Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)- Tips for Teachers

Are you a teacher providing coaching and mentorship to the aspirants of Junior Research Fellowship? As a mentor, it is essential to have the proper focus and direction to guide your students.

A Junior Research Fellowship includes a variety of subjects. It is not an easy task, but there is no reason not to excel with proper preparation and staying focused.

What is a Junior Research Fellowship?

Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is a window that opens if you score good marks in NET, i.e., National Eligibility Test. In other words, you can pursue JRF through CSIR NET or UGC NET, i.e., through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. To be eligible for CSIR NET, the aspirants should have a B. Tech, B. Pharma, MBBS, Integrated BS-MS, amongst others. To be eligible for UGC NET, one should have a master's degree like M.Com, MBA, MA, and others.

Other candidates with other bachelor's degrees in science, engineering, commerce, etc., would be eligible for CSIR NET within two years of being registered for a Ph.D. or integrated Ph.D. program.

When the JRF is granted, the students working on research also get a stipend either from the university institution or the CSIR.

There are around 80 subjects you can choose to pursue JRF in. You can choose the subject you would like to research. The paper is divided into two parts, Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 is common, whereas Part 2 is the paper of your choice you like to further extend your research on.  

Tips for teachers:

Mentoring students for Part 1 is important. It includes teaching aptitude, research aptitude, comprehension, communication, aptitude, mathematical reasoning, interpretation, and more. As a teacher, you have two options, and you can either pick a topic from Part 1 or exclusively from Part 2.

Here are some of the tips for teachers to approach JRF aspirants:

  • Have in-depth knowledge

The teacher must have in-depth knowledge of Paper 2 to be teaching to the JRF students. There are 81 subjects under Paper 2, including philosophy, management, commerce, political science, humanities, and many others.

The teacher should have in-depth knowledge of the subject they are covering. Also, Paper 1 is common, but you as a teacher should have one unit that you excel in. Teaching a topic makes it easy as you are thorough with the topic.

  • Create shortcut series

Another tip for teachers is to create a shortcut series. It is difficult for students to revise or learn from a variety of books. Compiling and preparing notes in the short form helps students to focus on key points better. It saves a lot of time, and students can know and learn things faster.

As a teacher, creating shortcut notes is important to cover the entire syllabus on time. Being well-prepared before approaching your students is necessary. Having short form notes in your hand is one way.

  • Provide mock tests

Mock tests are an integral part of clearing any examination, be it UPSC exams, bank exams, SSC or JRF, mock tests help a lot.

As a teacher as well as an aspirant, mock tests should be given due consideration. Just weeks before your final exam, all focus should be on giving at least one mock test per day. Mock tests help teachers judge the performance of the student and provide a fair representation of the same. It lets the students know their weak points and where more focus is needed. There are a lot of free and paid mock tests for JRF available online.

  • Provide proper revision

When the syllabus gets out of hand, revision plays a key role. The teacher should conduct proper revision sessions. At the same time, students should not forget to revise the topics from time to time to not lose the rhythm and forget what they have already studied.

Revision sessions in a class work better with the help of synergy. The learning process is made faster, and they are a lot more fun, be it online or offline classes. The revision sessions should be conducted before the start of every class and once after completing the entire syllabus.

The revision can be conducted topic-wise or subject-wise.

  • Clear the doubts

When it comes to subjects like data interpretation and mathematics, sessions to clear all doubts are necessary. The teachers should set a specific time apart for doubt-clearing sessions.

Clarification of doubts provides more confidence to students in their preparation. Leaving doubts unattended creates further confusion in the minds of students. Therefore, before going forward, teachers should ensure all their students are on the same page.

Help students clear their doubts. Teacher should discuss common doubts with all the students. In case of specific doubts, teachers should try to clear them individually or assign someone else to provide guidance.

  • Complete the syllabus

Another tip for teachers is to have control over the syllabus they have to cover. They should create a proper schedule for completing the syllabus. Just rushing towards ending the syllabus at the end is a great loss for the students.

Easier topics should be left for the end so that even if they are rushed through, they are easier to understand. Struggling with a new topic at the end makes a bad situation worse.

Therefore, a teacher should give extra attention that the syllabus is covered on time. If not, at least proper notes should be provided for the same such that the students can cover them on their own (in the worst-case scenario).

Conclusion

These were some of the tips that teachers may follow while approaching UGC NET students aspiring for JRF. Part 2 paper plays a big role in clearing JRF. As a teacher, you should guide your students properly after doing proper research on your own.

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