‘Nuances of Choice Based Credit System for Education and Career Development’ by Dr. V. Barla

Abstract

This study was conducted on  a  stratified convenience sample of 500 students at RG Kedia Colleges, ST.Mary`s Group of Institutions and Osmania University Campus Hyderabad from November to December 2012, for the purpose of  making an empirical evaluation of students` perceptions on  CBCS system . The principal Null Hypothesis was that students do not perceive the CBCS system as a mechanism for enhancement of learning and career development. Data analysis disproved this Hypothesis. It was also found that female students understand the CBCS system better than male students and are readily willing for a change over from the next academic year itself. At the end the study makes useful recommendations for policy making on CBCS system for colleges  in India or abroad.

Key words: choice based credit system, Course flexibility, Inter-disciplinary   approach,   workload distribution, testing and evaluation, employability.

Introduction

The 11th five year plan of India as well as the National Knowledge Commission`s  policy have recommended revamping of higher education through academic and administrative reforms. The UGC has emphasized on such reforms and this was followed by the recommendations  made on similar lines by the Association of Indian Universities. Because, the current higher education curriculum does not impart the necessary skills that would make the students employable adequately. There is a lack of Interdisciplinary approach as well as there is a very little scope for value based courses to be taught. In addition, the evaluation methods are largely based on memory recall processes. In addition the students don’t learn to think and analyze on their own. Also, the system is not effective enough in meeting/ empowering students to think or matters/issues independently. The solution for such a malady is that the student be given a choice to study multiple subjects.

When a student has the background of different areas of study, it will benefit the student while pursuing further studies. Usually when students skip their areas of study and jump to new ones, they face a challenge of coping with the new area and familiarizing with the terms, theories and concepts.  Moreover, many of the post graduate courses cannot be taken up unless the student has had certain mandatory subjects at the under graduate level. It will also give an added knowledge to the students who may opt for subjects from various other fields, but want to acquire knowledge of art and culture and allied subjects . Academic commissions and committees such as UGC, TANSCHE and NAAC recommend CBCS for higher education.

Objective of the study

1. To understand the basic parameters involved in CBCS system of education for college students.
2. To identify the differences between male & female student perceptions on CBCS system.
3. To make suggestions for policy interventions about introduction of CBCS System in Indian Universities..

Hypothesis

Ho1. There are  no specific parameters which correlate well to the successful introduction of CBCS system of education.

Ho2. There will be no significant differences between male and female students with reference to their perceptions on relevance of CBCS system for education and career development.

Ho3. It would not be possible to develop a model CBCS System .

Methodology

Study involves secondary data collected through published sources namely

1. Books,
2. Internet,
3. Newspapers,
4. Reports of Government,
5. Reports of associations,
6. Research publications,
7. Other sources.

This study also involves collection of primary data with a structured questionnaire administered to selected sample of five hundred (500) respondents.

Participants consisted of 500 respondents consisting of students from colleges, faulty in Engg/Management institutions and field experts. Structured questionnaire was used to gather data on factors and types of relationships influencing career choice, individualism/collectivism, and protean/conventional career orientation and the support CBCS could give to their education and career development .

1.5 Sampling

A sample of  five hundred respondents was selected as follows

• Respondents from  colleges ( 410  = B.Tech 260, MBA=150),
• Faculty (70 = B.Tech  40, MBA=30),
• Field Experts (10),
• Consultants (10),

All the above respondents are from Hyderabad and are selected based on the topic of research thru stratified convenient sampling method. Though 500 people were sampled , we received 28  questionnaires improperly answered and hence not taken into analysis while 21 students did not respond at all. Consequently we analyzed 451 questionnaires properly filled.

 1.6   Scope and limitations

1. The study covers general understanding of issues involved in the Issues introduction of CBCS System  for college students at Hyderabad and attempts to work out possible solutions to the problems.

2. Since only Hyderabad based colleges and respondents are selected, it may not represent all India data.

3. There may be bias in the responses of the local insurance people of the selected company – Issues in introducing CBCS  for college students at Hyderabad. This will be smoothened by the consultations with the field experts thru DELPHI method.

However fundamental issues have been explored which will form the basis for future research at national level.

