BITS Faculty Publications
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Item Essentiality of knowing transversal competencies: towards engineering education sustainability and industry readiness of engineering students(The European Society For Engineering Education (SEFI), 2022) Sangwan, DevikaEngineering education is to prepare engineers for real-world challenges and seek novel solutions to cater to society's different needs. There is an increase in the global demand for industry-ready engineers. Engineering education sustainability and industry readiness are mutually inclusive, where the former is the combination of different skills and transversal competencies, while the latter is all about their applicability. Transversal competencies, transferable across disciplines, chisel engineering students to become versatile and practical on the shop floor. Sustainability in engineering education is usually discussed only from the ecological/environmental viewpoints. This paper tries to find out the relevance of transversal competencies from the perspectives of engineering students at three levels: the most recurring competencies, the competencies they lack, and the ones that need improvement. Recurring and essential transversal competencies such as problem-solving, creativity and innovation, communication, lifelong learning etc., were identified from different policy frameworks of accreditation agencies, industry reports, organizational reports, and academia. Primary data was collected from final-year engineering students for this exploratory research through semi-structured interviews. These transversal competencies, latent throughout the formative years, have a definite role in the engineer's industry readiness, making engineering education sustainable. The need for industry readiness of the engineering students indicates the sustainability of engineering education, which can bridge the gap between the industry and academia. The paper reveals opportunities for further expansion of the competency frameworks in the policymaking and accreditation procedures.Item Engineering undergraduates knowledge: insights into skills awareness, difference and interdependence(Emerald, 2024) Sangwan, Kuldip Singh; Sangwan, DevikaThis study seeks insights into the engineering undergraduates’ knowledge of problem-solving process, teamwork characteristics and communication skills. Design/methodology/approach The data for the study were collected through consecutive sampling technique from 78 engineering undergraduates at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Pilani Campus, India on a five-point Likert scale-based questionnaire.Item Metaverse for education: developments, challenges, and future direction(Wiley, 2025-04) Chamola, Vinay; Sangwan, DevikaThe rapid advancements in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), extended reality (XR), and the internet of things (IoT) have revolutionized various sectors, including education. Metaverse, a convergence of these transformative technologies, offers immersive, personalized, and interactive experiences, making it a powerful tool in modern education. This paper explores the Metaverse's role in enhancing education by examining its architecture, types, and components while addressing practical implementation challenges, and follows a structured review protocol to ensure a comprehensive analysis, including systematic research, paper selection, and a critical examination of relevant studies from reputable databases such as Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, ACM, and Springer. The research objectives focus on evaluating the Metaverse's applications in education, ethical challenges, technological limitations, and potential strategies for sustainable integration. Key research questions address the need for Metaverse adoption in education, its benefits, challenges, and future directions. The Metaverse cultivates essential skills such as empathy, ethical reasoning, and effective communication by providing students with customized, immersive learning environments. However, ethical concerns, technical barriers, and infrastructural costs pose significant obstacles to its widespread adoption. It discusses strategies to solve these barriers, explores applications in distance learning, and proposes future research directions to create scalable and sustainable educational models in the Metaverse. Through this structured inquiry, the paper establishes the Metaverse as a transformative force in education, blending technological innovation with instructional advancement.Item From Margaret Noble to Sister Nivedita: Mapping a Colonial Woman’s Journey to India in Search of a ‘Home’(CEEOL, 2022) Sangwan, DevikaWhile stories of travels from Britain to India during the colonial times were replete with stereotypes, the journey of an Irish Lady, Margaret Noble (1867–1911) and her subsequent transformation into Sister Nivedita (the one dedicated to the cause) was unique in many senses. Attracted by her Guru (Spiritual Master) she came to Calcutta, India on her spiritual quest in 1898, where she immersed herself in the local culture, learned the language, and significantly contributed to women’s progress. Her involvement with local intelligentsia and nationalism highlighted the Indian values, talents and erudition to the outside world. Her journey showcased her spirit that could transcend the rigid European orthodoxy for White women in a colonized land and placed her as one of the leading architects of modern India. Earlier studies have not recognised Nivedita as a social reformer. Most importantly, works on her seldom refer to her struggle and subsequent triumph over limitations imposed on her in terms of racial othering, geographical positionality and gendered subjectivity. This paper addresses her struggle and celebrates her successful navigation in transcending the limitations and restrictions of both her Irish culture and the Indian culture and highlights her significant contributions towards human race at large.Item Development of a Human Centric Cyber Physical Production System Framework for Enhanced Social Sustainability(Elsevier, 2024) Sangwan, Kuldip Singh; Sangwan, Devika; Bera, Tufan ChandraSocial sustainability focuses on building a sustainable workplace that prioritizes the occupational health, safety, and overall well-being of workers. It is considered one of the three fundamental pillars of sustainability. Human centric cyber physical production system (CPPS) emphasizes the central role of humans in the smart manufacturing process that has become an essential requirement to enhance social sustainability. This paper proposes a human centric CPPS framework for enhanced social sustainability. The social needs/requirements are identified and categorized into various types. Similarly, functional and design requirements