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ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION USING VISUAL MATHEMATICS

An arithmetic progression or arithmetic sequence is a sequence of numbers such that the difference between the consecutive terms is constant.

For example, the series of natural numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… is an Arithmetic Progression, which has a common difference between two successive terms equal to 1 (2 -1). Even in the case of odd numbers and even numbers, we can see the common difference between two successive terms will be equal to 2.

This can be observed visually using a graph. If an arithmetic sequence is plotted in a graph lies on a straight line. There is a finite distance between points.

For plotting in a graph, the sequence is written as in the following table.

Sequence of numbers: 3,5,7,9, 11, …

Term(x)

Number of squares(y)

Point(x,y)

Formula /Pattern

1

3

(1,3)

3=2(1-1) +3

2

5

(2,5)

5=2(2-1) +3

3

7

(3,7)

7=2(3-1) +3

4

9

(4,9)

9=2(4-1) +3

5

11

(5,11)

11=2(5-1) +3

6

13

(6,13)

13=2(6-1) +3

7

15

(7,15)

15=2(7-1) +3

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

n

.

.

tn=a+(n-1) d

 

The plotted point of an AP is shown below:

Notations in Arithmetic Progression:

In AP, we will come across some main terms, which are denoted as:

  • First-term (a)
  • Common difference (d)
  • nth term. (an)

First Term of AP

The AP can also be written in terms of common differences, as follows;

where “a” is the first term of the progression.


a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, a + 4d, ………., a + (n – 1) d

Common Difference in Arithmetic Progression

Suppose, a1, a2, a3, ……………. is an AP, then the common difference “d” can be obtained as;

d = a2 – a1 = a3 – a2 = ……. = an – an – 1

Where “d” is a common difference. It can be positive, negative, or zero.

The nth term of an AP

The formula for finding the n-th term of an AP is:

an = a + (n − 1) × d

where

a = First term

d = Common difference

n = number of terms

an = nth term

In the graph, the slope of the line formed by the arithmetic progression is equal to the common difference in Arithmetic progression.

Sum of n terms of an arithmetic progression:

The sum of n terms of an AP can be easily found using a simple formula which says that, if we have an AP whose first term is a and the common difference is d, then the formula of the sum of n terms of the AP is

Sn = n/2 [2a + (n-1) d]

The proof of the sum of n terms can be visualized and derived using the area concept. This can be implemented and observed in GeoGebra.

Suppose we arrange the terms in the AP as shown in the figure we can calculate the area to find the sum of the first n terms in an AP.

This is can be done in two methods:

1.Using the area of the trapezium

2.Using the area of the rectangle.

1. Using the area of the trapezium:

When the terms in the AP are arranged as shown in the figure we can observe that it forms a trapezium. to find the sum of the first n terms in an AP the area of the trapezium can be calculated which gives the result of the sum of the first n terms.

2. Using the area of the rectangle:

Likewise, the terms in the AP can be arranged in such a way that the tilted arrangement and the regular arrangement of the terms form a rectangle as shown in the figure. To find the sum of the first n terms in an AP the total area of the rectangle can be calculated and divided into half to get the required area which gives the result of the sum of the first n terms.

Finding the equation of a line using the arithmetic progression:

Lets take the sequence 3,5,7,9,11…..The nth term is taken as x and its number of squares as y.

As we know tn can be expressed as tn=a+(n-1)d.

i.e., y=tn=a+(n-1)d

We know that a=3,common difference is 2. Substituting we get

y=3+(x-1)2

y=3+2x-2

y=2x+1 ———- > Equation of the line.

General equation of a line is y=mx+c.

Here we can observe that m= slope =2 = common difference.

c=1 = Intercept (A point at which the given line cuts the y axis).

In an arithmetic progression intercept means the value of sequence, when x=0.

This can be observed in the graph given below.

+

 

 

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A visit to AUROVILLE INSTITUTE OF APPLIED TECHNOLOGY

On 13th May 2022, our C3Streamland team visited AIAT as a part of the BVOC program. The team was led by Dr. Sanjeev Ranganathan. AIAT is situated in Thricurtamburam, Koot Road.