1.7 Data analysis

Secondary data and abstracts of the previous research works on the same area of research will be thoroughly studied to analyze fundamental issues in the topic.

A} Primary data collected through questionnaire will be analyzed using

Tabulation,

• Graphs,
• Pie charts,
• Percentages,
• Bar charts,
• Soft ware packages / spss / excel and likert scale.

B} Conclusion were cross checked with industry experts before   finalization.

Rationale (Need for the study)

The Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) offers wide ranging choice for students to opt for courses based on their aptitude and their career goals. The  introduction of choice-based credit system will surely bring a smile on students’ faces. With this new system, the student can have prior knowledge of different areas and enjoy the liberty of choosing one of these areas in their future. Undoubtedly it will also broaden the horizon of knowledge. Choice based credit system (CBCS), or a cafeteria like system is the solution for this type of transformation from the traditional teacher oriented education to a student-centered education. Taking responsibility for their own education in this way, students can benefit the most from all the available resources.

However, not many research studies have been undertaken for an exhaustive treatise on the subject which could contribute to policy making at state level and national level in our education system particularly in the management Education, which requires multi-pronged talents for managers as “jack of all and master of none”. Hence the present research project is being undertaken to bring clarity and newer vistas on the subject of CBCS..

Literature review

Much research literature is not available on the CBCS system in India. The University of Mysore and have  developed many facets of the system and uploaded on their website. We have considered the information from their website and used it as the basis for evaluating the student perceptions in the primary study. We are thankful for the university authorities for making the information available on the open source public domain for students` convenience, which we could utilize for this study as well. Other studies conducted by the research scholars and experts were reviewed and presented hereunder.

1) Stanley Jeyasingh (2005) indicated  that there exists a strong resistance to change from every quarter of the academic world. Students are compelled to take two years of language course of their mother tongue. They are not encouraged to take courses according to their abilities and pace and there is no freedom for the first year student to take an advanced course or a third year student to take an introductory course. Students are compelled to be inside the classroom for the entire five hours a day schedule leaving no scope for independent study.

2) Thorat Sukh Deo (2009) : The UGC  chairman  recommended to the  Universities To Start Choice-Based Credit System national and international developments, and relevance of new ideas, concepts and knowledge to the concerned discipline. As a part of academic reform, institutions of higher education need to pay serious attention to the procedures for merit-based admission. The candidate’s answer-sheets need to be assigned confidential codes before being sent for evaluation. Following admission, varsity and college authorities would initiate measures, depending upon the need-pattern of newly admitted SC, ST, OBC, and minority students, to organize remedial or bridge-courses in language, communication and subject competency. The assessment of student performance should be carried out through combination of internal and external evaluation.

The CBCS will facilitate part completion of an academic programe in the institution of enrolment and part-completion in a specialized institution. But to implement the CBCS, the committee said, institutions of higher education need to review curricular contents, term paper sand assignments of various programmes. There will be provisions for core-credits and elective or optional credits for different levels of academic programmes. Core-credits would-be unique to the programme, and earning them would be essential for the completion of the programme. Elective-credits are likely to overlap with other programmes or disciplines ofstudy.

As for the examination system, the panel said the traditional format has several limitations. On the other hand, the semester system encourages and supports faster learning opportunities. Further, it has the ability to accommodate diverse choices that students may like to have.“It is time that the semester system is made mandatory for all the institutions of higher education in India, and all the universities are asked to switch over to the semester system”, it said. Curricular revision should be an ongoing academic activity involving all the faculty members. All academic programmes should be updated or revised to a limited extent every academic year and substantially every three years for all the courses .Updation and revision of the curricula is to be carried out in terms of current knowledge, Academic Reforms• UGC asks universities to introduce a semester system, exam reforms as suggested by the Gnanam panel. It has linked implementation of these measures with grants. Academic programmes like certificate and diploma courses should be subject to up gradation each year.

3.  Chaudhary Chetna (2012) reported that  „Credit’ is the weightage given to a course, usually in relation to the instructional hours assigned to it. In Higher Education the option must be introduced for the students in undergraduate and post graduate courses to choose additional subjects not related to their core courses. “For instance, a student in Arts stream can choose some Science subjects Today education must follow the all knowledge access system so that the student can learn and progress the way he/she likes. CBCS has the ability to accommodate diverse choices that students may like to have. It is also recommended to establish centers of excellence in all universities and provisions for core-credits and elective or optional credits for different levels of academic programmes. Core-credits would be unique to the programme, and earning them would be essential for the completion of the programme. Elective-credits are likely to overlap with other programmes or disciplines of study.

