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Software module [News] [Times of India](Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A group of students from the University of South Florida (USF) are coming to India to study a module on software engineering at the education and research wing of a company. The nine undergraduates and four graduate students of management information systems (MIS) are going to spend three weeks at Infosys in Mysore in July-August as part of a tie-up entering the fifth year. The MIS programme includes elements of both business and technology. According to Balaji Padmanabhan, chair of the department at USF, who is accompanying the group, the integrated nature of the programme has made it popular among students from India. Interestingly, the four graduate students in this year's cohort are Indian. While study abroad programmes often involve exchanges between universities, this interaction is between a university and a software services company where students take an academic module. "India has a strong position in the global software market and this programmes gives good value for education," explained Padmanabhan, during a stopover in Delhi. It is facilitated by the education and research wing of Infosys and would earn the students three credits, equivalent to a course. Hence, out of nine required courses, the study abroad module can be counted as an elective. Students learn the fundamental methodologies of software design within three weeks, otherwise mostly done across semesters. They would attend classes during the day and work on lab-related assignments in the evening. Apart from academic training, the programme is meant to ensure cultural immersion. "One has to understand cultural values before trying to make a business succeed. In today's age, businesses are global and follow a pattern of distributive teams where teams are spread across countries and continents. When students spend some time in a different cultural context, they understand these issues better than they would in a classroom," said. (c) 2014 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited |