LPU delivers curriculum using an innovative "blended approach" that includes development of programmes and courses based on industry and academics inputs, classroom teaching coupled with web based contents, application based pedagogy, continuous assessment, organized feedback from students and further improvisation of teaching techniques. Theory with practical application is the main focus on which the pedagogical approaches of LPU depend. The teaching methods adopted by the University are very innovative including maximum practical exposure and are dynamic enough to motivate the students participate in them with full enthusiasm and enable higher retention of the course content, thus making the programmes overall more effective. Every teaching department has well defined objectives which collaboratively work towards a single goal of imparting quality education to the students and inculcating in them the desired skill set and knowledge required by the industry.
The departments ensure that

• the students are provided with state of the art infrastructure, technology and equipment required to carry on the learning process in a more synchronized manner
• the teaching methods adopted are well in consonance with the industry needs and are updated on a regular basis
• hands on experience in the respective fields is provided to the students in the form of entrepreneurial ventures, field visits, trips, national and international study tours, etc
• the skills and knowledge of the teachers are upgraded regularly to make them well versed with the latest industry trends so that they can impart knowledge of the latest trends and techniques to the students

CLASSROOM TEACHING
Some of the Classroom teaching methods adopted to enhance the best practices and help students to derive the best of the learning from their programmes and courses are:

Lectures and Tutorials

The lectures conducted for every course are there to infuse and develop in the students the analytical, conceptual, presentation, communication and application oriented skills. Theclass rooms and lecture halls are well equipped with modern teaching aids like multimedia projectors and computers with Wi-Fi connectivity which help to make teaching more interesting and interactive for students. The simulated teaching software help the student to understand the process in highly visualized form.

Tutorials give opportunities to every student to talk about material being taught, ask questions and discuss material with their classmates and a designated tutor in a smaller group.

The students are free to ask any questions that crop up in their minds while listening to lectures and attending tutorials. The teachers make sure to answer these queries in the best way a student can understand.

Practical

The practical sessions are ideal testing grounds for students to apply and test the concepts taught. Modern laboratories and workshops are an integral part of the various departments of the University. Each department maintains its specialized labs, well equipped with modern equipment of industrial standards.

Illustration:
Communication Labs meant exclusively for improving the communication skills of the students are equipped with the latest video and audio recording equipment which help  in providing practical training to students in communication skills. The actions of students while speaking or doing any communication activity are recorded by these equipment and later the guide displays all their actions and dialogues and guides them about their core strengths and areas of improvement.

Also the students give presentations on experimental work followed by open house viva in which they have to explain their findings and interpretations.

Innovative and relevant Lab-work

For boosting the creativity amongst the students, challenging experiments are designed. The students give presentation on experimental work followed by open house viva in which they have to explain the findings and interpretations.

Workshops, Seminars, Guest Lectures and Extension Lectures

Workshops, Seminars, Guest Lectures and Extension Lectures are conducted on all topics to provide a platform for deliberation and knowledge sharing. Best industrial and corporate professionals are brought to the campus to bring the practical and application practices from the actual working environment and give extra input to the students on the current topics as well as the topics which are relevant to their area of specialization.

Case Based Teaching

This method of teaching is devised to facilitate the students to relate theory with the real world. The suitable cases to clarify the concepts learnt by the student are given to students well in advance for the students to come prepared with case analysis to be discussed in the class. The discussion held for the case-studies in the class encourages students to apply the concepts learnt, for problem solving / decision making in the face of reality and develops the interpersonal skills necessary for putting one’s point forward and listening to others in a group.  

Group Discussions

Group discussions are conducted by the University among the students to increase awareness of the world wide events and their effects and also to enhance interpersonal skills – the ability to either convince others or get convinced.  During this activity, the students are expected to well prepared about the topic, to abide by the norms during the discussion and also to respond to the feedback with a more logical and assertive approach.

Archive Based Class Discussion

Archive Based Class Discussions are held for Inductive, reflective and sequential teaching.

Simulation

This technique helps in linking the concepts with their applications in the professional field. This also helps to replicate a real world situation in a class room setting through various modes like role plays and software based modeling.  During this activity, the students imagine themselves in the decision making situation and act accordingly using all the available data and theoretical models.

Presentations, Video Films and Demonstration of Models, Equipment and Processes

The University understands that the future professionals need to be well versed in every minute aspect of the corporate world. With the concern to develop clarity of thought and confidence for addressing the public, along with other presentation skills in the students, an activity is devised where the students give presentations during their class hours. A date-wise schedule of the topics to be presented by the students is prepared by the teachers, so that the students can prepare their topics well on time.
To keep up students interest and to facilitate better understanding of processes and situations as well as to encourage rational thinking and open discussion among the students, an appropriate video related to a process / situation is chosen and later on a discussion around it is initiated by the teachers.  The students observe inquisitively and participate actively in the ensuing discussion.

