In this blog post, I identify differences in the teaching methodologies between my education in India and education at Berkeley. A disclaimer to the reader: these views are limited to my experiences, and do not intend to provide a generalized and opinionated comparison of education systems in the two countries. So here are my top five:

1] Assignments and Evaluation

For the courses at Berkeley, a significant portion of the final grade is given to class assignments (in some cases, this may be as high as 90%!). The Indian curriculum, on the other hand, lays emphasis on marks scored in written exams, and has a smaller percentage of the final grade attributed to assignments.

2] Participation points

Points are awarded for giving answers or asking questions in classes at Berkeley. Even though my teachers in India encourage two-way interaction during classes, there is no notion of participation points, but sometimes, there are rewards for answers!

3] PowerPoints and WhiteBoards

Most of the lectures I attend in India involve instruction through white-boards – students follow the instructor at every step written on the board and ask questions wherever necessary. At Berkeley, a majority of the instructors use PowerPoint presentations, and generally share the slides with students later on.

4] Faculty Availability

Most professors at Berkeley have “office hours” set up, which means students interact with them at dedicated hours of the week (or set up an appointment in advance) to discuss course-related material. In India, on the other hand, the teachers are available every day during college hours when they do not have classes or meetings.

5] Note-taking

‎Students in India are not allowed to use laptops or phones in class (this is an exception for some CS courses), and can only take notes by hand. At Berkeley, (this came as a surprise to me) most teachers allow students to take notes on their laptops! However, this has a serious drawback – a lot of students get easily distracted during lectures and browse the web instead of taking notes. There are many ways students in India lose their attention in classes, too, but I shall only assert here that paying attention is primarily the job of the students – wherever and whenever.

Both methodologies are similar in many ways – they lay emphasis on achievements and creativity standards, and produce a high number of intellectuals, inventors, entrepreneurs and others. In conclusion, both methodologies have their own pros and cons, and provide for different ways of learning and achieving in their own, beautiful ways.