report on bits' student participation in apogee

7/30/2019 Report on BITS' Student Participation in Apogee

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A REPORT

ON

BITS STUDENTS PARTICIPATION IN

APOGEE

BY

DHRUV SHARMA (2009A7PS148P)

HITESH LALWANI (2009A7PS155P)

SAGNIK SINGHA (2009A4PS316P)

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI

22

nd

NOVEMBER, 2010


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A REPORT

ON

BITS STUDENTS PARTICIPATION IN

APOGEE

PREPARED FOR

FINANCIAL CoStAAn

Committee of Students for Academic Activities (CoStAA)


BY

DHRUV SHARMA (2009A7PS148P)

HITESH LALWANI (2009A7PS155P)

SAGNIK SINGHA (2009A4PS316P)


22nd

NOVEMBER, 2010

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Acknowledgement

A comprehensive report always requires the goodwill, encouragement, guidance and support of many

people. We are grateful to Dr. Virendra Singh Nirban to give us an opportunity to prepare a report onthe topic BITS Students Participation in Apogee. Also we thank him for his unflinching support

and guidance.

We also acknowledge with gratitude the consistent cooperation received from the CoStAAns for

guiding us through out the report.

We are thankful to our fellow BITSians for devoting their precious time in filling up the survey we

conducted. The feedback they provided us served as an ideal data source which helped us throughout

in the development of this report.

The peer group, as reviewers is an indispensable part of the making of this report. Although we cannot

mention all the names, we found ourselves in anonymous debate with several remarkable thinkers,

especially about some of the important but not so common topics discussed in the report.

Lastly, we must thank the binders, m/s Mittal Computers who have given this report an elegant shape.

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Table of Contents

Title Page i

Acknowledgement ii

Abstract iv

1. Introduction 12. Mind-Set of BITS Students 23. Overall Participation 3

3.1 Total Participation in the Period 2006-2010 3

3.2 Comparative Participation in 2006-2010 4

4. Analysis of Event Participation 64.1 Major Attracting Events 6

4.2 Interest Creating Factors 75. Project and Paper Presentation 8

5.1 Aim of Working on Projects 8

5.2 Popular Domains of Projects and Papers 9

6. Quality of Projects 106.1 Facultys Guidance 10

6.2 Project Completion 10

7. Brain Drain 128. Conclusion 139. Recommendations 14

Appendix 15

Bibliography 18

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Abstract

The report hasbeen prepared on BITS Student Participation in Apogee. This report hasbeen prepared to provide an overview of the participation of BITS students in Apogee

technical festival over the period of 2006-2010.

The findings of this report are based upon the feedback of 124 students surveyed by a

questionnaire prepared by us. It also includes the data on the participation trends provided by

the CoStAA for the years 2006-2010.

The findings and analysis from this report are significant in the sense that the can used to

know the areas in which Apogee has not fared well. Also the recommendations provided in

the report can be considered for implementation in order to improve the participation ofstudents in Apogee.

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1. Introduction

Apogee is one of the biggest and most prestigious college technical festivals in India,

conducted annually by the students of Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani,India. It is one of the few technical fests to have the esteemed ISO 9001:2008 certification.

Apogee was first held in the year 1983. What makes Apogee unique is that everything, from

inviting and corresponding with colleges from every nook and corner of India, to procuring

sponsorship, to ensuring a comfortable stay for the outstation participants is done by the

students. Apogee 2010, with a budget of over 40 lakhs, prize money of over 10 lakhs, over a

1000 participants, 150 colleges from all over India, and over 60 events certainly scaled new

heights. Apogee is famous for many of its events, which includes Kernel events, various

workshops, project and paper presentation, online events, guest lectures, exhibitions etc.

This report has been prepared to provide an overview and analyse the trend of the

participation of BITS students in Apogee technical festival over the period of 2006-2010.

