AU introdused new patterns
To bring about a shift from testing the “abilities of rote” of a student to testing “abilities at diligent application of the mind, discernment and discrimination”, Anna University, Coimbatore, has introduced new patterns of evaluation and assessment.According to Vice-Chancellor R. Radhakrishnan, the internal assessment has been placed at 50 per cent, instead of 20 per cent.It will recognise the student’s ability to work innovatively and independently of class room instructions, and not base the assessment only on internal tests and assignments.The pattern of the terminal examination question paper will be devised to test the student’s ability to imbibe and apply knowledge. It will have components of tricky objective questions and short answers to test application. The long questions will test the ability of the student to systematically apply domain knowledge. It will also have a case study that requires a complete appreciation of a complicated practical situation and evaluates analytical skills in the process of attempting solutions.
The university has experimented with the Trimester System also. The system, though common in premier management institutions, is not so in main stream education.The Vice-Chancellor points out that the university has adopted a rigorous curriculum that has 35 credits in six trimesters. In addition, it includes industrial internship, live projects and dissertations.These, he believes, will give the students an advantage which will be on a par with their counterparts in business schools who undergo residential programmes.The university is offering some unique management courses besides the conventional ones. It will hold the first trimester terminal examinations from November 19, when 487 management students of the university and 2,125 students of its affiliated colleges will appear.
