Student exchange programmes that help students get a cultural understanding along with developing a student’s character and help with networking are rare in Nepal. Yet, The British College (TBC) has been trying to conduct such programmes to help its students grow.
One such programme took place at the college last week when eight students from Leeds Beckett University (LBU) along with Professor Dr Pooneh Bagheri Zadeh, a senior lecturer in computer science, visited Nepal. In the programme, eight students from TBC and eight students from LBU were divided into groups of four and worked on four different projects.
The aim of such a programme, according to The British College, was to help its students gain exposure by working with its partner colleges in the UK. The college says this was just the start as it is working to take students studying at TBC to countries like the UK so they too get hands-on knowledge on how things work abroad.
To get a better understanding of the student exchange programme, Onlinekhabar caught up with Zadeh, who led the programme, to speak about its importance, what the students did and why such collaborations are needed for both TBC and LBU.
Excerpts:
Can you please give a general overview of what this student exchange programme is all about?
As you may know, Leeds Beckett University (LBU) has a long-term partnership with The British College (TBC). It uses the curriculum developed at LBU to teach students here and follow the same sort of structure of courses that we have in the UK.
This student exchange programme mainly looks at exchanging culture and knowledge between students in TBC and LBU. Through the programme, we wanted the students to develop teamwork skills along with their academic and learning skills.
This also gives students at LBU to get a chance to see what technology is available at TBC and compare it with our technology in the UK and see how different it is. The aim of the programme is also to find out the industrial needs along with the environmental needs in both countries and maybe come up with a solution to the problems they identify.
How were students selected? Was there a selection process they had to go through?
Yes, there was a selection process in this student exchange programme. We called for applications, during which the students had to answer questions like what they wanted to achieve from this type of exchange programme and what type of problem can they identify working on a team project. It was a rigorous process because I only wanted students who really wanted to come on the trip. We also looked at the academics and attendance of these students. So the participants of this exchange programme are very strong students.
They also had great ideas about what they wanted to do in this programme which was what we wanted. Because the selection process was so long, we were able to choose students who were on the same page and have the same interests.
Are they on the same level?
No. They are computer science students from different levels. We chose four students studying in the first year and four in the second year.
How has the collaboration been so far? What have they been working on?
The collaboration during the student exchange programme has been great. We made four groups of four students which had two students from LBU and two from TBC. They have been working on four different projects.
We created a group on Discord where all 16 students started to discuss project ideas they could do. Some of the project ideas came from me. Some of the project ideas came from the students. Then, they had to agree on an idea and started working on it.
Group A was working on a smart electronic billboard which monitors how many people actually looked at it. Their idea was to keep track of how many times the advertisement was seen or if it was getting the traction the person advertising was hoping to get.
Group B was developing a facial recognition system that would check when an employee clocked in and when they clocked out. Group C was working on a smart temperature control mechanism which would keep the room at a certain temperature. The last group was working on a smart traffic light monitoring system that would help the police to control traffic in the city.
All four projects of this student exchange programme are going to be implemented on Raspberry Pi and using deep learning methods.
So are the students working on projects that solve real-life problems?
Yes. And they are all computer-based on Raspberry Pi 400.
Did you help the participants of this student exchange programme with the project or were they doing it on their own?
I did help, but it was mostly independent learning. They took help from other lecturers too, but the aim was for them to come up with solutions to problems because what we wanted was to develop teamwork. Why? Because when you go to work, you cannot choose your partner at work and you don’t know what problem you’re going to face. So through this, we are trying to make them industry-ready and see how innovative they are and if they can come up with solutions to problems they face.
How did you find the students here?
They are very good students. They are studying the same curriculum, which is great, but the technology they use is different. Definitely, there’s a cultural difference. We see that we’ve seen that and I have actually talked to my students. But this exchange programme was quite a fruitful experience for both me and my students. Overall, it has been a great experience. I think it was a great success.
This student exchange programme is not only beneficial for the two colleges but also for the society. The students have loved the interaction with students here in Nepal and have immersed themselves in the culture and learnt a lot.
Will this student exchange programme continue?
I hope so. Yes, so I am hoping this is the first run. We have developed the infrastructure for this to continue. We have also identified problems that take place in programmes like these and come up with solutions that will help up when we do it next time. Hopefully, we can come back next year.
How helpful has The British College been to run this student exchange programme?
They have helped us a lot. We do need to update the technology which will get better with time as we all know what we need. TBC is working very hard to ensure their students have the best technology and I’m sure when we come here next time.
This student exchange programme was a learning experience for both of us and we have learnt a lot. We are going to make changes to ensure this programme is run smoothly. Hopefully, we can start the application process in September so we have more time to discuss what projects we can do and TBC has been positive about this.
