Having recently completed my first term as a Postgraduate Student at Bournemouth University, the difference between a Master’s course here and that in India is quite vast. While doing my undergraduate, I understood the fact that the Indian Educational System mostly favours the technically oriented students. This model is good in the fields of study like Sciences, Law, Commerce, etc. where the “proof of knowledge” is a judging factor, instead of a “tactile” output, but the problem comes when this same education model is used for all fields of study.

In simpler terms, I feel that the Indian Education System judges and justifies the teaching-learning process with term-end exams in all fields, where the final mark is the only merit a student is judged upon. On the other hand, according to my experience at BU so far, a different approach is given to each field. For context, my course (MA 3D Computer Animation) is completely coursework dependent. In my first term, I had several assignments, all relating to one or more aspects of animation.

Abhineetam Chaurasia Term 1 Animation

They progressed from basic principles of animation and increased in complexity. I think it is a better approach and helps in being able to reuse the skills that were learned in the previous assignments to the newer one. This makes the learning process a ladder where the goal is to refine your creations and not to memorise something that will not be used in life other than to pass a test.

My transition from an Exam Based Study Model to a Coursework Based Study Model was quite smooth because of the course design. The course establishes each assignment as a learning opportunity such that the brief (a guide to final output) is given before any sort of teaching has taken place and then lectures are specifically oriented to tackle that problem. This way I can imagine what I will be making in the final output while I was learning how to make it. This also gave me motivation to learn a lot more because I could visualise the things better and knew their application while they were being taught.

Therefore this difference in the study model and course design is a pleasant experience and in my opinion a better one for creative courses, like animation, visual effects, etc. This gives creative thinkers and people who need visual representation to learn, a platform to develop their skills.