Amrit Mitra
A paradigm shift in any field is often received with skepticism and resistance. Yet it is those who embrace a new advent who help propel it forward, and Amrit Mitra was no different. Having completed his Masters in Chemistry for IIT Kharagpur and served as a Group A Officer, Controller of Examinations, and Assistant Professor i across government colleges in West Bengal, he was strongly versed in the path of teaching. In his travels as a superintendent and mentor for India’s Science Olympiad teams, he would engage in conversation with his colleagues from IISER and IIT Bombay to be introduced to a rising platform of learning in 2019.
That was the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL). Despite the new form of education presented, what captured his attention was the accessibility, academic rigor and the research-oriented pedagogical approaches taken.
It was also refreshing for him to find his colleagues and even former mentors of his own to be taking some of the courses.
With his interest piqued, he enrolled and even took on an administrative role as SPOC for NPTEL in West Bengal. With the support of the then Vice Chancellor, Professor Ashutosh Ghosh, he enabled credit transfer for NPTEL courses in the postgraduate level and made them mandatory during his tenure as a Controller of Examinations.
In his reflection, he is glad that in modern days, many institutions in the state have adapted automatic credit transfer, only broadening the accessibility of the platform for both students and faculty. Aside from his official role, as a learner, he has embarked on many courses in his central domain; of these, courses such as “Reagents in Organic Chemistry” by Professor Subhas Chandra Pan in IIT Guwahati, “Basics in Biochemistry” by Professor Swagata Dasgupta in IIT Kharagpur and “Advanced Pericyclic Chemistry” by Professor Sankar Raman from IIT Madras have stayed with him the longest. He appreciates the research-oriented approach and structured format of these courses, which offer deep enrichment in even already-known concepts.
Advanced courses present their own challenges, and Amrita Mitra employs a methodological approach. He works through lectures at his own pace, often watching them during his commutes, and builds personalized notes with screenshots and highlighted sections for convenient revision, making full use of the downloadable materials. He also sets aside a specific slot each week to submit assignments, keeping himself consistent.Despite serving as a SPOC for multiple tenures and receiving three NPTEL Star Awards, he does not see these as mere credentials – or even as goals. For him, the enrichment of knowledge is the real, more presentable “credential”. Certificates may add weight, but applicable knowledge shines brighter. He has continuously aided and advised his peers, colleagues and students to give NPTEL a genuine try, but not just because credit transfer is available, but to pick a course which actually gives interest. Currently, he is planning to propose making his own NPTEL courses, a poetic cycle of the learner becoming the teacher.
Even now, he keeps presentation slides ready should he be called upon for a talk.
“I encourage students to select courses because they genuinely want to learn something beyond their prescribed curriculum,”
he says, when asked about advice he gives often. He himself has built his rooted knowledge through such a process and advocates it for wider adoption by students and institutions alike.
~written by Krishneal Dutta