AIAT, a non-profit Industrial Training Centre, aims to create prosperity in rural areas through vocational education and self-empowerment.

AIAT was established in 2004 with the support of the German Government and the non-profit organization VFAVR (Association for Development of the Region around Auroville).

AIAT focuses on technical education as a holistic approach based on learning by doing, enabling youth to become independent thinkers and to be able to provide solutions.

AIAT’s two campuses have a favourable ambience for learning, experimenting, and for creative activities.  The Irumbai campus focuses on segments of Computer Science, Electronic and Electric, and Civil; at the Palmyra campus, the focus of training is more on manufacturing and production.

The visit gave us exposure to the newly constructed Electronics lab, Electrical lab, and ICTSmartroom. The facilitators guided the team and gave a demonstration about each and every lab present.

The latest constructed Electrical lab is fully equipped with the prescribed tools and machine list. Different types of motors like series, shunt with AC and Dc supply were present. Generators, coupling units and several equipments like fridge, washing machine, solar bike and its working were also demonstrated.

In the manufacturing lab, The Fitter trades Turning, Milling, and Sheet Metal are present. Workshop halls for Fitter, equipped with 6 lathe machines, a universal milling machine, and CNCC training facilities.

The welding workshops practice various types of welding technologies such as Arc, MIG, TIG, and Gas welding machines.

Pic: Electrical lab, Electronics lab, Palmyra campus.

The Electronic Machines includes solar system maintenance. In electronics lab the wide range of projects like solar table lamp, Bluetooth car, Automatic dustbin were displayed. LED tv, WIFI router, and several equipments were illustrated.

Overall, this visit gave a versatile knowledge about the hands-on projects and experiments. The team had a wonderful time learning and observing by visiting the campus.

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Rajju Ganit and how we are surprised to learn about ancient mathematics

Rajju ganit (string geometry, cord geometry) aims to teach practical geometry more understandably.

The useful new things students would learn as part of string geometry or Rajju Ganit are

  • Conceptual clarity.
  • Measurement of angles
  • Simplified geometry
  • Measurement of the circle
  • The theory of approximation.
  • Trigonometry.
  • Applications to real life.

There are two main new features:

(1) The cord replaces the entire compass box.

(2) Empirical methods are admitted in geometry contrary to the philosophy of formal math and using instead the philosophy of approximation.

As a part of the learning session through Rajju Ganit, Children used a rope to draw a circle, measure the circumference of the circle, and find the value of Pi.

The circumference of the circle is equal to the length of its boundary. This means that the perimeter of a circle is equal to its circumference. The length of the rope that wraps around the circle’s boundary perfectly will be equal to its circumference. The below-given figure helps you visualize the same. The circumference can be measured by using the given formula:

Circumference of a circle = 2πR =  π D

where ‘r’ is the radius of the circle and π is the mathematical constant whose value is approximated to 3.14 or 22/7. The circumference of a circle can be used to find the area of that circle.

For a circle with radius ‘r’ and circumference ‘C’:

  • π = Circumference/Diameter
  • π = C/2r = C/d
  • C = 2πr

Similarly using the rope, a circle and a square of the same area can be constructed and observed.

Squaring the circle can be done easily using the Rajju ganit method.

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Radical transformational leadership session reflection

Dharani, who is a Stemland volunteer her reflection on Stewardship program.

My name is Dharani. I stand for perseverance, courage, and equality for myself and others. This is my first RTL session and I learnt so many tools which lead to a transformation in me. In this session, I got to learn about my Stand and fear, my four profiles, background conversations, and deep listening. It helped me in identify my universal values and my stand. I gained an understanding of my fears and how to overcome them. I acquired knowledge of conquering my background conversations which degrades my performance by implementing a deep listening to situations.

On the first day of the session, I pursued that my universal values lie within me and I must try to figure them out and stand within. I did the instructed exercises in the session which helped me figure out my values and started working with them in my projects.

The next day I read up on the four important profiles – wisdom profile, social profile, personality profile, and professional profile. I became competent in my wisdom profile and realized to respect the four profiles of others by not being biased or being judgemental ensuring diversity.