4.Das Amutha Joseph (2012)  : Ascertained that higher Education has undergone quite a lot of transformation over the years. After the Kothari Commission report in 1966, discussions on college autonomy started and a few colleges became autonomous since 1978 and a few of them have completed 25 years of such a freedom. Academic freedom, under autonomy, helped many colleges innovate new curricula, design relevant courses, frame new syllabi and introduce new evaluation methods. But the required flexibility for the students to have a greater choice of courses appropriate to their interests, needs and long-term goals is not available even in autonomous colleges; rather a rigid and compartmentalized system is perpetuated. This paper makes an attempt to identify the unique features of choice-based credit system and the effect of helping students to decide.

Choice based credit system (CBCS), or a cafeteria like system is the solution for this type of transformation from the traditional teacher oriented education to a student-centred education. Taking responsibility for their own education in this way, students can benefit the most from all the available resources. Academic commissions and committees such as UGC, TANSCHE and NAAC recommend CBCS for higher education. Though a few institutions claim to have introduced this system, in reality not much of freedom is given to the students. Everyone agrees that intellectual depth and breadth characterize higher education. But, in allowing the students to choose their favorite courses, certain questions arise. The rules regarding the number of students in each class and the number of hours per week for the students or for the teachers have not changed from the old affiliated system. To summarize, a credit system can function only when we start to see our students as mature individuals, capable of making their own decisions.

Case study on CBCS  (Sample : University of Mysore)

A closer look and critical analysis of the existing teaching–learning model reveals that theory classes are more often lecture based and the laboratory/field works have been limited to just routinely implementing the practical procedures.  It is high time that we examine critically whether our teaching efforts have been towards making students creative and whether they inspire students to acquire skill and talent – based knowledge. No doubt that the material content passed on to students through lecture classes are rich with information. But, unfortunately, little provision is created for reinforcement of the information through students’ assimilation, absorption, and creative utilization of the same in the course of solving problems.  Even the knowledge component, present within the information input, is fed to a student through lectures.  The student is not challenged to acquire knowledge and to create knowledge as well.  It is possible to strengthen these aspects by compelling a student through some drilling/reinforcing tutorial sessions and by encouraging students to design and conduct suitable practical/field/case studies to experience and acquire the knowledge.  This approach will facilitate a student to acquire a command over two major components of learning, viz., (i) acquisition of talent and skill required for designing, devising and conducting practical/case/field studies, and (ii) the intelligence to approach a subject critically and from a research-perspective. This approach enriches the analytical capabilities of a learner.  In other words, what is to be appreciated is that students’ acquisition of knowledge should be tempered with and tamed by practical experiences.

Curriculum content of every subject/paper should have an integrated composition of information, knowledge and skill parameters to be learnt.  It is important to note that practical/field studies should not be isolated as independent papers of study.  Both theory and practice should be taught in a holistic manner. Experts recommend reduction of lecture – oriented theory classes and integration of tutorial/practical classes for reinforced learning.  The model proposed is phrased as L-T-Structure that focuses on learner-centric-teaching.  ‘L’ (Lecture classes) stands for conventional class room contact sessions.  ‘T’ stands for  Tutorial sessions for reinforced learning through participatory discussion/self study/desk work and such other novel methods that make a student absorb and assimilate more effectively the contents delivered in the 5lecture classes. ‘P’  stands for  Practice/Practical sessions for laboratory/field studies that equip students to acquire the much required skill component.