The CoStAA wants to study the trends of participation of BITS students in Apogee and

bring improvements in current structure if necessary. To address this issue, Govindam Yadav,

Financial CoStAAn, CoStAA has asked us to prepare a report on the BITS Student

Participation in Apogee by conducting a survey for the same.

The findings and analysis from this report are significant in the sense that the can used to

know the areas in which Apogee has not fared well. Also the recommendations provided in

the report can be considered for implementation in order to improve the participation of

students in Apogee.

Our primary source of data has been the feedback of a questionnaire for the students. We

have also referred to the Apogee Brochure as well as the previous year (2006-2010) review

reports.

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2. Mind-Set of BITS Students

Apogee is organised by the Student Union for the benefit of the students themselves. Students

are the essence of this technical festival. Until and unless the mind-set, likes and dislikes of

the students is analysed, Apogee cannot be called a success.

For the analysis of the interests and attitude towards science and technology, we conducted a

survey involving 124 students in BITS. Through the data collected regarding their aim of

studying their courses, we came across the following findings:-

Out of the total 124 students, 47% students study to get higher grades to get good CGPA.Since, at the time of placements a student with good CGPA has better job prospects,

students do not want to drop their CGPA.

36% of the students are more interested in the courses that involve practical applicationsof the theoretical concepts that they study in their courses. This is because generally

students find mugging up theory and formulae more boring than doing something by their

own.

13% students study their courses, in order to increase their theoretical knowledge. Theyconsider that once you know the theory you can any time apply it to get desired results.

The remaining students (4%) are either not at all interested in academics due to their otherpersonal interests.

Moreover, when they were asked for ranking their day-to-day involvements based on the

their priority, the following observations were made:-

Activity Percentage

Sports 9%

Departments and Clubs 37%Regional Associations 25%

Disciplinary Associations 13%

Academics 16%

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3. Overall Participation in Apogee

3.1 Total Participation in the period 2006-2010

In this section, we have analysed the total participation of BITS students over the period

2006-2010. For this analysis we referred to the records of the number of BITS students who

participated in each year, for the above mentioned period. These records and data was

obtained from Apogee Brochure of the respective years.

The data is plotted into graphical form as follows:-

From this graph we have inferred the following findings:-

In the year 2006, the number of participants was 886. In 2007, there was a slight increase in participation the BITS students from 886 participants

to 917 participants. This faint increase would have been due amendments in the Apogee

Charter incorporated more events and organization amendments.

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0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

NumberofParticipants

Year

Trend of Apogee Participation by

BITS' Students


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Next, in the year 2008, the participation by the BITS students decreased considerably (only858 participants). This period also saw recession in economy all around the world which had

a great impact on students mind who was worried about their future job prospects.

In 2009, the participation numbers went up to 1043. This is the highest participation thatApogee got in these 5 years (2006-2010). This year Apogee became an ISO Certified Event

which was a great achievement. Moreover, the Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales visited the

campus for guest lecture. His presence attracted huge crowd from other institutes as well as

from within the campus too.

Lastly in 2010, Apogee maintained its grace and saw healthy participation (1029participants). New events like TEDx Pilani (TED Talks) and FOSS Den were introduced in

this year which was something new to the students and hence, the students attended the guest

lectures with full vigour.

3.2 Comparative Participation in 2006-2010

Out of number of students who had registered for certain events, the data has been distributed into

category of batches (1st

year, 2nd

year, 3rd

year, etc.) for each year as follows:-

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

PercentageofStudents

Year

Comparative Participation of Batches

Ist Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

4th year

Higher Degree


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From the above graph, we inferred that:-

The participation of 1st yearites has always been on the lower side. The most basic reasons behind thislow participation are their low technical knowledge and academic-oriented mind-set.

As compared to 1st yearites, the participation of 2nd yearites in Apogee has been better as they getacquainted with their seniors and they come to know the significance of doing projects and taking part

in events through them.