On the third day of the session, I assimilated to handle my background conversations. Whenever I m into a situation I may get the following background conversations like right /wrong, agreeable or not, sometimes finding a flaw in an issue, thought of not responsible, Us/them, either this or that, this is not enough likewise. They may lead me to prejudices and make a decision accordingly. But I grasped that I should ignore all these and have a deep listening to the situations and make a decision.

On the last day of the session, a movie named 12 Angry men was played and insights were to be made on it. From the movie, I grasped that I should stand with my universal value on how hard the situation may be. I should not be judgemental based on one’s social, professional, and personality profile. If I m preoccupied with background conversations like prejudices it lets me down. So I should have a deep listening to the situation before I make a decision.

Overall, I acquired skills of being a leader and taking leadership by standing with my universal values. Standing with my inner potential guides me to overcome fear and background conversations. Hence I can perform well and groom myself. I felt privileged to attend this session.

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Sanjay Tumati reflection

The last week’s reflection covered the similarity between teaching adults and children. Here we will cover a few differences as they pertain to language skills.

 

  1. The biggest difference I noticed was the language. Since I am not a Tamilian, my Tamil language skills are zero to non-existent. Thus I am reduced to communicating in English or in broken Tamil. Adults, by and large are more comfortable than children in their command of English and thus I am able to make myself understood more easily with them when it comes to explaining concepts like connectivity, voltage, current flow, voltage division, LED drops etc.

 

  1. The one kid with whom I was most effective was from Nepal and was fluent in Hindi which I am as well. 80% of the instruction regarding subtle concepts was delivered in Hindi as his command of English was found inadequate to understand what I was trying to communicate. Now, during sleepovers in Isai Ambalan, I find that I am most effective with his younger brother as I lapse into Hindi in spite of myself.

 

  1. It is all very well to insist that the children learn how to communicate in English, given that English is a global and indispensable language worldwide.
    1. However, I cannot wait for the child to become fluent in English before we start explaining subtle concepts.
    2. Neither can I reasonably insist on instructing in English regardless of whether he/she understands it or not. The concepts are hard enough to understand even in one’s mother tongue. Why make it harder than it is?
    3. It has to be understood that I get a few hours a week with a child, much less than what is spent in school. I trust that these few hours of interacting in a non-English language will not significantly impact the child’s grasp of English in an adverse way

 

  1. If I am to be effective in working with children, then it is imperative that I improve my command of the Tamil language or else this is a non-starter at worst and will quickly stagnate at best.

 

  1. Another option is to train the youth in electronics and they can pass this on to the kids. So this means I do not work with kids directly and work with the youth on this. However, this may not always be feasible since
    1. the youth may not be interested in Electronics or in teaching Electronics (they may well want to teach something else)
    2. The supply pool of youths interested in electronics is smaller than the supply pool of children interested in electronics

 

  1. The best solution appears to be a mix of the two. Keep improving Tamil language skills while also training the youth in circuits.

 

  1. The big bottleneck in improving Tamil language skills is the availability of time. In between working for Aura, working with Youths in the Shifu program, Sleepovers, morning electronic classes (will not be there in May), evening electronics lab (now reduced to 3 days a week), personal work, daily meditation, daily exercise, organizing Vipassana one-day course and group sits, organizing Vipassana courses (to come) it is not clear where the time to learn Tamil will come from.

 

  1. A solution certainly exists for this problem, but I have not found it yet. This will require some creativity, some application to Vipassana (reduce time spent in sleep, reduce time being wasted), RTL (sourcing inner capacities, what do I care about, how much do I care about it, what I am willing to give up for it?)

~Sanjay

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The possible missing ingredients in Engineering higher education –Mastering self, agency to shift disempowering Norms and Socialization and mastering technical skills

The possible missing ingredients in Engineering higher education –Mastering self, agency to shift disempowering Norms and Socialization and mastering technical skills

Arun Arulselvam (arunarul677@gmail.com), Narmadha Anandavelu  (narmadha29101997@gmail.com), Santhosh Kathiresan (sandykias@gmail.com) , Sivaraman Ramamoorthy (aurosivaraman@gmail.com) , Sri Bhavani Arul (sribhavani1998@gmail.com), Sanjeev Ranganathan (sanjeev.ranganathan@gmail.com)