It may be possible in some specific papers to fuse together T & P components or to drop either T or P component depending upon the nature and content of the paper.  However, it cannot be ignored that both knowledge and talent for skills are picked up by the learner through T and/or P sessions whereas L sessions highlight the contents to be learnt.In a semester pattern, the task of teaching a paper is completed in a span of 16 weeks. If a paper is taught by administering all three L, T & P components, one possible distribution of learning hours/week in that paper could be as follows:L:  2 Hours/week amounting to 2 credits of learning/semester by a student in the paper;T:  At least 2 Hours/week amounting to 1 credit of learning per semester by a student in         the paper;P:  At least  2 Hours/week amounting to 1 credit of learning per semester by a student in       the paper.This distribution of 2 credits for L (through 2 hrs of Lecture classes), one credit for T (through a session of 2 hours of tutorial) and 1 credit for P (through a session of 2 hours of practical)   defines a value of 2+1+1 =  4 credits for the paper.Conversely, if a paper in a particular semester is defined as a 4 credit paper, then a candidate is said to have earned 4 credits in that semester by successfully completing the said paper within the duration of 16 weeks in that semester.

The typical L-T-P structure, as illustrated  for a 4 credit paper is of 2:1:1 type with the split up for L, T and P sessions as indicated in the previous paragraph, resulting in a credit value of 2+1+1=4 for that paper.If one intends to absorb the essence of learning conveyed by T and P sessions together, then the above L:T:P structure can be simplified into a  X:Y structure where  Xrepresents the credits because of lecture sessions and  Y collectively represents the credits because of tutorial and practice sessions.  This X:Y representation is more simplified and is already in existence in the Department of Studies in Computer Science in the University for the past nine years.6To summarize,  if a paper is of X:Y credit type, where X indicates the credits because of X number of lecture sessions/week of one hour each and Y indicates the credits because of Y number of tutorial/practical sessions/ week of at least two hours each, and the paper is taught/learnt in this way in a semester period of 16 weeks,  then the credit earned  by a candidate at the end of the semester upon successful completion  of the paper is (X+Y).It is not necessary that every paper should be designed as a paper of credit value 4, in a 2:2 pattern.  It is possible that even a paper of 4 credits, in practice can have different credit patterns such as 3:1(3:0:1 or 3:1:0 in L:T:P structure), 2:2 (2:1:1 or 2:2:0 or 2:0:2 in L:T:P structure) and 1:3 (1:1:2 or 1:2:1 or 1:0:3 or 1:3:0 in L:T:P structure).  In principle, it is also possible that if a paper has to be made as a self-study paper or tutorial/practical paper  in Toto, it may be designed as 0:4 (0:3:1 or 0:2:2 or 0:1:3 in L:T:P structure) credit patterned paper.  These diversities illustrate the amount of flexibilities possible in designing a course/paper and in deciding how the contents of the course/paper should be taught/learnt.It is not necessary that every paper should be a paper of 4 credit value.  In fact inM.Tech programs, the Computer Science Department has offered papers of 1 credit, 2 credits, 3 credits, 4 credits and occasionally 5 credits also.  However, at this point of time, it may not be recommended to go for designing a paper with a very high credit value like 5 and a very low credit value like 1.

With more and more experience gained with the credit culture, all these combinations/options may be tried in due course. Depending upon the content, volume of content and the nature of the course to be taught, generally the papers can be of 3 credits or 4 credits, and occasionally, there may be some papers of 2 credits and rarely of 5 credits.  In order to enthuse students to participate in relative activities through independent thinking and researching,  a minor project work called term work of 4 credits and/or a project/dissertation/research work of 8 credits may also be included in the course work.  In fact, it is good if a candidate can take up both a minor project called term work  and a project work during the tenure of his/her Master’s degree (Honor’s and Master’s degrees).

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAPERS IN CREDIT BASED LEARNING SYSTEM

While working for the curriculum content every paper should be designed as a self contained complete module to the extent possible. However, it is necessary to define the prerequisite knowledge level which should have been acquired by a candidate before registering for a particular paper.  The pre-requisite may even warrant the successful completion of one or some papers. The title of the paper should be carefully chosen because for a long time to come the title of the paper should remain invariant and it should reflect the content covered in that paper.  The syllabus for the paper may preferably be provided in a broad frame work.  The teacher concerned should generally enjoy the freedom to work out a detailed syllabus depending upon the recent requirements. The teacher should have the freedom and wisdom to choose the latest books and reference papers as study material.

