Indian Institute of Technology Madras will launch a course on ‘Out of the Box Thinking’ through Mathematics to encourage innovative thinking. The Institute is targeting as many as one million school and college students, besides working professionals and researchers as well through this course, which is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country.

These courses will be offered in online mode free of cost through IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, sec 8 company of IIT Madras, which will also issue the Grade Certification for students who take the examinations at a nominal fee. The final examination will be a proctored one conducted at centres in select cities across India.

The Course is being made available in online mode, free of cost, to everyone in India as well as in foreign countries. The four graded independent levels of the courses will be easily accessible to students, professionals and researchers.

The First batch of the course is scheduled to commence on July 1, 2022. Registrations will close on June 24, 2022. Those interested can register through the following link – https://www.pravartak.org.in/out-of-box-thinking.html

Explaining the need for such courses, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “This course is first-of-its-kind in India and will make a major impact in the days to come. We will see the benefits of this course in next few years. The course is being offered free of cost. It course will greatly benefit the School and College students, especially those residing in rural India.”

Further, Prof. Kamakoti said, “Out of the box’ thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. In this unique course, such thinking is emphasized through rediscovering the known and unknown facts of mathematics logically with an interesting broader perception of sthe manner of doing it.”

The course will present multiple approaches to problem-solving, debunking a myth that problem-solving is only for a select few. It will introduce new techniques in an easy-to-understand fashion, preparing users to face real-life projects with confidence and ease.

With logic being the undercurrent in the study of mathematics, it is essential to develop broader thinking, through its applications in the expanding world of technology. From solving a fun Sudoku puzzle to completing an important scheduled project, the logic of working is much more important than the arithmetic involved in it. This requires creative thinking and a broader perception that is often known as ‘out of the box’ thinking.

The courses will be taught by Mr. Sadagopan Rajesh, Mathematics educator and founder-director of Aryabhatta Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He has been teaching Mathematics for the past 30 years among a various range of students, both school and college, from age 10 years, motivating them with a variety of creative and designed courses. He has also been conducting nurture programs from primary to high school students, inculcating in them a love for problem-solving, thus leading to Mathematical and other Olympiads.

Speaking about this initiative, Mr. Sadagopan Rajesh said, “If we approach mathematics with discipline and passion not necessarily in a formal way but realize the subject with more logical and analytical reasoning, we can broaden our thinking. The important output is the development of skills which are essential to fit and effectively contribute in a rapidly changing technological world.”

Mr. Sadagopan Rajesh has been a resource person for several Mathematical Olympiad exposure camps at regional, national, and international levels, apart from conducting several teacher orientations and enrichment programs.

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