C3STREAM Land Designs

Engineering higher education in India, especially rural India, does little to help youth learn about the universal values they stand for or develop their inner capacity, or develop agency to address disempowering socializations, it does not even prepare youth with practical industry ready skills. What possible missing ingredients when put in place would prepare youth for a effective and meaningful life for themselves and others? This paper is an autoethnography of five youth who are completing a one-year residential program called “Being and Becoming a Shifu (Master)”. We present how the program added these missing components in helping us connect with universal values, develop system thinking and five minds of the future, confidence in skills, being independent and interdependent and self-assessment.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The one year Becoming and Being a Shifu (Master) (BnBShifu) program helped us youth understand what we care about, increased self-awareness, self-regulation, responsibility, and develop confidence technical skills of VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) layout and programming. It helped us notice our own socialization, develop system thinking. This helped develop the five minds of the future – disciplined mind, ethical mind, respectful mind, synthesizing mind and creative mind. We reflect on ‘how this happened’, or perhaps, how this could happen in Higher Education (HE) with practices at BnBShifu and its impact on us:

1) How did the program encourage youth to connect to their universal values (universal values apply for everyone, everywhere such as dignity, equity, courage)?

2) How did the program support develop system thinking, noticing patterns and five minds of the future?

3) How did the program build confidence in skills and in competence to move from being dependent to independent to interdependent?

4) How did the program provide timely feedback and build the ability of self-assessment?

We refer to universal values as those that can be embodied by everyone, everywhere irrespective of their caste, culture, gender, age, etc such as dignity, equity, courage. These form the basis of sustainable and equitable change for a thriving people and planet. When we source universal values, and express them through strategic action, multitudes of initiatives come alive, and a vast array of ideas find expression based on our aspirations, interests, and talents. Our independence is wholesome through our interdependence.

We distinguish these from the common uses of the word values in different contexts such as – something important; or a socialized culture (of a specific group, caste, or religion e.g. how women/men should dress); or in business as money added at a stage in a value chain; or as operating principles (e.g. excellence in academia, privacy in online transactions) which varies with context.

higher education in India: challengeS & opportunities

The quality of the HE institutions and colleges in India is not on par with other countries like China, Singapore (Singh, 2011). Singh states that some of the institutions are run as a profitable business where the rural and semi urban pupils are trapped. In our county 68 percent of the country’s universities and 90 percent of colleges are “Middle or poor quality”. He recommends institutional sharing between high quality institutions and these to take them to the next level. (Sheikh, 2017) suggests an alternative paradigm of new-age online learning tools to address various challenges of Indian higher education and to bring equity. Contemporary research (Manya, 2020) indicates that the Indian Education system is concentrated more on the marks rather than giving importance to the skill that has been built. Specifically, the unemployment in Engineering graduates is due to a lack of skill and competence (Tilak, 2021). Tilak shares that technology is transforming the labour market across the world 80 percent of Indian engineers are not fit for any of these jobs. India needs to interlink academia and industry.

To improve learning outcomes in HE (Harackiewicz & Priniski, 2017) suggests targeted interventions in how students value their tasks, how they engage with their academic work and their communication with their professors. Across domains students who framed their academic challenges and could self-reflect were more motivated and had better outcomes. Other solutions are linked to the need for feedback in improving the learning experience for the students in HE (Bashir, Kabir, & Rahman, 2016). That providing quality information to students about their learning and feedback to the students develops the ability of students in self-assessment.

Further there is a question of what HE should inculcate. (Ronald, 1990) argues the hidden understanding of HE beyond economics is the need to develop physiological and sociological perspective in students. Ronald highlights certain points that can be included in HE like self-reflection, open learning, group activities, interdisciplinary learning that can lead to developing these aspects.

We feel that the five minds of the future (Gardner, 2005) synthesize what is needed by youth  – the disciplined mind (understanding, application and memory) for skills, the respectful mind (dignity for all), the ethical mind (human unity) caring for people and planet, the synthesizing mind (ability to notice patterns) and shift unhealthy socialization and creative mind for new solutions from care as distinguished from innovation which is only a function of the mind.