To account for pragmatic aspects, the contents of a paper may be distributed into 4 broad units such that every unit could be covered in a time frame of nearly 4 weeks out of 16 weeks in a semester. In case of a term work (minor project work) of 4 credits or a project work of 8 credits, the first unit may consist of identification of problem area and literature survey,  the second unit may consist of  study of specific literature in detail pertaining to the statement  of the problem,  the third unit may consist of  developing a  solution methodology or proposing a hypothesis to solve  the problem, and the fourth unit may  consist of experimental analysis, results, discussions, conclusions and recommendations. Different  papers of study may be labeled and defined as follows:3.1  Common Paper   A paper which should compulsorily be completed by a candidate irrespective of the discipline r major stream of study chosen by him/her is called a common paper. For instance a student at Bachelor’s degree level has to complete quite handful of common papers.Ex:  Language Papers, A paper on Environment Science, A paper on Indian Constitution.

3.2  Core Paper  

A paper which should compulsorily be studied by a candidate as a core-requirement to complete the requirements of a degree (Bachelor’s/Honors/ Master’s) in a said discipline of study is defined as a Core Paper.A Core paper may be a Soft Core if there is a choice or  an option for the candidate to choose a paper from a pool of papers from the main discipline of study or from a sister/related discipline which supports the main discipline.  In contrast  to the phrase Soft Core, a compulsory core paper is called a Hard Core Paper.

3.3 Elective Paper 

Generally a paper which can be chosen from a pool of papers and which may be very specific or specialized or advanced or supportive to the discipline of study or which provides an extended scope or which enables an exposure to some other discipline/domain or nurtures the candidate’s proficiency/ skill is called an Elective Paper.  An elective paper may be discipline  centric.  A soft core paper may also be considered as discipline centric elective.    Such elective papers may be offered by the main discipline of study or by sister/related discipline of study. An elective paper chosen generally from an unrelated discipline, with an intention to seek exposure is called an open elective.  An elective paper opted to enhance the proficiency/ skill is called support elective.    Support elective may be related to discipline of study or may be a generic proficiency

enabler.  Some such generic proficiency enablers or support electives could be Computer Awareness, Information Processing, Office Automation, Programming, Communication Skills, Reasoning and Writing skills, Translation skills, Soft Skills, Basics of Business and 9Management, Basic numerical skills, Entrepreneurship development.   In addition to generic support electives, discipline centric support electives may also be designed and offered. Project Work is a special paper where a candidate carries out the application of knowledge in solving/studying/ exploring a real life/difficult problem in a creative way.

Depending upon the scope defined and time frame available, a project work is called Term Work if it is of 4 credits or Project Work if it is of 8 credits. In lieu of a term work or a project work, a candidate may opt for discipline centric electives / self study electives, if the discipline provides such a provision. An elective paper designed to acquire a special/advanced knowledge as a supplement study/support study to a project work and a candidate studies such a paper on his own with an advisory support by a teacher is called a Self Study Elective. A core paper offered in a discipline may be treated as an elective by other discipline and vice versa. It may be observed that the present practice of semester – wise distribution of papers looses the meaning in the proposed context.   In place of this, departments should prepare a list of papers to be offered in odd semester and even semester period.  Some papers including term work and project work may be offered in both odd and even semesters.

A department should be in a position to offer papers amounting up to 40 credits in odd/even semester consisting of core papers, elective papers and project works at Honor’s/Master’s degree level.  Since every paper as said earlier is independent and self- contained, some papers can be permitted to be registered by the students of other departments also enabling transborder/cross-border/inter-disciplinary mobility of students.  Preparing class timetable may be slightly complicated.  However, that is all together a different issue.  On the contrary, the advantage is that new papers can be introduced by the department at any time depending upon the requirements.

4. Work load calculations

From the earlier section it may be recalled that successful completion of a paper in a semester makes a candidate to earn a credit value of X+Y if the credit pattern is expressed in X:Y structure (or L+T+P if the credit pattern is in L:T:P structure) for that paper. It may also be recalled that essentially L-T-P model of education is in principle what was followed by great GURUS in GURUKULA system in ancient India. Thus the origin of credit system of education may be traced to our own Indian culture of learning.

