Newsletter for trainers and teachers with articles and resources for learning and development

1. Inspiring Teachers
Human Excellence
June 2013 Page 1 of 4 VOL. # 7 ISSUE #6
From the editor…..
Welcome to this issue of the newsletter.
The season for reopening of schools and colleges is
usually also the season for orientation programs for
teachers. We look forward to an active couple of
months.
Next month we will be completing six years of
operations. It has been a journey with mixed feelings.
Sometimes exciting, sometimes not so exciting and
sometimes not moving at all. But it is a journey of
choice. Our corporate training initiatives are also
picking up and we have new members in the team.
This month’s faculty profile has been made by Prof
Ramakalyan Ayyagari from NIT-Trichy.
The links have been compiled from the various articles
that my friends send me, particularly Dr Sridhar Chitta
and Dr Anil Kumar Challa.In the last couple of months
I have been discussing the issue of providing
resources for tutorials in the private engineering
colleges. I have shared some thoughts on the topic
here. Lastly some of our activities are:
 Building Team Spirit in DRDO Scientists, ITM,
Mussori, June 24th
to 27th
2013
 Pre-retirement Planning for DMRL staff, July first
week
 Faculty Development Program at NMREC June
last week
The significance of tutorials
The wiki defines tutorial as a method of transferring
knowledge used as a part of a learning process. It is
more interactive and specific than a book or
a lecture; a tutorial seeks to teach by example and
supply the information to complete a certain task.
Depending on the context a tutorial can range from
a set of instructions to complete a task to an
interactive problem solving session. As this pyramid
shows, the lecture is the least effective method of
learning. Tutorials are meant to discuss the course
content – questions on the lectures, discussion on a
reading assignment, solving more problems on a
given topic, practicing a skill (as in language) and
so on. Read more on page 3
Contact us: info@theprofessor.in,
In this issue:
Faculty of the month Dr V Kamaraju……… 2
The Significance of tutorials – Uma Garimella.... 1, 3, 4
Must Read Links ……………………………….. 3
Perspectives on Curriculum at NIT-Trichy…… 4

2. Faculty of the month
Dr V Kamaraju, Mahavir Institute of Science and
Technology, AP
I know him personally since my childhood. His high-pitched
fast speech, with honesty to the brim, has always been an
attraction to me, in addition to his passion and commitment
to his chosen field – teaching and research in electrical
engineering. While most us, including myself, complain
about lack of facilities and other niceties in engineering
colleges other than IITs, here is a man who was content
and demonstrated that the real output is what one does,
and not what one gets. I am really proud of my long
standing relationship with him, and it’s my overwhelming
pleasure to interview him, only meekly attempting to show
the giant in a hand-held mirror.
1. What other options did you have when you actually
chose to become a faculty?
After B.E. I had job in APSEB as JE, and in TISCO
(Tatanagar) as trainee engineer, and as a teacher
trainee at TTT. However, I preferred M E at IISc. Many
of my class mates joined APSEB or TTT or industry. Had
I joined TTT I would have been in IIT Kharagpur or
Madras.
2. Why did you choose to teach?
I worked as student trainee in APSEB for 3 months. I
did not like the environment. Moreover, my father
wanted me to be at KAKINADA. Hence I joined JNTU
Kakinada in the department of Electrical Engineering
through APPSC.
3. What are the good moments that make you feel good
for having chosen this career?
I had full professional freedom. I am proud both as an
ENGINEER & TEACHER. I have erected &
commissioned a medium size HV LAB at JNTU
Kakinada, and it is now worth about 50 crores. I also
established consultancy for 1 lakh. in those days.
4. What kind of skills and attitude are required to be a
good teacher?
Basically one must have interest in teaching and not in
making money. It is an art. A teacher is a student
forever; he must learn, update himself and impart
knowledge, not just giving marks or grades.
5. Is PhD necessary for teaching? Why or why not? If yes,
does it make any difference in obtaining a PhD from
IISc/IIT?
In my opinion it is not necessary. All my teachers in
B.E. were only B.E.s and in M.E. at IISC. only MEs; we
had only one Ph.d. Dr. HVG. All the teachers were
excellent and worthy. Regarding PhDs today, they are
all cut & pastes. I opine that the ME projects are much
better. Nevertheless, the doctorates of IITs/IISc are
somewhat better.
June 2013 Page 2 of 4 VOL. #7 ISSUE #6
Before caption a goes here
V Kamaraju obtained his PhD in High-Voltage Engineering
from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He was
formerly the Professor of EEE and the Principal at the
JNTU College of Engineering, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
He was a visiting professor at Middle East Technical
University, Gaziantep, Turkey, during 1981-92. He has
done extensive research in the area of liquid and solid
dielectrics, composity insulation and partial discharge. He
is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of
Engineers (India). He has published many research papers
and has been a consultant to various industries and to the
Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board. He has published
Electrical Distribution Systems and Linear Systems:
Analysis and Applications during 2006-2008. He received
the Best Teacher Award from the Government of Andhra
Pradesh, India, in 2001. At present, he is Professor and
Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at
Mahavir Institute of Science and Technology, Hyderabad,
India.
See full interview at
http://www.theprofessor.in/vkamaraju.shtml
What do you feel about attitude towards
teaching profession in society? What were
your experiences at Turkey?
Teachers have become very cheap. In private
sector they are paid like clerks. With our
reservation systems and entrance exams,
marks are awarded above 95 % in SSC,
intermediate etc. Education has also become
cheap & worthless. We are now looked down
by the society. In turkey I had the best times
academically. Students highly respect the
teachers and those who really want higher
& university education only join.