In this paper, we will look at how the BnBShifu program which offered no marks or certification developed our skill, competence and inner capacity. It started with connecting us to our potential or inner values and developing technical skills needed in the industry embracing the solutions suggested in literature including feedback from mentors, self-assessment, setting targets, peer learning, using rich online resources.

research methodology

The primary research methodology is autoethnography based on reflections of five youth (represented as ShifuX: Shifu1, Shifu2, etc respecting the blind review process) who are completing (11 months) the BnBShifu program. We feel that a methodology based on reflection is appropriate as we are addressing the lack of the reflection in youth and in our education system. We hope multiple reflections mitigate the weakness of autoethnography of not to being general enough. The gaps in HE described in literature is our lived experience as engineering graduates in rural India. We hope what was useful for us in BnBShifu will be useful for further interventions at scale.

Based on general reflections on the program we came up with questions that we felt might give a framework for us to synthesize our experience making it relevant for a broader audience. We then recorded our reflections for these questions. Given the limited length of the paper we have been selective in sharing insights and may have cut them short with ‘…’  in the hope to bring a new point. We have also dropped a question regarding how the program helped us develop healthy living which we felt was important to share with youth, but we realize many aspects were possible due to the residential nature of the course and may not be scalable. We will make all responses including those of a couple of new joiners (3 months) of the BnBShifu program available online after the review process (Arun, Narmada, et.al, 2022).

Background of participants of bnbshifu program

Sharing our background before we joined the BnBShifu program may aid understanding our reflections. We all studied engineering in colleges in villages around tier-II/III cities as shown in Table 1.

Who Age Course M/F College Location Work-ex
Shifu1 Kathiresan.S  23 B.Tech. EEE M Ariyur, Puducherry 0
Shifu2

Arul.S

 23 B.Tech. ECE F Serumavilangai, Karaikal 8 months
Shifu3  Anandavelu.N 24 B.Tech. ECE F Serumavilangai, Karaikal 0
Shifu4 Arulselvam.A 24 B.E. EEE M Chellankuppam, Cuddalore 1 year
Shifu5

Ramamoorthy.S

 24 B.E. ECE M Mailam, Villupuram 9 months

Table 1: Background of participants of the BnBShifu program (and authors of this paper).

Shifu1: In my college they focused only on marks and I memorized to clear all papers and not get arrears. I could tell the memorized definitions, but had no in depth to explain further. Sometimes I even forgot the definitions as I had not understood them. Even in practical exams I memorized the circuit connection by using a manual. When asked, the lab staff did not offer us an explanation of how things worked as they felt it was not needed to pass the examination.

Shifu2: …I thought scoring high marks will help me to get a job in the tech industry. After college, I got a job as a data entry operator. There was no progress in my learning except achieving targets. There I didn’t get time to take care of my health or engage in any other S

reflections to describe the BnBShifu program

Shifu4: When I first heard about the program, I thought that it will be like other usual courses of training in programming, but it was totally different from my imagination.

The application form itself was completely different from anything I had ever seen. It asked about personal information (e.g. biodata), personal knowledge (e.g. if I prefer to work early in the mornings or late at night) and personal wisdom about self-analysis, self-awareness, self-regulation, responsibility. Especially the wisdom section where they asked for universal value, cultural shift, responsibility, and healthy habits was a different experience for me and made me think.

We started the day with Surya Namaskar, running and Anna Paana meditation. We then had team meetings often with RTL (Radical transformation leadership) training sessions (Monica, 2017) and then we concentrated on learning skills and then I practiced to make myself perfect.

We interacted with each other and with our mentors to learn and also had sports or gym in the evening, at times we watched TED talk and reflected on it and the day was completed with book reading and daily reflection.

