Overview

University Innovation Fellows Spring 2017 Pitch Video

Strategy 1: PEER TEACHING CLASSES

This idea is all about creating a beautiful platform for the students to enlighten and bring out the innovative thinking ability in them. I believe, Peer Teaching is the best way to make this happen. We already have Peer Teaching classes going on in our daily classroom schedule. But the activities that are supposed to happen are not happening as expected. This might be due to the fact that students have an unnerving feel as they think they were forced to participate in the activities which might seem boring to them. So, changing the way these activities happen inside a classroom that students might be interested in, can help them grab opportunity to work in a team and learn something useful.

How PT can be interesting:

Replacing faculty with a senior student for Peer Teaching classes
Students in a class divides into teams of 15-20 each, with a senior student mentoring his team.
Activities to be planned according to the interest shown by the students.
Having students to talk in the team bring out their ideas.
Teams participate in the activities to have a friendly competition.
Activities vary session to session.

Possible issues:

As Seniors are assigned to mentor Freshman, all might not mingle in the team.
Seniors might not show up after few sessions due to their own reasons.
Students might not want to participate in a team all of a sudden.

Hope of solving these issues

Faculty member mentors seniors, helping them solve the issues with the Freshman. Seniors to be awarded credits for what they do in Peer Teaching sessions. Feedback from the members of a team lead by that senior, may fetch him/her credits. This puts senior students in their path as they help peers to participate in the activities.

I&E ecosystem via PT

Student Collaboration

In these sessions, students meet their fellows more personally. They talk to each other. As I believe this is the initial stage of Innovative mindset, such ecosystem develops across the campus. This helps students to know what resources they basically have on the campus.

Grabbing every opportunity

Participating in a team activity develops thought process that helps a student to know what interests him/her. Thus, they come to know what all opportunities they have at the moment. With the help of their team head or the senior, they can connect with the correct way to grab an opportunity.

Connecting to campus resources

By collaborating with seniors and thereby faculty, students get to know what all resources their campus offer them. Knowing the presence of resources, students think of using them for their own growth leading to innovative ideas. Entrepreneurship and innovation develops across the campus.

Strategy 2 : Technology, Entertainment, Design Club

A TED-Ed club in the college would be a great way to boost the communivation skills as well as let students know about the trending technologies.The effect of laughter on someone who’s sad. The danger and excitement of dirt biking. The reason human beings need so much sleep. The thought of infinity.

Through TED-Ed Clubs, students — with the help of an adult facilitator — identify and research the ideas that matter to them most. And while TED-Ed Clubs offer students the opportunity to connect with others who, like them, are unabashedly curious about the world, TED-Ed Clubs are also about presentation literacy. TED-Ed Clubs offer students a hands-on opportunity to work on the storytelling and communication skills that will be vital, no matter what career path they end up strolling down.

How it works:

In TED-Ed Clubs, students work together to discuss and celebrate creative ideas. Club leaders receive TED-Ed's flexible Clubs curriculum to guide their school's club and to help inspire tomorrow's TED speakers and leaders.

Identify Your Passion: "What makes your heart beat faster?" The first part of the Clubs curriculum has members explore the ideas they're passionate about. By diving into activities that expand curiosity, club members will identify and discuss what matters most to them.

Choose Your Idea: "What is your big idea?" As members journey through the Clubs curriculum, they'll be challenged to identify and shape the story only they can tell. Through guided brainstorms and active peer feedback exercises, members will craft their very own TED-style talk.

Start Talking: "How can your idea change the world?" By the end of their club cycle, members will have recorded their very own talk and uploaded it to our TED-Ed Clubs YouTube channel, which can then be shared with their families, friends, communities and the world.

Design Thinking:

We are going add one more club in the list. This club is precisely based on design thinking. We are going to recruit members for this club without the seniority in the college. The recruitment process ends with an interview preceded by a psychometric test. Interviewers will be senior UIF fellows. This club concentrates on the strategies of the college education and tries to improve it so that the students will be benefited in learning rather than in spoon-feeding. The members of this club also decides the UIF candidates for that educational year. This club takes all the ideas and problems, which the institution is not aware of, to the notice of the personnel who could make time and solve the problems and implement the useful ideas.

Strategy 3 : Innovation AND Entrepreneurship Development Cell

An Innovation and Entrepreneurship center is a body of people basically, like minded and innovative. The main aim of Innovationand Entrepreneurship center is to inculcate the entrepreneurship mindset amongthe students. (towards the modern technologies and this center provides exposure to latest advancements in the technologies.) It develops creative and design thinking in the students and also provides student collaboration.

Initially, students show interest in joining the I&EDC thinking of creating real things out of their ideas. This may be possible when people come together and discuss about various ideas they have. Innovation and Entreprenuership Development Cell enables the people to gather and discuss about an idea and arrive at a solution. This center creates interest in the students to join and meet other people in the community who have comprehensive awareness of many ideas, so that they can learn and earn at the same time.

Innovationand Entrepreneurship cell helps students to emerge as Innovators and Entrepreneurs.This cell basically requires the students to work creatively and produce prototypes and also requires a room/space where, students can meet and share their ideas. Permission from higher authorities is required to establish the innovation andentrepreneurship cell. Assurance should be given to faculty that, this center works for the benefits of students.

Strategy 4 Re-Designing My College Time Table

The main reason behind selecting this problem is to explore the hidden skills of the students by providing them a time to get exposed to different things like sports, clubs, TED room, I&E cell. In regular curriculum students are not having much time to get exposed to those things. So I want to re-design the time table of my college.

How our new time table is different from the regular one?

It provides students an effective Innovation space and allows them to do much more. They are allowed to do more in their site of interest. In regular curriculum, we are giving only 4-5 periods for extra curricular activities per week. But in re-designed one we are giving 2 periods a day.

Strategy 5: Awareness on Seminars, Workshops and Hackathons

Workshops:Students should be guided over the exposure of workshops in and around the campus.These workshops faclitates students on

Practical application of learning to the real world and the world of work.
Skill development including communication, team work and presentation.
evelopment of an understanding about architecture and the built environment.

Seminars: Seminars has numerous benefits, including improving communication skills, gaining expert knowledge, networking with others and renewing motivation and confidence.

Hackathons: Coding is one of the important skill for any Computer Science student, as a part of this Technical Training should be made into practise right from 2nd year and make students involve in coding events like Hackathon which provide a student a wide exposure on Coding.

Priorities:Vasireddy Venkatadri Institute of Technology Student Priorities