It should therefore, be understood that a disciple used to stay all through the term of study in Gurukula with the Guru. This should imply the type of workload on both disciple and the teacher.If a candidate registers for a paper of the type 2:2 (2:1:1), then he/she has to attend 2 hours/week of lecture classes and 4 hours/week of tutorial/practical/field work. Hence the total contact hours/week for this paper will become 6 hours. If a candidate registers for a total of 20 credits per semester, opting for such 2:2 credit papers, then the total contact hours will be 30 hrs/week. The following points should be taken into account while calculating the workload: A candidate can register for credits as high as permissible maximum per semester. A candidate can register for credits as low as permissible minimum per semester. A normal workload that a candidate may opt is about 20 credits per semester. A candidate is said to have completed the requirements for (i) a Bachelor’s degree (BA, B.Sc, B.Com, BBM, BCA) if he/she completes a total of 120 credits in a minimum duration of 6 semesters and a maximum duration of 12 semesters.(ii) a Honor’s degree (BA-Honors, BSc-Honors, B.Com-Honors, BBMHonors, BCA-Honors)  subsequent to the successful completion of a Bachelor’s degree if he/she completes a total of 40 credits in a minimum duration of 2 semesters and maximum duration of 4 semesters.(iii) a Master’s degree, subsequent to the successful completion of Honor’s degree if he/she completes a total of 36 credits in a minimum duration of 2 semesters and a maximum duration of 4 semesters.11 A candidate may register for a minimum of say,  12 credits per semester, but it is possible that he/she may earn less than 12 credits in a semester. It may be theoretically possible that he/she may just earn ZERO credits in a semester.

However, he/she should register for credits less than or equal permissible maximum and more than or equal to permissible minimum per semester, including the uncleared papers of earlier semester(s), if any. A candidate may opt for one paper as self study paper during the Honor’s degree course and one paper as a self study paper during the Master’s degree course.  A self study paper may have a pattern of 1:2 (3 credits) or 1:3 (4 credits), minimizing the contact hours per week with the teacher.   One minor project called term work may be assigned to a group of  two  or three students. Accordingly, the quantum of work per student needs to be properly distributed.  A  4 credit term work may have a pattern of 1:3 where the students have to contact their supervisor for one hour per week.

The workload for a supervisor for two batches of three students is accordingly one per week.  A regular project may be assigned to a single student or to a group of 2students.  Accordingly, the quantum of work per student needs to be properly distributed.   A 8 credit project may have a pattern of 1:7 where a student has to contact his/her supervisor for 1 hour per week.  The workload for the supervisor for two batches is accordingly 1 hour per week.In case of core paper and elective paper the workload is calculated as follows: The teacher to student ratio for lecture classes can be as high as 1:60 (even upto 1:90 may  be considered). The teacher to student ratio for tutorial/practical/practice sessions can be 1:20in case of Humanities subjects and 1:10 in case of Science and Technology subjects.The workload arising out of a 2:2 credit patterned paper in Humanities stream for a class of 60 students will be [2 hours of lecture class]+ [2×2 hours of tutorials/practice session X  3 batches of 20 students each] = 14 hours per week.  12The work load  arising out of a 2:2 credit patterned paper in Science and Technology stream for a class of 60 students will be [2 hours of lecture class] + [2×2 hours of  tutorials/practical sessions X  6 batches of 10 students each) = 26 hours per week.

It should be noted that actual hours spent by a teacher in conducting tutorial/practical may be slightly more than the duration shown above.Workload of a self-study paper can be interpreted as that of a term work or minor project for a batch of two or three candidates.  Not more than 2 batches totaling up to a maximum of 6 candidates may be assigned to a teacher for supervising self study papers.The proposed teaching workload as per the calculations shown above could be as follows:10 hours per week for Professor and Chairperson/Professor with additional administrative      responsibilities 12 hours per week for Professor/ Associate Professor  and Chairperson/Associate      Professor  with additional administrative responsibilities.14 hours per week for Associate Professor 16 hours per week for Senior Assistant Professor18 hours per week for Assistant Professor This work load excludes the work load of Ph.D  and other research candidates/activities.