The RTL program helped me to find what I stand for and be one with my universal value; the program offers tools, templates and distinctions that connect real-life experiences and help me see problems from my universal values and come up with solutions that are in line with them and the shift I want to see in the world. It helped me address my bias and socialized fears and gave me a path to overcome them…

Shifu1: In this program I learned I stand for kindness and equity for myself and others. I committed to spending a year in the Shifu program as an input from my side. The output of the program was that I learned VLSI layout, programming in Scratch¸ Python & SKILL, Radical Transformation Leadership (RTL), Spoken English, Maths class, Book reading session, and Vipassana (VRI, 2010)… I learned to meditate and notice myself. I also changed my food pattern to a healthier diet and avoid snacking… I joined the program for technical knowledge, but here, I also learned useful life skills and RTL tools. The program also gave me time and space to think about the purpose of my life…to notice that only earning is not going to fulfill my life so I learned to serve and help others. I started teaching children (in my last semester) what I know, while teaching, I noticed that I’m also learning from them.

Shifu3: …Here the first one or two weeks it felt that we were doing so many things like learning technical skills, sport, meditation, and following ground rules…But, as I settled in, I learned time management and created time for everything to have an enriching day, each day…We also had access to STEM land a space with games and puzzles created for children where I went to learn and refresh myself. Every week we visited some places in Auroville and met new people who they shared how they are serving the community and what they care about and I was inspired to be courageous and independent like them. Once a week we also presented what we learned to others. Everyone in the program had taken up accountability like managing the kitchen, finance, maintenance, and so on this made me more responsible and accountable.

An important point that came up in all reflections was developing good habits of being disciplined about eating times, and being healthy mentally and physically.

reflections on the research questions

1) How did the program encourage youth to connect to their universal values*?

Shifu1: All of us have universal values within us, but we do not notice them or not act from them. This program had RTL which helped me think about my universal values I really care about for myself and others. Whenever I share an insight, I start by sharing my universal values. I stand for equity and kindness for myself and for others‌. When I keep on telling my universal values they became automatic I acted though equity and kindness. The words allow me to connect to what I deeply care about, but I’m not stuck to the words and understand their essence is to make me better. I believe RTL tools, templates and distinctions can also support youth to connect to their universal values.

Shifu2: I learned who I am being when I am at my best i.e. the universal values I hold within.  I noticed that what I admire in others are qualities I want to develop within me. After discovering my universal values, I started to work from them. It made me think differently of how I can handle situations. I started to notice situations when I was not in my universal values and reflect and shift my mindset. The impact and outcome of practicing some RTL tools is it made me notice my own bias towards genderism and my own background conversations.

Shifu3: This program helps me become more self-aware and I discovered the inner values I stand for equality and happiness, through RTL. I used tools in RTL to overcome my fear and work courageously. It also made me aware of what I am doing in every situation and I learnt how to process experiences and learn from them. I started to design my projects using CFSR. I can breakdown the problem and what are the actions I can do differently to progress. I learned to be responsible.

Shifu4: …It starts with the searching what a person deeply cares about and makes him/her understand their stand… It helped me change my mentality from caring only for ‘me, myself and I’ to caring for ‘myself and others’. In addition, the Shifu program supported my problem-solving ability even technically and gave me confidence in facing the problems instead of getting into fears…We had ten days of Vipassana meditation which helped me to come out of my cravings and accept the reality to move forward. It helped to develop a concentrated mind.

Shifu5: The complete awareness of my values and for what I stand for came after attending RTL workshop…Here the values have important essence of connection for goodwill, strength and supportiveness for everyone universally.

2) How did the program support develop system thinking, noticing patterns and five minds of the future?

Shifu5: The Disciplined mind: …The program gave me the time stay with topic till I understood, applied and remembered it. I found this way of learning to be an investment for my life and it stood as a north star for my life as a programmer and being human.

The Respectful mind: Here the learning was without hierarchy. Learning from each other and supporting others to learn emphasized respect for everyone…

The Ethical mind: Vipassana meditation helped me be moral and dignified and supported put the RTL tools in practice not only being moral, ethical, but also integral (whole)…

The Synthesizing mind: …I used to memorize information, but synthesising helped me retain and look for patterns and use learning in other contexts. This included learning programming and problem solving in code-wars, reflections at the end of the day, processing a TED talk or a workshop.

The Creative mind: There are no ready-made answers to important challenges and I learned to be creative and adapt. There can be one good answer, but I learned to look for alternative possibilities that emphasis goodwill…

Shifu2: …After I learned the basics, I completed a task in that domain. After completing several tasks, I worked to synthesize the new ideas that I learned. Then I connected new learning with what I already knew. This helped me to learn new domains easily… When I heard presentations from others summarizing what they had learned and I needed to present my own learning I learned to synthesize.

