Q. The best universities like Harvard and MIT,
despite having the luxury of having some truly excellent teachers on their payroll, are increasingly embracing the “flipped classroom” format, where students listaen to video lectures at home, and spend class time applying their knowledge, solving problems, discussing examples etc. professors guide that discussion and fill in wherever necessary, explaining those bits that seem to be eluding the students and throwing in advanced ideas that happen to be topical. These universities have made their video lectures available free for anyone in the world. They are also encouraging colleges and universities all over the world to integrate these online courses into their own pedagogy, picking the pieces that are appropriate for their needs and building a package around them.
Q 1. Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the passage given above?
(a) Efficacy of universities would be better in online mode of conducting classroom tuition as compared conventional method.
(b) Availability of higher education can be made easier and cheaper without diluting the content.
(c) We need not invest much in infrastructure related to higher education and yet develop better human and social capital.
(d) Private sector institutions in higher education as well as coaching institutes can take advantage of this opportunity and thrive well.
Question from UPSC Prelims 2021 CSAT Paper
Explanation :
Q1: Correct Answer – (b) Availability of higher education can be made easier and cheaper without diluting the content.
Explanation – The central idea of the passage is that top universities like Harvard and MIT are increasingly using the “flipped classroom” format and making their video lectures available for free to anyone in the world. This allows for easier and cheaper access to higher education without diluting the content. The statement that best reflects this central idea is option (b): “Availability of higher education can be made easier and cheaper without diluting the content.”