Nepal Engineering College

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PBL Dissemination Seminar at Hotel Shanker, Kathmandu

Strengthening Problem-Based Learning in South Asian Universities (PBL South Asia) hosted a project dissemination seminar on August 15, 2022, at the hotel Shanker, Lazimpat in Kathmandu, Nepal. Assoc. Prof. Durgaprasad Bhandari of Nepal Engineering College, who is also a coordinator for this project, hosted the seminar. The seminar drew a total of 70 participants from various universities and colleges.

Lena sthapit, project coordinator at Asian Institute of Technology and Management, welcomed all participants and gave a brief overview of the PBL projects and their accomplishments. Following this presentation, Kirsi Kettula, from Alto University's Head of Global Engagement, continued the session by providing a brief history of the project and its accomplishments to date.

Hemlal Bhattarai from JNEC moderated an open panel discussion with a question and answer session to address various participant concerns. Andrius Jureliois from KTU, Aporva Naresh Bhatt from IISc, Ellen van Andel from TU Delft, and Sudeep Lamsal from Sagarmatha Engineering College answered all of the participants' questions. During the seminar, a poster presentation was also held to display the case studies of various students. For this event, two posters were created by Nepal Engineering College.

One was on the control system for hydroponics, and the other on disease detection in oyster mushrooms. To demonstrate the outcomes of the adopted curriculum, two additional sessions led by Riina Subra of Alto University were also held. Hemlal Bhattarai from JNEC presented the first topic, PBL South Asia Key Activities, Impact, and Way Forward in Bhutan. In this session, he discussed how Bhutan is using PBL methodologies to address various local issues. He also shared his knowledge of international seminars and paper publications on PBL. Durgaprasad Bhandari from Nepal Engineering College illustrated the achievements of PBL in the context of Nepal in the following session. He also discussed his curriculum development experiences and challenges.

Avinash Dhital, a project specialist from Alto University, summarized all of the project's events as well as the upcoming events. Finally, the seminar concluded with a networking session and a group photo.

Internal Reflection Seminar on PBL at Hotel Agantuk, Dhulikhel Nepal

On August 14, 2022, a one-day seminar on internal reflection was held at Hotel Agantuk as part of the ongoing joint project "strengthening Problem Based Learning in South Asian Universities," which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union and local partners. Asst. Prof. Diwakar Bista of Kathmandu University launched the program. He emphasized the projects' recent activities and accomplishments. The key points of this joint seminar were presented by Riina Subra of Alto University. She also emphasized the PBL's key objectives and achievable results. Following a brief presentation, we held a group discussion. Different delegate groups were formed and the topics were discussed.

The second session on PBL mentoring in practice was led by Matlenna Muhonen from Alto University. She demonstrated the various approaches taken in the PBL project. She insisted that mentoring is a recurring process that must be properly reflected in the deliverables. This session is active, with a large number of participants actively participating in various events. PBL MOOC courses have already been developed to make this PBL method accessible and to learn the tools and methodologies of PBL. Ellen van Andel of TU Delft discussed the MOOC and ToT manuals. He also inquired about responses from various participants. Members of Nec responded to the questions, which was greatly appreciated. Andrius Jurelionis from Kaunas University of Technology presented the topic of Quality of Learning Outcomes and Assessments. This seminar gathered feedback from various HEI, and the final result will be included in the PBL final report. Julia Renko from Alto University made the session more enjoyable by deconstructing the learning needs and expectations in PBL. The student case study was organized collaboratively by KTU, JNEC, NEC, KU, and TU Delft, and its introduction and scope were disseminated by Ramprasad Suwal from Nepal EngineeringCollege and Adrius Jurelionis from KTU.

Faculty from Nec participated in a PBL training workshop at IIT Mumbai and Reflection seminar at Kathmandu.

A faculty workshop was held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai, India from 19 to 30 August 2019 as part of the project "Problem-Based Learning in Schools". University of South Asia" and about 70 lecturers and advanced students (Masters and PhD) Delegates from partner universities in Europe, India, Nepal and Bhutan participated in the workshop. All participants from Nepal and Bhutan are faculty members who will play a key role in implementing/integrating the “Problem-Based Learning” pedagogy into the institution's courses.

On September 16, 2019, a reflection session for Nepalese participants in the Mumbai faculty training workshop was held at Dinning Park restaurant in Baneshwar, Kathmandu. The program's goal was for Nepalese participants to share their thoughts and experiences from the Mumbai workshop, as well as to discuss the upcoming PBL South Asia event in Bangalore. Nineteen of the twenty-one faculty participants from Nepal who attended the Mumbai workshop attended the reflection session. Through PowerPoint presentations, the four Nepalese higher education institutions (HEIs) involved in the project presented their experiences and learnings from the Mumbai event separately. Preparations for the upcoming Bangalore event, as well as related issues, were discussed later in the program. The Nepalese participants' firsthand exposure to PBL pedagogy in the Mumbai workshop was invaluable.

Nec hosted a PBL Faculty Workshop to highlight the possibilities and methods for addressing various problems using PBL methodologies.

On June 13, 2019, Nepal Engineering College held a workshop at its Changunarayan campus in Bhaktapur to inform its faculty about the project, its objectives, activities, and outcomes. Various interactive programs were designed to work collaboratively during this workshop, such as group discussions, sharing practical experiences, and collecting feedback. Various faculty members gained new insights into the PBL methodology and were equipped and inspired to try this new methodology in their classroom.

This workshop welcomed faculty from various colleges to share their PBL experiences. The program began with a brief remark from Dr. Hari Krishna Shrestha, Principal of Nepal Engineering College, and was followed by a presentation on the PBL South Asia project from Mr. Durgaprasad Bhandari (Associate Professor and PBL South Asia Project Coordinator) and Mr. Rupesh Dahi Shrestha from nec.

Finally, Assoc. Prof. Durgaprasad Bhandari summarized the project's upcoming events and concluded the program.

Kick-off Meeting of the PBL at Aalto University, Finland

The PBL South Asia kick-off meeting took place from February 4 to 8, 2019 which was structured for 5 days. This first official meeting was attended by all partners. Two members of Nepal Engineering College attended this kick-off meeting at Aalto. Bhutan, India, Lithuania, Finland, and Norway were the other partner countries. The partners discussed the possibilities of PBL pedagogy of teaching and learning methods, as well as the next steps of the projects.

Activities and Events

The following are the completed and ongoing events/activities involving nec under PBL South Asia project:

PBL in news:

(1) “Joint NEC-KTU-KU-JNEC student case presentation at NEC”, Nagariknews.com: Link

(2) “Joint NEC-KTU-KU-JNEC student case presentation at NEC”, Actionkhabar.com: Link

(3) “IIT Bombay Student Case in Nepal”, Actionkhabar.com: Link

(4) “IIT Bombay Student Case in Nepal”, Actionkhabar.com:Link

(5) “PBL South Asia Hybrid Mentors Meeting at NEC”, Actionkhabar.com: Link

(6) “PBL Workshop held at Nepal Engineering College, Lokaantar.com: Link

(7) Emphasis is Given on “Problem Based Learning”, Nagariknews.com: Link

(8) Emphasis is Given on “Problem Based Learning”, Lokpati.com: Link (9) Problem Based Learning in Higher Education, Newsabhiyan: Link