3rd year students maximally participate in Apogee. This is because by this time they are almost donewith the learning part of their Core Disciplinary Courses and are eager to apply those concepts to

create real life entities.

Although about half of the 4 th yearites are not on campus during Apogee, but out of those present,most of them are involved in one or the other projects as it is their last chance to do so. These projects

are of great help in improving their CV.

Although the number of higher degree students in Apogee is less, still they are known for presentingquality and not quantity in their projects.

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4. Analysis of Event Participations

4.1 Major Attracting Events

Looking over the data obtained from the survey conducted, involving 124 students, regarding

the events that they participated in Apogee 2010, the following observations were made:-

The above graph reveals the following findings:-

Maximum number of students (98 students) took interest in attending guest lectures. Thepresence of some eminent personalities as speakers in TED Talks, like Archana Sharma (first

Indian Scientist at CERN), Vishal Talreja (social entrepreneur), Harish Sivaramakrishnan

(Platform Evangelist) and many more, lured large number of students.

The second best participation (79 students) came from Quizzing Events. This is so becausestudents find quizzes as the test of their knowledge and source of entertainment all together.

Moreover, these events also offered them high prize money on winning so everyone likes to

try their luck on it.

Workshops and Online Events did not get enough participants (35 and 45 participantsrespectively). The major cause behind this low participation was the level of pre-requisite

knowledge that a student should have before attending them.

6

0102030405060708090100

23

79

3545

19

98

NumberofParticipan

ts

Event Categories

Participations in Various Event Categories


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Design and Building-type Events went unnoticed with only 23 and 19 participantsrespectively. Such a low participation was seen because the amount of hard work that these

events demanded was quite high but the prize money did not justify the work that they had

put into it.

4.2 Interest Creating Factors

When the surveyed group of students were asked about the factors that lured them to

participate in an event, the observations made are:-

62% of the students felt that the advertisementof the event was good enough to increase theircuriosity about the event.

43% of the students found that the event was very informative and provided a great learningexperience for them.

20% of the students attended the events based on the recommendations of the senior students. 34% of the students took part in the events in the lust of high prize money that these events

offered.

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5. Project and Paper Presentations

5.1 Aim of Working on Projects

Students opt for doing projects and writings papers due to varied interests. When they were

asked for their personal aim of doing the projects or presenting papers, they came up with the

following reasons:-

About 25% students worked on the projects and papers because they had an innovative ideain their mind and wanted to give it a real shape, with the hope that it becomes the next big

thing.

47% of the students wanted to work on projects and papers because each participating projectmember gets a participation certificate. This is of great significance for having a good CV,

and hence increasing their future job prospects.

10% students wanted to accompany their friends in completion of their project and paperwork.

15% of them had their eyes on the prize money and did not consider the significance of theproject or paper that they presented.

The remaining 3% students had some other personal reasons behind doing the projects.

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5.2 Popular Domains of Projects and Papers

Apogee 2010 saw about 350 projects and 400 papers being presented by BITS students.

When we analysed the popularity domains in which they were presented through the graphbelow, we came across the inferences that are:-

The share of projects and papers done under domains like Computer Science, Electrical andElectronics, and Economics & Finance is remarkably high. The 1

styear and 2

ndyear students

have a basic school-time background in these domains and have plenty reference material

available to them via internet and LAN sharing relevant to their projects. This increases the

number of projects and papers presented.

In Robotics, the percentage of projects is not that appealing as compared to other domains,because it demands high budget and expertise in the field.

In other domains, the percentage is moderate, as these domains require much hard work andtechnical knowledge.

9

02468

10

12141618

PercentageofProjects&Papers

Project Domains

Analysis of Popularity of Domains


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6. Quality of Projects

BITS Pilani welcomed the projects in various fields of science and engineering for Apogee 2010. With

projects coming from diverse domains , it ensured to showcase unparalleled academic excellence.