Shifu3: …Initially, I wondered why with VLSI specialization I was learning programming, but as we went along I realized that I had developed my logical thinking, problem solving and automation that I applied to my specialization. I applied logical thinking in the electronics lab and the process of taking small tasks and going in depth and completing it helped me learn something new that I can use to work efficiently in the next task.

3) How did the program build confidence in skills and in competence to move from being dependent to independent to interdependent?

Shifu1: ‌When I was new to this program, we experienced doing experiments in an electronics lab… I never had this kind of exposure in my college to do individual work…

Shifu2: Initially, I was dependent on my mentor to learn new techniques and skills in VLSI layout, then I was given tasks. As I completed tasks, I felt more confident to work independently. I noticed it took more time to complete tasks alone as compared to when I had peers who I could talk to. Sharing of new learning and discussing with peers made me feel interdependent and more efficient. This built my confidence and faith in working as a team.

Shifu5: Before joining BnBShifu I thought I’m not the type to learn programming. In the program a personal mentor guided me based on my capability. I was introduced to learning at my own pace using Coursera platform that was project based. Every time I made a project, I felt more confident. When I got stuck, I got the support of my mentor who would ask me questions rather than just give answers. After that I was introduced to code-wars a website for challenges in coding at various levels. Here, I needed to pick my challenge and I started to understand where my level was and could see how I was able to take up challenges at higher levels as I got better in programming. I became independent and could assess what I was capable of. Relating what I do with my values and in resonance with the five minds of the future gave me interdependence.

4) How did the program built the ability of self-assessment as well as provide timely feedback?

‌Shifu1: In this program we had an opportunity to record our insights – reflections about what I learned and about how I feel here in our daily reflections. Our mentors read and interacted with us and this helped to clear our doubts in the same day itself…

Shifu2: Getting the input and feedback from my mentors, helped me to level up my state of progress. In technical skills, mentors supported me and gave feedback that helped me notice my gaps. In time, I started noticing my own gaps and this self-assessment had a major role in my progress and learning e.g. noticing how much time I took, what ideas from a previous tasks I could have used to complete this task.

Shifu3: In college I just got marks and neither got feedback from my teachers nor did I find where I made mistakes to correct myself. But in the BnBShifu program mentors supported me by giving feedback for growth (increase, decrease, retain) to improve myself helping me identify where I was and progress swiftly.

Shifu5: I feel self-assessment of looking at patterns of how I did things and how I can make it better is the best way of assessment and helps get many creative answers. This gave me courage to neither give up if I don’t get the answer nor stop with a single answer…

Acknowledgements

To all involved in every way that made the BnBShifu program possible. We especially thank our mentors, Asha volunteers such as Anuradha, Balaji, Swati who supported and enriched the program. We thank Aura Semiconductor, Quilt.AI and Udavi school who provided the infrastructure for the program.

Conclusions

We the youth describe the missing ingredients of our education system were experienced in BnBShifu program. Here we built our leadership skills through RTL training that helped us learn what universal values we deeply cared about and want to manifest in the world building our respectful, ethical and creative mind. We developed our disciplined mind with the support of challenge-based online courses like Coursera and platforms like code-wars and practiced self-learning, peer learning, presentations, feedback and got guidance from mentors (practitioners). We developed our synthesizing mind with daily reflections, using RTL tools to process experiences and presenting what we learned technically to peers. We had access to practitioner mentors who asked us questions rather than give answers and gave feedback that helped us notice gaps and build self-assessment. As we built projects we moved from dependence, to independence to interdependence in creating a learning community with peers. There were no specific teachers, professors, no marks or certificates and yet we learned an found meaningful employment. We work in the areas of VLSI layout, software design and design automation while putting aside time to support others learn what we know as others who invested in us through the BnBShifu program. The third area design automation is a combination of the first two and was created as the program progressed.

 

We feel responsible to question status quo in the norms of our education system and to showcase what needs to be added to make the education system whole. We hope these ideas from this program will be scaled to benefit rural youth like us in India.

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