Art By: Nikita Gautam

It has not been long since DWIT started a new initiative. About a month ago, the DWIT students were divided into four different research groups: Rara, Gosainkunda, Begnas and Phewa. Almost all the research groups have started working by now.

In an opinion poll regarding the status and expectations from the research group division, DWIT News has been able to gather the following. Have a read!

“Students need to be present in all the group/batch meetings or whenever I call them between 7am and 9am on weekdays. I also expect some of them to be proactive and take initiatives and help other members of the team whenever possible. Inherent diversity of interests needs to be expressed.

Time clashes with regular and extra classes have somewhat sabotaged the time allocated for research. I believe that students from all batches need to be available for research at the stipulated time in the morning. I have been instructing on some technical aspects of ICT to some members and plan to engage everyone from my group next week. I think it will take some more time for the students to see the real benefit of working in such a diverse group not restricted by any classifications. I am also waiting for feedback from my team on the directions/goals that the research teams should take.” – Prasanna Pandey (Mentor of Begnas)

“Being a research coordinator of Phewa team, I am very hopeful with the students. Till now, they have been doing a great job, but still, there are a few students whom I have not seen in class. So, I want each and every one to come in their research class from 7:00am - 9:00am and put their effort in the ongoing tasks.

College had provided students with a very good opportunity. In this way, students can present their ideas even if it’s a simple one. They will be exploring themselves in different areas of research by communicating with us. I found very good students in my group who are very interested in their projects. Sometimes they are not aware of what exactly they want to do even though they know how to code. But after getting a simple hint, they are able to bring it on into practicality. Finally, I want to say: we are not getting enough time for our research as the time clashes with the other classes. Also, I am waiting for the responses from my group members. If they had expected anything more from me or think that I should implement any other idea, they can share with me and we can then implement them. This will certainly benefit them.” – Meena Shah (Mentor of Phewa)

“As far as my expectation with student goes, I hope that whoever has been with me in the journey so far will learn something of worth in the end. Although I am disappointed by daily attendance, most of the students, mostly the 2018 Batch, are frequently missing the classes and it’s been a little difficult to plan the class activity because of that.

Regarding the benefit of the students, I don't think I can be the judge of it, I think students are learning and improving everyday but again it’s for them to decide.” - Sushant Pandey (Mentor of Rara)

“It is good to work with seniors so that I can learn a lot of new things. The research project has encouraged me to learn new things which were really boring to me. I wish I could learn a lot of new technologies through this research project.” –Anonymous student (Rara Group Member)

“In the beginning I felt that the mentor was going at a fast pace. But now, we have divided tasks among ourselves and are working on it. Rest, I think it is too early to answer about the benefits.” - Sneha Parajuli (Phewa Group Member)

“College is trying to do something which is not well structured and project doesn’t have a clear idea. It is a total waste of time and it is hampering our study and social time. If it was well structured and had clear idea, it would have been a great thing for students” - Anonymous student (Goisankunda Group Member)

“I was unknown about different frameworks and its functioning. Because of this research group, I have known about a lot of new things related to programming.” – Rojina Karki (Rara Group Member)

“Due to early classes we are not able to get more out of the research group. So, I think the administrative should do as said previously. The time from 7 am to 9 am should be dedicated for our research classes.” - Raman Maharjan (Goisankunda Group Member)

“I liked the way how our mentor focused on brainstorming first. Jumping to task right away might cause things to mess in the later days. He involved in getting to know the students and their ideas and interests and is now involved in collecting feedback and suggestion, which is a good thing. In addition, he has been providing us helpful links to amass more knowledge about programming. It is true that we aren’t taught as we are in our classes and we are just provided with hints. But, I think it is up to us to research more on the hints if we are genuinely interested. Lastly, being in a research group, we should not only focus on projects but should actually involve in research of new technologies.” - Ruby Shrestha (Begnas Group Member)