give an environment of mutual learning, where team members can learn from one another and strengthen their overall performance as a team.
  • Agile Data Visualization Techniques for Agile Classroom setup are being used in the department with the purpose to bridge the existing gaps and to have more transparency in monitoring the progress of courses and students
  • Parking lot for Faculty: To monitor the progress of the course.
  • Parking lot for Students: To put the questions on the board for a particular Course.
  • Progress Board for Students: To monitor the progress of the students in terms of attendance & test. It also monitors punctuality and discipline during the class.
  • Group wise board: To monitor the course-wise progress of the groups based on the completion criteria.
  • Appreciation Board: To appreciate the students or groups who are performing outstanding and doing extra activities.
  • Working Agreement Board: It is with respect to what to do in class and what not to do.

Flipped Classroom-Based Learning

In this pedagogy, students are introduced to the learning material and are asked to prepare the topics and apply and reinforce them.

They are asked to give presentations to their peers which also allows teachers to spend more time facilitating and supporting student learning, rather than lecturing and delivering. Some faculty have adopted this pedagogy in their subject where the students are provided with the learning material and are asked to present their learning among peers. Methods used for Flipped Learning are:

  • Pre-recorded Video Lectures: Video Lectures are created with the content required by students for learning. The videos can be rewatched so that the students can learn at their own pace.
  • Study Material: Faculty can provide study material to the students beforehand to be discussed in the class.
  • Classroom based-activities: Various classroom activities are organized like presentations and group discussions where students are allocated some topics on which they prepare the content and present it to the entire class.
  • Case-study based: - The students are allocated some topics and based on which they prepare a cast study and deliver it in the form of a presentation.

Simulation-based techniques

Simulation-based techniques provide a dynamic and engaging way to teach and learn. These techniques allow students to apply theoretical knowledge in practical situations and to develop important skills that will prepare them for the real world. Some examples of simulation-based techniques are being adopted by Department of Computer science & Technology

Virtual simulations

Virtual simulations allow students to practice skills or situations in a digital environment. Students can use various programming virtual simulators available freely. In such cases students even perform small experiments using mobile phones also.

This was very much helpful during the covid period because of the unavailability of computers at home for some students.

The URL https://pythontutor.com/java.html was given to the students for visualizing code executions), to observe and understand the concepts.

Simulated experiments on Virtual Labs

Simulated experiments involve using virtual or physical simulations to conduct experiments. This technique can be used to teach scientific concepts, such as physics or chemistry.

MRU is associated with the Virtual Labs, IIT Delhi. Thus, Students of MRU including CST students avail the facility of Virtual Lab experiments available on vlab.co.in . on various engineering subjects as well as science subjects.

The department is also associated with the Quick Heal Academy for Cybersecurity, the simulation experiments available on Virtual labs of the Quick Heal also helps students learn cybersecurity skills with hands-on practice.

Simulated Tools

Simulation tools are available for the practice lab exercise. CISCO packet tracer for network simulation labs is being used by the students to understand the concept of computer networking, IP address, routing etc.

Algorithm Animations

The URL https://www.uttyler.edu/files/cosc3355/animations/ is one of the useful links for understanding the working of Operating System Algorithms in very simple manner. Various algorithms such as memory management, process management and dead lock etc. are explained in the website through animations. This is also being used by the faculty to demonstrate the concepts of Operating System to the students.

Case studies

Case studies involve analyzing and solving real-world scenarios or problems. Students are presented with a case study and are asked to identify the problem, analyze the situation, and propose a solution. Green Computing is being taught as a soft course in B Tech CSE 5th Sem with coverage of case studies and assignments being covered in the Lab sessions.

The faculty member discusses a case study on a current topic with the students and then asks them to answer questions based on it. In the last 2-3 weeks student teams were given a topic of their choice out of a list of topics on which they prepare and present a case study.

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