3. MUST READ LINKS
Thoughts on Education:
 http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/rna/cech-
scientist.html
 http://www.npr.org/2013/05/23/185839159/living-in-
two-worlds-but-with-just-one-language
 http://am.ascb.org/dora/
 http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/13/d
ont-go-back-to-school-kio-stark/
Self Development
 http://www.paulstips.com/
Book Reading project
 http://indiabioscience.org/features/51/experiencing-
journey-science-through-%E2%80%9C-book-
project%E2%80%9D-garware-college-pune
A foreign student’s experience of Indian Education
 http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/college-
and-university/an-indian-education/article4683622.ece
Videos
 http://www.ted.com/talks/jay_silver_hack_a_banana_
make_a_keyboard.html
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embe
dded&v=K96c-TGnSf4
 http://www.youtube.com/embed/doN4t5NKW-k
Conference for Math Educators
 http://atcm.mathandtech.org/
What a teacher should do
 http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/1555159/comment-
walk-in-with-a-smile-teacher
Toys for special children
 http://www.newson6.com/story/22176044/toys-
engineered-by-tu-students-bring-smiles-at-tulsas-
little-light-house
Useful publications from Commonwealth of
Learning
 http://www.col.org/resources/publications/Pages/d
efault_copy(2).aspx
Low cost teaching aids
 http://www.scoop.it/t/designing-innovative-low-
cost-science-teaching-aids
Such small group interactions give insight to the
tutor on why students may not be doing well in a
course or what difficulties they have. These
observations should be shared with the lecturer.
However, tutorial are not merely a means of
reaching weak student. It should also provide
individualized attention and academic challenge
to stimulate the intellectual growth of talented
and creative students. Tutors also can have their
own intellectual horizons expanded by the
observations and questions of such students.
Tutorials must help students think like
professionals in that subject.
June 2013 Page 3 of 4 VOL. # 7 ISSUE #6
Ideally, it should be one-on-one, but in many of
the western universities the number is less than
ten. In India, the recommended number is fifteen
for one tutor.
In some of the premiere institutes, the lectures
are given to very large classes and therefore the
tutorials are a must. These tutorials could be
taken by teaching assistants. But in some
institutes, senior or regular faculty conduct the
tutorials.

4. Tutorials
Do’s and Don’ts
 Tutorials meet at least once a week for a minimum of 50 minutes.
 Tutors must prepare tutorial sheets, detailing the expectations for the work to be done
 Tutors must submit a tutorial description and evaluation form at the end of the academic
term. These documents track tutorial content and academic development. Copies of these
documents are shared with students.
 Tutors must not use these classes for regular lectures
 It is necessary to critically review the syllabus and cut down some topics to cater time for
tutorials
 Institutes must let go of the belief that teaching happens only through lecture classes
 One good idea is to cater to tutorials in the lesson plan, scheduling problems or discussions
in correct time sequence with the lectures
 Another way of scheduling tutorials is near a lab session, tutees can relate the theory with
the experiment and have some questions
 Tutees must exhibit a high degree of preparation.
 Tutorial assignments are meant for individual discussions, hence tutees must read the
material or review the lectures before coming
www.teachersacademy.co
www.theprofessor.in
Perspectives on Curriculum Design
NIT-Trichy
May 8th
to 10th
2013
Report
About 45 teachers from various departments participated in this workshop. The
sessions started with the idea of Six Thinking Hats followed by a demonstration.
Everyone appreciated how meetings can be more productive using this simple
technique. There was a Jigsaw reading session on the alternate forms of learning like
Team Based learning, problem Based learning and Just In Time teaching. Faculty
could see how this type of reading can be used in their own classes. Bloom’s and
Fink’s taxonomies, their use in writing course objectives and the importance of
assessing these outcomes was discussed.
These sessions were followed by teacher’s self discovery – teaching and learning
styles, Enneagram personality types, Emotional intelligence were some pointers.
Meditation was also practiced. This introspection led the faculty towards better
understanding of their students.
June 2013 Page 4 of 4 VOL. #7 ISSUE #6