A group of senior teachers and one or two younger teachers or teaching assistants can jointly offer a course in view of multiple batches arising out of a class of 60 or more students.The assignments for tutorial and practical sessions should be set by the teachers based on the subject matter covered in the lecture classes.  A separate set of supplementary and/ or complementary practical/tutorial exercises may also be assigned.Some core papers, elective papers, open elective papers and self study elective papers

may be designed and offered by Special study Chairs, Special Centres of Studies such as Jagajivan Ram studies, Ambedkar Studies, Gandhian Studies, Women Studies, Law Studiesand so on.13Services of recently retired teachers, qualified senior citizens, external experts and veterans in the field may be availed for designing and offering open elective papers, special elective papers, self-study elective papers, term works and project works.An adjunct faculty member may be assigned with the responsibility of offering one full paper for a class.Services of all Post Doctoral Fellows (PDFs), Ph.D scholars, research assistants and teaching cum research assistants should be richly utilized for conducting tutorial/practice/field/practical sessions for Honor’s classes/Master’s Classes.

Services of some of the highly performing Master’s degree students may be utilized or conducting tutorials/practice/ practical sessions for Bachelor’s degree classes.In addition to the tutorial/practical exercises assigned individually to every student, to encourage peer/group participation, assignments to a group of 2-3 candidates may also be designed.

Primary Data & Analysis

This study has come out with  10 parameters of CBCS success, after verification of the secondary data and based on the discussions with respondents during the primary survey. The responses to these 10 parameters as having critical role, were captured on  the Likert Scale , Chi-Square and Anova Test as detailed hereunder.

CBCS  system – critical dimentions

* It is successful in top universities

* Students can choose subjects’ of their choice

* Papers divided into core and elective groups

* Ensures interdisciplinary teaching and learning

* CBCS  works on  credits- a better way of evaluation

* Shortage of staff as of now may hamper CBCS

* Without  I.T. support, CBCS is not possible

* CBCS requires  a robust exam branch

*  CBCS  system in UG  & below  will be impractical

*  CBCS system helps better education and careers.

Table 1: Rankings of  the 10 critical  dimensions of CBCS on  Likert scale during primary research interviews.

LIKERT SCALE

CBCS CRITICAL DIMENTIONS	StronglyAgree(1)	Agree(2)	Undecided(3)	Disagree(4)	Strongly Disagree(5)	Total/15	Avg
It is successful in top universities	150	130	70	51	50	1074	71.6
Students can choose subjects’ of their choice	130	116	89	61	55	1148	76.5
Papers divided into core and elective groups	98	94	100	92	67	1281	85.4
Ensures interdisciplinary teaching and learning	126	144	51	74	56	1143	76.2
CBCS  works on  credits- a better way of evaluation	100	150	91	50	60	1173	78.2
Shortage of staff as of now may hamper CBCS	142	119	78	56	55	1113	74.2
Without  I.T. support, CBCS is not possible	99	94	98	94	66	1287	85.8
CBCS requires  a robust exam branch	140	130	70	60	50	1100	73.3
CBCS  system in UG  & below  will be impractical	130	120	85	60	55	1140	76.0
CBCS system helps better education and careers.	130	150	50	70	50	1260	84.0

 

Table 2:  CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS  OF CBCS CRITICAL DIMENTIONS VOTED BY THE RESPONDENTS

 

CBCSCRITICAL DIMENTIONS	Male ( 225)	Female (226 )
It is successful in top universities	24	15
Students can choose subjects’ of their choice	36	23
Papers divided into core and elective groups	19	16
Ensures interdisciplinary teaching and learning	22	34
CBCS  works on  credits- a better way of evaluation	18	24
Shortage of staff as of now may hamper CBCS	15	19
Without  I.T. support, CBCS is not possible	34	18
CBCS requires  a robust exam branch	16	22
CBCS  system in UG  & below  will be impractical	23	36
CBCS system helps better education and careers.	18	19

 

Chi-square:

Degrees of freedom:

P-value: 0.00000618 (TABLE VALUE FOR 0.05 CONFIDENCE LEVEL= 16.919 , FOR 0.10 =   19.023 @ DF=9)

Yates’ chi-square: 36.871  &  Yates’ p-value: 0.00002775

Table 3: ANOVA  test analysis of CBCS critical dimensions voted by the respondents