This chapter analyses the source from where quality in them comes from and what problems are

faced in this process.

6.1 Facultys Guidance

While making the projects, students quite often get stuck. This is the situation where the guidance of

the faculty members comes to their rescue.

We asked the 124 students, whether the student-faculty interaction was fruitful for their work in the

projects.

Out of these 124 students, 70% students approached the faculty for clearance of their doubts.

From these 70% students, further 65% students got their doubts clarified and were properly directed

for their future approach towards their aim.

However, the remaining 35% students were either not attended properly by the faculty members or

their interaction was not good enough to get their doubts cleared.

The remaining students presenting the projects did not approach the faculty as they do not consider

it to be of any effect.

6.2 Project Completion

The students were asked in the survey, whether they were able to complete their projects intime. We observed that:-

86% students were able to complete their projects in time.

However, 14% of the students werent able to complete their projects in time or could not do

what they aimed at doing. The reasons that were cited by them were as follows:-

16% students faced monetary problems because the budget allotted to their project wasinsufficient, and hence they had to put in their own money which took away a lot of time

from them.

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29% students had good and innovative ideas but failed to implement them due to lack oftechnical know-how.

32% of the students feel that the faculty members have been given too much administrativework; as a result they werent able to help students in their projects when they needed

guidance, even though the faculty was willing to do that.

The remaining 23% students consider that the regular academic studies and examinationsdates are so hectic, that they do not get time to work on their projects.

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7. Brain Drain

BITS, Pilani has always got an influx of brilliantly talented and capable students every year.

However, the innovative ideas and project designs, that they prepare, are preferentially

presented in other institutes technical fests rather than Apogee.

Out of the students working on projects covered in our survey, 15% students were those who

either skipped Apogee 2010 for other participating in other technical fests or did not wish to

present their projects in Apogee. The reasons that they presented for taking such a decision

are mentioned below:-

15% students felt that the magnitude of advertisement and promotion that should have beendone wasnt evident. The Publication and Correspondence Department could not succeed indrawing the crowd to participate in the event.

There were 9% students who felt that the prize money should be increased so as to get morepeople from all around the country to participate in Apogee.

35% students reasoned that schedule and timings of the technical week are so much jam-packed that it becomes a difficult task to prepare and present a project. No pre-Apogee

relaxation is given in the academic schedule for giving final touches and wind-up work.

The participation in Apogee has been low due to various reasons like travelling to Pilani,ineffective advertising, lesser prize money and so on, in comparison to other institutes

technical festivals. Due to this the remaining 49% students not presenting their projects felt

that they did not get enough competition to bring out the best in them, hence they present the

projects in other fests than Apogee for solace.

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8. Conclusion

After analysing the scenario of the participation in BITS, Pilanis technical festival Apogee, and also

the factors that affect the number of participants and their mind-set, we have come to a conclusion.

Though the students are tailor-made for fests like Apogee and have pragmatic mind-set, they are

unable to keep focus on the project work and day-to-day activities simultaneously.

Over the years 2006-2010, the participation did increase but at a snails pace because no reforms were

introduced in the structure and organisation of the event. Whatever participation came from the BITS

students, 3rd

and 4th

yearites had a major share in it because they are on the verge of getting

placements and doing quality projects boosts their CV.

The events that have followed a monotonous pattern are less liked by students over the events that

bring freshness and assortment to the festival and are multi-disciplinary in nature.

As far as project and paper presentations are concerned, the domains that are in their booming phase

all around the world are more preferred.

Unfortunately, there are some projects that do not reach their optimum quality and efficiency that is

expected. Ineffective interaction with faculty, insufficient time and funds are the major factors that

adversely affect the quality.

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9. Recommendations

After the analysis of the pros and cons of the event, we would like to recommend some amendments

to be made in the structure and organisation of Apogee:-

In order to increase the participation of 1st

and 2nd

year students, regular project meets should

be held by each disciplinary association to motivate them for taking part in Apogee.

