Monthly Archives: November 2020

Knowledge Representation  The frontiers of knowledge are always on the move across many dimensions and perhaps at varying speeds along each of these dimensions. Inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary knowledge is becoming more valuable. The question of how to organise and represent … Continue reading →

On being the right size?  There has been a lot of discussion on the NEP 2020 recommendations for higher education, and one of the new ideas is to have large Universities. This is stated at “10.1. The main thrust of … Continue reading →

The idea of justice?  The Constitution of India begins with the promise  “ to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political…….” and this clearly indicates that the idea of justice is multi-dimensional and complex.  The idea of justice changes with … Continue reading →

Utilitarianism :  During the greater part of this year, across the world, there have been several restrictions on the activities of people, often preventing them from their regular activities that were thought implicit in their freedoms.  The basis of such … Continue reading →

What is a paradox?  A paradox  is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one’s expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically unacceptable conclusion. … Continue reading →

Learning in uncertain times:  It is almost universally agreed that we are living in uncertain times that are complex and rapidly changing. This has often been described as the VUCA world ( Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous). It should not … Continue reading →

Resources for self-learning:  1: Self-Directed Learning: A Four-Step Process: https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/tips-students/self-directed-learning/self-directed-learning-four-step-process 2: Some useful resources for an educator : Some useful resources for educators 3: Twenty steps towards more self-directed learning : https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/29-steps-toward-more-self-directed-learning/ 4: Becoming self-taught ( a how to guide): https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/becoming-self-taught.html 5: Thirteen ways … Continue reading →

What is worth learning ? What is worth learning actually changes over time and we have seen this in recent times when the once most coveted engineering and management qualifications seem to be completely unwonted.  To appreciate this, it is … Continue reading →

Attributes of a successful self-learner: Since the adjective we are using for self-learners here is ‘successful’ an immediate point of reference should be Stephen R. Covey covered and his book, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People.  The first three habits … Continue reading →

Why self-learning? Whenever we think of learning, we associate it with a classroom and a teacher at the head of the class, in what has often been called ‘the sage on the stage’ model. The ‘lecture’ which may of about … Continue reading →