IIT Roorkee revises undergraduate curriculum

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee on Wednesday announced that it has revised it's undergraduate curriculum with an aim of making students future ready with their global aspirations.

The revision, which has come after a decade, has been "designed to keep pace with the educational and industrial developments and requirements in terms of technology, entrepreneurship, sustainability, interdisciplinary knowledge etc.," it said.

The institute said it has taken inputs from experts and stakeholders and a committe chaired by the Dean of Academic Affairs piloted the exercise.

The new curriculum will be offered to the UG students admitted in the year 2023 in BTech, BArch, BS-MS and Integrated MTech programs, it said.

The revised curriculum includes mandatory courses on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Data Science, Indian Knowledge System (IKS), Tinkering and Mentoring, Talent Enhancement Baskets (TEB), Entrepreneurship, Environmental Science and Sustainability (ESSC), Community Outreach (CORE), Soft Skills etc, IIT Roorkee has informed.

The institute will also allow students to pursue theme based minor specialisation, design thinking based project, etc. under the new curriculum.

"...students in all programs will be studying courses on Soft Skills, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Programming, Tinkering and Mentoring and Engineering Science in the first semester. Course on Soft Skills will be enhancing students’ overall personality, including communication, presentation, and group discussion skills. In order to develop an interest in project-based learning and to create awareness of relevant professional/ ethical/career development, a new concept of Tinkering and Mentoring has been introduced. The Tinkering and Mentoring is a unique course being offered in the technical education system in India," IIT Roorkee said in a press statement.

Students will be exposed to the significance of the traditional Indian knowledge system through a mandatory course, IIT Roorkee said.

A mandatory course on Community Outreach (CORE) will also be part of this revised curriculum, it said.