Classroom Teaching Methodology
VenueJyotish (both Praveena and Visharada) classes are conducted in "Aksharam", Samskrita Bharati, Girinagar, Bangalore. Because of Samskrita Bharati's pursuits of teaching Sanskrit language and other related Indic disciplines, this provides us an ideal environment to teach the divine subject of astrology. This is also located in a place convenient to reach due to nearness to the Outer Ring Road, has ample parking space and facilities required for adult learning.
Mode of TeachingClasses are held every Sunday from 2pm to 6pm (Jyotish Praveena) and 2pm to 6.30pm (Jyotish Visharada). This allows people of different walks of life, professional status, family commitments, etc. to enrol for and attend classes. Holidays are provided if/when festivals occur on Sundays. Faculty teach with the aid of traditional chalk and board.
Language of InstructionConsidering the multi-lingual character of Bangalore's population, we conduct classes in English language. At the same time, we ensure that Sanskrit terminology relevant to the subject are used and disseminated wherever appropriate.
Batch SizeWe take great care to ensure that classroom strength is kept under 30 so as to enable healthy interactions and interactive, two-way communication in class. When ever enrollments for a course cross 30, we ensure that we create an additional batch and seat and teach those additional students in a separate classroom.
FacultyAll our faculty are themselves certified in the course they are teaching, and care is taken to ensure that only competent faculty are chosen for the purposes of teaching. In order to ensure that we not only ensure that faculty undergo regular development programs, but also take anonymous feedback from students to ensure that in case of any shortcoming corrective actions can be taken.
Syllabus and Course MaterialBeing a chapter of ICAS, we follow the highly regarded syllabus of ICAS that has been designed and distilled over many decades now. Faculty members also recommend reference books to be purchased by students for the courses they teach. In addition, they also provide course notes (in softcopy) on the subjects taught by them. These notes are provided through an online repository of a Microsoft Teams channel created for this specific purpose for students of the chapter. This ensures that notes are only a click away.
ExaminationsICAS - and therefore our chapter - provide the option of both online as well as offline examinations to students. Online examinations papers are of a one-hour duration each, with 50 objective questions across two subjects to be answered in the time limit. These examinations are web browser based, can be taken on PCs, mobile and tablets from the convenience of home. Offline examination papers are of a three-hour duration, with 5 subjective questions across the two subjects to be answered in the time limit. These examinations are conducted at the classroom venue.