Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras V. Kamakoti and founder-director of Aryabhatta Institute of Mathematical Sciences Sadagopan Rajesh have come up with a course to teach students to approach a problem from various angles.
Pravartak Technologies Foundation, a sec 8 company of IIT-Madras, offers the free four-module online course called ‘Out of the Box Thinking’. Anyone over the age of 10 in India or abroad can register for the course.
“Out of the Box Thinking involves solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be arrived at by using only traditional step-by-step logic,” Mr. Kamakoti said.
The first module commences on July 1, 2022. The first two modules are for 20 hours each while the third and fourth modules are for 30 hours each. “Students will do the 100-hour course over a period of seven years. There will be a proctored exam at the end of the course,” he added. A nominal fee is levied for the final exam, and the students will be provided certificates, grading them. Though the content is currently only in English, he said there was a proposal to provide it in other languages as well.
Mr. Kamakoti said the first-of-its-kind course in the country would make a major impact. “We will see the benefits of this course in the next few years. The course will greatly benefit school and college students, especially those residing in rural India,” he said.
Mr. Sadagopan, a resource person for math Olympiads, will teach the courses. “If we approach mathematics with discipline and passion, not necessarily in a formal way, and realise the subject with more logical and analytical reasoning, we can broaden our thinking. The important output is the development of skills essential to fit and effectively contribute to a rapidly changing technological world,” he said.
Candidates can register at https://www.pravartak.org.in/out-of-box-thinking.html. Registration for the first module closes on June 24.