Advertisements and event promotion should be done more via social networking sites like

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and others.

The events should be made multi-disciplinary and the pre-requisites for participation should

be reduced.

Some pre-Apogee relaxation period must be given to the faculty and to the students so they

can work for projects more effectively.

Students should consult the faculty members for clearance of their doubts and further

guidance.

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Appendix

Questionnaire

Personal Information

Name:

Id:

Survey Questions

1. With what aim do you study your courses? (Tick the most appropriate option)( ) I want higher grades and hence a good CGPA

( ) For increasing my theoretical knowledge

( ) I am more interested in doing practical stuff

( ) I am not quite interested in academics

( ) Other, please specify ____________________________________.

2. Choose one from the following according to highest priority of your involvement.

( ) Sports

( ) Departments and Clubs( ) Regional Associations

( ) Disciplinary Associations

( ) Academics

3. In how many events did you participate in Apogee 2010?(A) None (B) 1-2 (C) 3-5 (D) 5-7 (E) More than 7

4. In which of the following categories of events did you participate in Apogee 2010?( ) Design Events( ) Quizzes

( ) Workshops

( ) Online Events

( ) Building-Type Events

( ) Guest Lectures

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5. If you participated in any of the above, what made you feel interested in them? Tick appropriatechoices from the following:-

( ) Prize money of the event

( ) Good advertisement of the event

( ) Seniors review about the event( ) Learning opportunity in the event

Any other, please specify. ___________________________________________________.

6. Under which disciplinary association did you presented your projects (if any)? Please tick the correctoption(s) for each year.

( ) Chemical Engineering

( ) Civil Engineering

( ) EEE and E&I

( ) Mechanical Engineering

( ) Pharmacy( ) CSIS

( ) Physics

( ) Chemistry

( ) Biology

( ) Economics and Finance

( ) Management

7. I opted to do a project in Apogee so that ________________________________________________(A) I can cast my idea into reality(B)

I could get a certificate of participation for my CV(C) I could accompany my friends in the project

(D) I get that high prize money after winning the event(E) Any other, please specify ______________________________________.

8. (a) Did you approach any faculty member for clearance of your doubts regarding the projects? YesNo

(b) If yes, was the faculty member interactive and informative enough to clear your doubts? Yes

No

9. Were you able to complete the project before the deadline for presentation? Yes No10. If yes, what factors among the following do you consider responsible for obstructing the completion

of your project in time?

( ) Budget allotted to each project is insufficient, and hence students have to put in their own

money.

( ) Students have good ideas but fail to implement them due to lack of technical know-how.

( ) Faculty members have been given too much administrative work; as a result they cant help

students in their projects when they need guidance.

( ) Regular academic studies and examinations dates are so hectic, that students do not get time to

work on their projects.

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11.Do you prefer participating in technical festivals in other institutes over Apogee? Yes No12.Rate the following factors that you consider significant, in taking the above decision, on a scale of 1

to 5 in the context of Apogee.

(1 to 5 being in the order of increasing satisfaction)

( ) Advertisement

( ) Prize money

( ) Schedule and timings

( ) Level of competition

( ) Quality of events and projects

( ) Value of participation certificates

13.What kind of response did you get in the last project that you worked on?(A)

Excellent (B) Good (C) Decent (D) Not Good

14.Do you feel that the overall organisation and management of Apogee needs modifications?Please write your suggestions in 5-6 lines.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Bibliography

Mehta,Pallav.Projects.(Pg. 9).Apogee 2010.February : Department of Publication andCorrespondence.

Goel,Abhishek.Participation Statistics.(Pg. 17).Apogee Review Report.April : ApogeeReview Committee.

Maheshwari,Chandrika.1stMarch,2010.Participation20th November,2010.Apogee2010.http://www.bits-apogee.org/2010/content/participation-0

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report on bits' student participation in apogee

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