The University Foundation Program (UFP) has been designed to provide foundational skills as well as introduction to various thematic areas required to build a breadth of sound graduate attributes in students. The foundation courses are intended for students of under graduate programs. It seeks to equip students with capacities in fields across humanities, languages, critical thinking, reading and writing skills, elements of data science and environmental awareness, along with rigorous specialization in a chosen disciplinary or inter-disciplinary major and minor(s). Some of the themes envisioned under it are – Reading and Writing, Critical Thinking and Research, Humanities and Art Appreciation, Data Science and Environmental Science and Climate Change. The University Foundation Program (UFP) has been initiated in the Autumn semester, 2024. Undergraduates would be encouraged to learn across disciplines so that they may succeed in their future professional lives.
Some of the salient features of the program are:
Six courses offered under university foundation program and their credit sanctioned is as follows:
Course Description: This course aims to develop thinking skills through reading and writing. Therefore, it is designed to provide exposure to the skill of reading and writing as essential skills of learning. Reading and writing in this foundational course is conceptualized in a general and non-disciplinary context. Writing demands thinking and engaging with ideas, either through personal experience or vicariously experienced through literature of different types. It also requires skills for organizing ideas and appropriate expression for different purposes and contexts. Envisaged as a practice-based hands-on course with a strong emphasis on developing skills, the transaction of this course will involve deep reading, observations and writing activities.
Learning Outcomes:
Course description: This course builds on the course ‘Think through reading and writing’. It focuses on articulation of ideas gathered through various sources. This process requires organization of ideas for writing which includes planning structure of the write- up in view of the target reader group and thus the type of language to be used. It is conceptualized as a hands-on practice oriented course. The type of write-ups and reading will be general- fiction and non-fiction as well as discipline specific.
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Course description: There is an abundance of information available in today’s digital era. How do we think when the information is available to us abundantly? How do we process and analyze this information to make advancements in our understanding? The course on Critical Thinking and Research is designed to address and think on the above questions. The course will equip the learners with framework that will help to analyze information and problems. The course uses the thinking and learning tools for improvement in organization and development of thought process. The course attempts on the learners to closely observe things for detailing and precision development. The major course components will comprise of research and reasoning abilities, reflective and metacognitive abilities, structure of analysis and argument for comprehensive perspective building.
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Course description: The course aims to give introduction to the field of humanities. Humanities is deeply connected with human conditions. The changes we see in world are orchestrated by individuals endowed cultural and educational heritage. Every decade brings in changes in the conditions of human beings and one has to look at the evolutionary growth of human beings. So this course gives introduction to psychology, sociology, and anthropology in the context of humanities. Just as we need an understanding about the impact of Social Institutions on individual behavior and cultural norms, the psychology topics would help in understanding behavior of individual impacting the society. Students are introduced to the area of art appreciation and visual appeal as they offer newer perspective and better conceptualization of ideas.
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Course description: In the current Digital Era, no one can escape from the traps of data generation networks. Data is the new ‘Oil’. Every second the data is generated by an individual directly or indirectly through social media applications, sensors. The urban development demands automation in mobility on a highway, paying a toll, parking a vehicle, going for a food at restaurant, etc. Hence knowledge of collecting/capturing the data, cleaning of data, augmenting missing information, preparing the data for analysis, finding the data insights and meaningful pattern becomes vital in this era. This course will help students to know, work, play and present data visually using basic software tools like Spreadsheet (Excel) and basic programming platform using python.
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Course description: The field of urban and suburban landscape ecology is emerging as a scientific study that has implications for the sustainable design and administration of cities. This course explores the ecological framework, processes, governance, policy formation, and current research trends and advancements in the study of landscape and ecology. The course examines how the fields of ecology and science are being integrated into the practice, design, and legal aspects of the built environment and architecture, with a focus on ecological design methods.
Research on the relationship between climate, environment, and the built environment is crucial for the future of cities. It offers a structure for tackling challenges that endanger humanity, such as climate change and environmental justice, while also meeting human requirements for health, safety, and well-being. Through the examination of biological and social factors that influence urban water bodies, landscape corridors, and the connection of urban wildness, students get an understanding of how these factors interact with urbanized regions such as public spaces, neighborhoods, and initiatives for green infrastructure.
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