BEST PRACTICE 1: Creative learning through professional internship and well-crafted training programs.
Objectives of the Practice: To prepare the students for suitable career opportunities thereby creating dependable and innovative managers committed to the society and the nation.
The Context: Professional Training & Industrial Exposure stimulating the learning process towards being a ‘Professional’ (Architect / Construction Manager) with a skill set in communication for business and construction.
The Practice: Professionals work collaboratively with research Institutes so as to enhance the learnings and experiences for professionals, academicians and the students. The value addition is immense for students as they feel connected to the profession. The satisfaction of being a part of real life design & construction solutions is further augmented by an honourable mention.
Evidence of Success:
Professional Internship& Industrial Exposure: The programme conducted at M. Arch has got a very good response from the industry as firms look forward to interacting & working with the students. The students too look forward to the opportunity for current and future research especially for the dissertation subject. There are a lot of webinars and workshops during this period that the students attend besides the college curriculum.
Fair conditioning workshop : The workshop was conducted by C Balance & ACOA as an experiment where faculty was trained first over a period of 10 days and then the objective of the workshop was implemented form second year to fourth year as part of a parallel studio of all major subjects in the syllabus esp. Design. Design subject is where the maximum learning outcomes are practiced with a reasonably good success rating as it tests the eventual application of learning.
Communication workshop: Conducted extensively in first year, second year and third year of B Arch and first year of M. Arch as formal training in technical communication for business and construction. Specialist guest speakers from well renowned management institutes conduct these workshops.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: Online workshops during the pandemic of 2020 were conducted for the faculty& guest faculty but practical internship for the students did suffer a setback due to the pandemic.
BEST PRACTICE 2: Experimentation in the teaching pedagogy for technical subjects through workshops on model making and alternative building technologies.
Objectives of the Practice: To expose students to different platforms of knowledge that will ensure learning beyond the class room and the syllabus with a holistic approach.
The Context: The need for learning or E-Learning through a digital interface is a must in today’s education but cannot be an entirely replaced by the traditional method of craftsmanship learning through physical model making.
The Practice: The practice is distinctive in the formative years of learning especially for technical subjects like building technology and building services. It has helped students learn effectively by understanding basic concepts like for eg. Brick Bonds as well as unique concepts like for eg. Pet Bottle Construction. This makes it easier for students to implement it in the later years especially in design, technology and sustainability.
Evidence of Success: The Architectural firms are happy to engage students for their practical internship as they find them well informed in the theory and practical knowledge. Here, Design and Technology are integrated cleverly as working drawings. Along with execution it becomes a final testimony to successful implementation of design.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: Due to the Pandemic in 2020 to 2021 physical workshops related learning exercises have been greatly affected. The resource of the online digital platform for webinars and online workshops for continued learning is being explored .But it’s not the same, as the absence of physical experience does affect the learning outcome.