Slide Show

The teachers use Slide Shows as teaching aids to  employ visual mode for flow charts, diagrams, animations etc, for the better comprehension and retention.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is used as an important pedagogical tool as it is a process for developing creative solutions to problems. It works by focusing on a problem, and then deliberately coming up with as many solutions as possible and by pushing the ideas as far as possible. This technique helps the students to

• Think creatively and voice ideas, without fear of criticism or ridicule.
• Explore an issue multi-dimensionally.
• Shoot a problem and solicit ideas irrespective of their feasibility.
• Discuss the pros and cons of the ideas, find the possible solutions to the problems, if any, and come up with a proposal backing the idea.

Closing quiz

In order to enable the recapitulation and evaluation of the concepts taught in each lecture, a closing quiz is conducted.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Experiential learning at LPU includes different types of activities, with one common goal- to immerse students in “hands-on” experience outside the classroom. Following are the Experiential Learning activities adopted at LPU

Internship

In this the students are deputed to work in an organization related to their professional field and thus get trained in that organisation. They usually work on a project for the entire duration.

Field Trips

Field Trips includes students going on a field visit to an organisation / any site relating to the profession for which they are being groomed in order to get a feel of the real world’s professional demands. It provides a valuable opportunity to discover the realities and practices of the profession the students are aiming for.

National and International Tours

National and international tours form an integral part of most of the courses offered here. These help  to familiarize students with the latest in their respective domain and develop a better understanding of the world.
Click here to view details of the International Visits

Projects

Projects are a crucial part of any programme at LPU. The Projects are done by a group of students and are intended to be intensive, active learning projects, requiring significant effort in planning and implementation as well as preparation of a substantial final written work product. Student groups are made to choose a project from their domain and asked to conduct practicals and real life studies on them.The projects provide hands on learning experience to the students by enabling them by making them aware how to convert the theoretical knowledge to the practical one They also help to boost ‘learning by doing’  teamwork.

Literature Search/Survey

To impart the students with core understanding about the subject, they are asked to search literature on a particular topic and write term papers on that. This imbibes in the students the basic orientation about research and lets them develop an insight on how the basic research is conducted which in due course helps them in their further studies.

Media Watch

Media Watch involves the students in keeping a regular track of the news floated in the media viz newspapers, TV, magazines, internet, etc and discuss the current news in a group. They are also encouraged to paste the news clippings in their workbooks and write their comments on how the events might affect them as an individual, a professional and a a member of the society. This acts as a source of motivation for the students to voice their opinion regarding the happenings in the society and also lets the group to come on a common consensus and develop a new approach towards the issue.

Bulletin Boards

There are bulletin boards in every classroom where the students paste clippings from newspapers, periodicals, journals or their own creative work which can be of interest or value to others and give a few minutes presentation on the same. This is followed by a feedback from the rest of the class and a discussion on the point talked about. Now the University has introduced the E-bulletin boards on UMS where the students can write their opinion about any topic. 

Web Based Learning

A number of courses across the university use web based learning materials to augment the more traditional forms of course delivery. This is a very flexible method to allow the students to select when such study takes place and to adjust the pace of learning. In addition, our students benefit from use of the web, CD ROM catalogues, desktop publishing and industry standard office software. Web pages are available for each of the specialities of a programme for updation regarding current developments in the discipline. To become a professional leaning community, both teachers and students update this page mentioning the source of information to become a professional leaning community.

Web 2

For better knowledge management, students are encuraged to use social networking for better knowledge management, the students are encouraged to use the social networking sites for developing professional contacts that can be instrumental for arranging summer internships, projects, guest faculty, seminars etc.   

Small Group Activities

A variety of group activities are performed with an aim to create an urge for collaboration, to find I win- you win type of solutions to problems rather than I win- you lose type. A class is divided into groups with individuals having different academic backgrounds or competencies. Case studies, group discussions etc. are done by dividing the class into groups.
The target of these activities is to promote cooperative learning i.e. the group members will help each other in understanding concepts, solving problems, doing projects that are evaluated on the basis of team performance.

Student Record file

Students  prepare a record a file of the practical cases they have studied (especially relevant in physiotherapy for training the students in preparing medical records) or any design work they have done ( relevant in Mechanical Engg.). The students later present and discuss specific cases with the faculty members and fellow students in subsequent classes. This helps in linking class room learning with the real world. 

Student – run Ventures on Campus

To encourage professional orientation and entrepreneurship among the students, the University provides opportunities to the students wherein they can initiate business ventures on campus. This facilitates the practical application of their professional knowledge. The University encourages and aids such enterprises by providing the requisite infrastructural support. 

Career Portfolio

In order to prepare the students to facing job interviews in a better way Career portfolio is made a part of the pedagogy. In this, students prepare a file depicting their interests and achievements throughout their student life. It is divided into 3 segments viz.

• Academics
• Co-curricular (literary, cultural  sports)
• Personal (hobbies, community service, institutional memberships)  

Mock Interviews

Mock Interviews are conducted to make the students aware about the level of interviews conducted by the industry expert panel. In Mock Interviews the University creates a virtual corporate environment for  the students and virtual interview sessions are held where the students respond as their final interview day and these sessions are recorded audio visually. The recordings are shown to students and feedback on individual basis is given by the panel which helps the student to do their own competitive analysis and find their strengths and weaknesses. The Panel consists of teachers from the University as well as the industry experts.