Indian Institute of Science Distance Education Brief Information

Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Continuing Education offers course on Environmental Management. This course is taught to working engineering professionals in distance mode. Initiative was taken by World Federation of Engineering Organizations for Sustainable Development to have Environmental Engineering Courses in Self Learning Format for engineering professionals.

• Courses

• Methodology

• Selection

• Application Procedure

Most engineering professionals are unable to leave their workplace for study. This necessitated development of Environmental Engineering Courses that could be taught in distance mode, taking advantage of recent developments in Information Technology. Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Vancouver, Canada and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) examined environmental engineering modules developed by UNESCO for design and development of Series of Learning Materials in Engineering Sciences for open distance learning.

Courses -Currently, courses are on offer are -

• Municipal Solid Waste Management
• Environmental Management

Duration - Each course should be completed within 4 months.

Methodology - The course curriculum and the content design of courses is more applied and not deeply theoretical or mathematical. The aim is to expose engineering professionals to new knowledge and skills required in the field of Environmental Management.

Eligibility - These courses are for In-service professionals (BE / M.Sc / B Sc with 1 years work experience) and fresh graduates are also eligible for this course. After completing all examinations, students are required to apply the course content in his or her work setting and submit an example of how they achieved this goal. During the course, participants should compulsorily attend interactive chat sessions, for which some grading will be given. Participants should actively participate in the sessions for best results. A certificate along with grades will be given to all the successful participants.

Course Delivery Methods - The Institute uses various media for course delivery. They are (1) Printed self learning content (2) Interactive sessions (audio or video conferencing) (3) Chat session, discussion forum, bulletin board and electronic mail to send messages, assignment feedback, and other targeted communication (4) Pre-recorded CD /DVD's are used to present class lectures and visually oriented content and (5) Fascimile services are used, where affordable and required, to distribute assignments, just-in-time announcements, receive student assignments provide timely feedback, etc.

Selection - Number of registrants is restricted to 50 students. Admission is based on first come, first serve basis.

Sessions - Courses are available during August - December and January - May sessions at the Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Continuing Education. The classroom sessions and examinations are held at CCE, Lecture Hall, IISc, Bangalore - 560012

Examination - Evaluation will be done at two levels -

• Concept level - Candidate is evaluated online by randomly displaying multiple-choice questions. Each question carries some weight or marks. Based on his/her test performance, the system checks the number of questions correct answers and the performance is evaluated.
• Module level - Candidates are given final exam, which will be held at the Centre for Continuing Education or at Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES).

The concept level evaluation marks will also be considered for grading. Completion of a project is a partial requirement for the course

Application Procedure - Application form can be obtained from Website. Applicants must submit curriculum vitae along with the application form to the Centre for Continuing Education address, which should include the description of current work, if employed or their specialization. An outline of individual project: especially skills likely to gain in the course and how it will be applied in a project that will be helpful in future career. Application form should be sent to - Deputy Registrar, Centre for Continuing Education, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. Along with the application, the course fee has to be sent in the form of DD only. DD to be drawn in favor of ' Registrar, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, payable at Bangalore.