are categorized into different elements and sub-elements of CPPS. The findings are used to create a QFD (Quality Function Deployment) matrix that integrates social requirements with the functional and design requirements of modular CPPS elements. The present work will be significant in enhancing the management capabilities and performance of traditional manufacturing systems, while also meeting diverse social needs and requirements.Item A Comprehensive Review on Generative AI for Education(IEEE, 2024-09) Chamola, Vinay; Sangwan, DevikaArtificial Intelligence (AI) has immense potential for personalized learning experiences, content generation, and vivid educational support. This paper delves into generative AI (GAI) and its potential applications within GAI, specifically mentioning generative adversarial networks (GANs). The article delves into the transformative impact of GAI in education, underscoring its expertise in creating diverse instructional materials, from texts and images to videos. Adaptive learning, one of the chief abilities of GAI, has been highlighted, emphasizing its capability to select content customized to individual student profiles, learning habits, and preferences. The paper further explores the fusion of GAI with innovative education systems, highlighting how these models can mimic conversational interfaces, promoting an engaging, customized learning journey. The exploration doesn’t stop at the benefits; it delves into challenges like ensuring data privacy, mitigating biases, and ensuring accountability in AI-driven educational systems. The conclusion contemplates the potential limitations and assurances of embedding GAI within educational setups. An appeal has been made for more profound research and enhancement of AI’s educational function. The intersection of pedagogical insights and effective human-AI collaboration is pivotal in this journey. This paper serves as a compass, guiding educators, researchers, and policymakers toward harnessing GAI’s potential to sculpt enriched, immersive educational landscapes.Item Experiential learning: integrating learning and experience in shaping the future of the engineers(Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2022) Sangwan, Kuldip Singh; Sangwan, DevikaThe industry demands skill-equipped engineering graduates who could be efficient enough to adapt to face the challenges of uncertainty posed by a lack of skills and resources. Accreditation boards have identified problem-solving, teamwork, communication, etc. as the workplace required skills. However, industry/employers feel that the engineers seem to lack problem-solving, teamwork, etc. To groom these skills, experiential learning (EL) platform provides hands-on practice.Item 21st-century competencies in engineering education: initiation, evolution, current, and now whither to(Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2022) Sangwan, Kuldip Singh; Sangwan, DevikaThe fibre of engineering education has evolved from knowledge to competencies. This is a logical consequence of the technologically advanced and multifaceted learning environment where engineers are expected to be technically acute along with a set of essential non-technical competencies. This change is referred to as a ‘paradigm shift’ in engineering education. Hence, the vision of learning is to immerse a progressive, learner-centric, and competency-based learning environment to face the uncertainties of the 21st centuryItem An Insightful Display of Diaspora in Preeti Singh’s Circles of Silence(Literary Voice, 2013-03) Sangwan, DevikaPreeti Singh, the valuable gifted writer, currently lives in Kuwait with her diplomat husband. Like all contemporary female writers she also has joined the race to give the readers the view of life perceived by female writers. This upcoming authoress has generated considerable ripples with her maiden novel Circles of Silence. The peripatetic course of Preeti Singh's life in the United States, Egypt, Afghanistan, India and Kuwait has helped her present a multidimensional view of life in her first venture. Though Nilanjana Roy (2002) feels “(t)o call Preeti Singh an emerging Indian writer might be taking things too far” yet her credentials as an engaging writer cannot be brushed aside. This editor of the Oxford University Press, New Delhi has contributed in the arena of articles, reviews and short stories to inch towards her own creative work. Her exposure to other nationalities and varied life styles has given her first hand exposure to the feeling of diaspora, a feeling of mixed losses at multiple scales. “Normally diaspora fiction lingers over alienation, loneliness, homelessness, existential rootlessness, nostalgia, questioning, protest and assertions and quest of identity; it also addresses issues related to amalgamation or disintegration of cultures” (Jha 2006 97). This paper attempts to trace pangs of diaspora encompassing nostalgia, pain, rootlessness, stillness in life and a lingering desire to be embraced and accepted with warmth.Item Instilling Creativity, Critical Thinking and Values for Holistic Development through Humanities and Liberal Arts Courses among Engineering Students(JSSH, 2013-03) Sangwan, Devika; Lata, PushpEducation gives us not only a platform to succeed, but also the knowledge to polish our social conduct, character, independent thinking and self respect; its greatest gift in fact, is the set of values it imparts to all of us. Education, the continuous learning experience, makes us learn from people and situations, success and failures, leaders and followers and then getting groomed to be the person one aspires to be. The actual aim of education is to teach how to think than what to think. Thus, education not only acts as a means to get a job for earning our livelihood but also helps us lead a life of values. If education makes the learners mechanical and materialistic in their approach, it surely fails to inculcate human values. Education will have little meaning if it fails to train us to apprehend the eternal values, to appreciate the supreme human virtues and the simple decencies of life. However, presently, there is a popularly held belief in the world of education that social studies and humanities are non-essential segments of the curriculum. The students who study science and technical subjects have better job prospects and hence, better fortune as compared to those who opt for humanities and liberal arts courses. Besides, it is also assumed that the students who undertake liberal arts courses are intellectual and academically diligent. The present paper focuses on the relevance of humanities and liberal arts courses if done by the engineering students. It also discusses how the humanities courses focus on fostering value based education so as to develop learning outlook, strong character and analytical attitude.