CBCS CRITICAL DIMENTIONS	Male ( 225)	Female (226 )
It is successful in top universities	24	15
Students can choose subjects’ of their choice	36	23
Papers divided into core and elective groups	19	16
Ensures interdisciplinary teaching and learning	22	34
CBCS  works on  credits- a better way of evaluation	18	24
Shortage of staff as of now may hamper CBCS	15	19
Without  I.T. support, CBCS is not possible	34	18
CBCS requires  a robust exam branch	16	22
CBCS  system in UG  & below  will be impractical	23	36
CBCS system helps better education and careers.	18	19

ANOVA Result

	SS	df	MS	F
Between:	10.5626	1	10.5626	0.2107
Within:	701.875	14	50.1339
Total:	712.4376	15

FOR DEGREES OF FREEDOM ( 1,14), THE ANOVA TABLE VALUE IS =4.6

Discussion

From the analysis of the  data it could be observed that a student is provided with such an academically rich, highly flexible learning system blended with abundant provision for skill- practice that he/she could learn in-depth, could transform him/herself to be creative, penetrative and applicative and finally he/she could become potential  enough to excel in any career he/she chooses.  A student can exercise the option to decide his/her pace of learning-slow, normal or accelerated, plan and  sequence  his/her choice of papers, learn to face challenges through term work/project work and further, may venture out to acquire extra knowledge/ proficiency through add-on-facilities created.  A student enjoys an extra-ordinary benefit that no more his scores would be in terms of marks which may fail to portray effectively his/her performance always and in all papers studied by him/her, but would be in terms of grades, computed through a more scientific and a logical process of normalization, which imbibes the advantages of relative weighing of the performances against evaluating in an absolute way, overcoming the differences in scores due to valuation by different evaluators and their possible  inclination towards subjectivity, and surpassing such other inconveniences  that could happen  in a conventional evaluation system.

However, as reported by THE HINDU news paper of 14-02-2012, the past experiences warn us against any tightly structured top-down approach which is bound to meet rough weather, as it generates resistance at all levels. But Colleges in our country do not even have the culture of letting other college students into their campuses, fearing their disruptive behavior. How then could such a suggestion be implemented? Common sense cautions that uniformity in any form kills creativity and maims the minds. So, higher education should seek multiplicity rather than uniformity, to create a knowledge-based society to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Hence, a pragmatic approach to produce near desired results would be as  it is already implemented in many universities, to grant autonomy to each institution percolating to every individual teacher who could exercise his creative freedom to design and experiment with various pedagogical practices.

The primary data –table 1- suggested that students like the CBCS system due to its flexibility, division of courses into core and non-core, I.T. applications and over all fool-proof design . Table 1 also indicates that students do not like it just because it is done by the top universities / Institutions. They like it on its merits, as per the higher weigtages shown in the table for those parameters they want most.

Tables 2, 3 suggest that there is no unanimity between boys and girls about the adoption of CBCS system. Null Hypothesis 2 is rejected s the table value is more than the calculated value. Female students, during our discussions demonstrated a better liking for CBCS system for education and career development.

Null Hypothesis 3 was rejected based on our discussions with students and experts in DELPHI Method, as the data and experience suggests that we cannot ever build a model CBCS system because every university and college needs to customize the system as per its own educational ethos and practical situations.

Conclusion

In the final analysis,  the students liked the CBCS system giving various ratings for the critical dimensions as captured in table 1 . The CBCS system must be worked out with finer details as in the case of Mysore University and other successful university examples. The policy makers should yield to grant autonomy to each institution down up  to every individual teacher to  exercise his / her  creative freedom experience to design and experiment with various pedagogical practices learning from  the experience of  top institutions in The country.

Bibliography

Basu, G (2010), “Comparative Study of Personality Characteristics of Tibeban and East Pakistani Backward Refugee Children,” Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Patna University.

Chetna Chaudhary “  assessment of adoption of choice based credit system by Indian universities” : INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL SOCIAL AND MOVEMENT SCIENCES ISSN- 2277-7547 .. Vol.01,April 2012,Issue 02

Joseph, Das Amrutha, Fostering a Liberal Credit System (February 14, 2012). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2005294

University of Mysore : http://www.uni-mysore.ac.in/assets/downloads/dec09/English.pdf

http://www.hindu.com/op/2008/10/19/stories/2008101953351800.htm.