Civil Engineering

A discussion meeting was held on the topic of “Teaching and Learning Issues” on 03 Jan, 2018 at 2 p.m. for all the faculty members of the department of Civil Engineering in the presence of honorable Vice-Chancellor of AUST, Prof. Dr. A.M.M. Safiullah at the Seminar room, block-D (3^rd floor).At the very beginning, Head of the department, Prof. Dr. Sharmin Reza Chowdhury accorded welcome to all the faculty members to the discussion meeting and specially thanked honorable Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. A.M.M. Safiullah for gracing the program with his presence. He expected that from this meeting, the junior faculty members will get the opportunity to get knowledge and idea about effective teaching process from the long teaching and practical field experience of the senior faculty members.

 

In the welcome speech, Head, CE said that a teacher should have good fundamental knowledge, sharpness and have the capability to take any challenges. He emphasized on the quality of degree and mentioned that a quality degree improve one's capability to think rationally, logically, critically and concentrate quickly in any insight of any topic, ultimately helps in reaching another level of

knowledge. He felt the necessities of setting up consultancy facilities for getting the professional as well as practical flavor for the faculty members. Head requested every faculty member to work in a way so that this department will become a true Institution. He also mentioned that this kind of meeting need to be arranged on regular basis and different issues should be discussed time to time.

In his speech, Prof. Dr. Md. Mahmudur Rahman said knowledge should be shared and it should be interactive. He said increasing depth of knowledge is a continuous process. He advised the faculty members those who had graduated from AUST to maintain an adequate distance from the students to maintain professionalism. Prof. Dr. Md. Abdur Rouf emphasized on the development of the communication skill of engineering students. He also emphasized on developing potential to work in a team and adaptation capability of students. He suggested that industrial arrangement (Internship program) and field visit can be arranged in this regard. Prof. Dr. M. Mirjahan Miah shared his experience of teaching in abroad and said that in aboard a self-assessment program is held to find out the weakness of the students, make a discussion and develop a strategy to improve that weakness. He suggested that every three year, curriculum can be redesigned; reviewed and updated that will be synchronized with the job market, society and nation’s need. He thinks a student’s group visit as per their respective division (Structure/Geotech/WRE) can be a fruitful way to gather practical knowledge. He appreciated Head of the department for taking initiative to work on the mission, objectives and a strategic plan for the improvement of the department.

 

 

Discussion Session:

At this stage of the program, Prof. Dr. Md. Abdur Rouf invited all the faculty members to an open discussion to discuss different issues/problems/situations regarding teaching process and requested the senior faculty members to help the juniors to find out solutions. Most of the Faculty members showed their concern about the absence of the students in theoretical class due to the sessional quizzes. Regarding sessional quiz, Prof. Dr. M. Mirjahan Miah mentioned that question can be prepared focusing on equipment and what a student practically did in the experiment. Faculty members also showed their concern about the fairness in class tests. Prof. Dr. Rouf suggested that 2 to 4 set question can be prepared by changing data. He proposed to use colored paper for different sets to avoid unfair means in the quizzes. He also proposed open book exam in quiz if possible. Prof. Dr. M. Mirjahan Miah said in setting up questions the teacher should see that the question should be a combination of the ability of analyzing and memorizing and also the creative and conceptual capability of a student. Faculty members also discussed about improper behavior of student in class. Head of the department advised the faculty members to inform him immediately if difficulty of this kind arises. Prof. Dr. Md.

Shahid Mamun mentioned the level of knowledge and learning interest of the students is important. Prof. Dr. Afzal Ahmed felt the necessity of small gap in between two classes. Prof. Dr. Md. Abdur Rouf suggested that tutorial class can be a solution in this regard. Faculty members also discussed about copy paste problem, lack of reasoning of students, difficulty in completing syllabus of the theoretical courses, and also about different teaching techniques.

Prof. Dr. A.M.M Safiullah shared his opinion that in university students should have opportunity to do co-curricular activities more importantly than extra-curricular activities. He felt the necessity of taking spot test of sessional courses without informing the students. Prof. Dr. Safiullah said that there may be an imbalance in our course curriculum system. He suggested that in those courses teachers can discuss main gist/idea and give some reading assignments to the students.

 

Finally, the Discussion meeting ended with the vote of thanks from honorable Vice-Chancellor of AUST, Prof. Dr. A.M.M. Safiullah and Prof. Dr. Md. Abdur Rouf.