LMS Orientation- Faculty
Date 13 September 2024
On September 13, 2024, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, the Forensic Science department conducted a Learning Management System (LMS) orientation session for new faculty members. The goal of the session was to familiarize instructors with the LMS platform’s features to enhance their teaching processes and improve student engagement. The session provided a comprehensive overview of the platform's interface and navigation. The session covered essential topics such as course creation, content management, and student interaction through tools like forums, announcements, and chats. Faculties learned how to create and manage assessments, including quizzes and assignments, and explored the LMS's grading and analytics tools. These features allow faculty to track student progress and make data-driven decisions for instructional improvements. The session was interactive, with hands-on activities and a Q&A segment where participants could address any challenges they might face while implementing the LMS in their courses. Overall, the orientation equipped the faculty with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively use the LMS, making the teaching and learning experience more streamlined and efficient.

7-day Virtual FDP on ‘Effective Teacher-Student Relationship’
Date 06 - 15 June 2024
The Department of Forensic Science, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore organized a national level 7-day virtual Faculty Development Program (FDP) on ‘Effective Teacher Student Relationship’. The event witnessed the participation of distinguished guests, faculty members, and enthusiastic educators, all eager to explore the dynamics of nurturing fruitful student-teacher relationships. The FDP was conducted in the virtual mode over the zoom platform. With 7 sessions, the FDP was rich in substance and diverse in variety.

Overall, there were 136 participants from different institutions.
Inauguration The FDP commenced on 06/06/2024 at 02:30 PM with an enriching inaugural session. The session started with a prayer which evoked god’s blessing followed by welcome speech by Mr. Don Caeiro, Coordinator, Department of Forensic Science, Kristu Jayanti College. Convener of the FDP, Ms. Neha Vishe presented Prelude of FDP giving summary of upcoming sessions. The ceremony was also graced by Father Deepu Joy, Director-Students Welfare, Kristu Jayanti College. Father, in his speech, highlighted the moral and ethical dimensions of the student-teacher relationship. He stressed the role of empathy, understanding, and respect in cultivating a classroom atmosphere where students feel valued and motivated.

The inaugural address was given by Dr. Shanti Iyer. Ms. Iyer, Former Principal and Advisor, Dr. NSAM First Grade College, NITTE Group Institutions, Bangalore, who was the chief guest of the ceremony. She emphasised on the importance of the subject of the FDP. Ma’am explained how teaching practices have a wide variety of challenges. Ma’am also talked about the effective relationship that should be there between the students and the teachers.

Day 1: The FDP session was on "Decoding GenZ: Insights into their Psychology and Behaviour" which was led by Mr. Vigraanth Bapu K G, Assistant Professor and PG Programme Coordinator, Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore. Mr. Vigraanth provided an in-depth exploration of Generation Z, commonly referred to as Gen Z. He delved into their unique psychological traits and behaviours, shedding light on how this generation perceives the world. The session offered valuable insights for educators and professionals to better understand and engage with Gen Z effectively.

Day 2: The FDP session was on “Teacher's Role in Student's Mental Health” by Dr. Richard Jonas, Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Director- Centre of Life Skills Education (CLSE), Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore. The speaker initiated the talk by introducing the meanings of various emoji and abbreviations used by today’s students. A survey was taken in between to identify the emotional well-being of the participants. The role of teachers in student’s mental health was dealt in detail.

Day 3: The FDP session was on “Mentoring and Counselling Skills”, by Dr. T S Chandrashekara, Faculty and Consultant (Psychiatric Social Work/Counselling), Spandana Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Centre, Bangalore. Sir said that the session will be mainly based on his experience rather than theory. He explained about the various cases he encountered and how he handled them. The session was effective and highly useful.

Day 4: The session on "Reach before you Teach" was led by Dr. Joseph Charles Tamilmaran D, Head, School of Management, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore. Dr. Jospeh Charles Tamilmaran explained about the various methods by which a teacher can reach the students. The speaker emphasised on the importance of engaging students who belong to Gen Z. he also explained about the various method that can be used by the teacher during pre-course. He also emphasised on the importance of a teacher changing the current and conventional practises, to an interesting approach.

Day 5: The session on "Prosocial Classroom for Effective Learning Goals" was led by Dr. Kumaravel, Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development. Various classroom management styles were explained to promote prosocial classroom. A question answer session was conducted to clarify the doubts of all the participants.

Day 6: The FDP session on "Teacher Ethics and Values" was led by Dr. Shanti Iyer, Former Principal and Advisor, Dr. NSAM First Grade College, NITTE Group Institutions, Bangalore. The speaker of the day Dr. Shanti Iyer, started the presentation by introducing the importance of ethics and value in teaching. Later she explained with case studies the importance of ethics and values among teachers.

Day 7: The Session was on "Innovative Teaching Practices for Student Engagement" by Dr. M Mathew Arumai, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur. The speaker of the day Dr. M Mathew Arumai, started the presentation by introducing the importance of topic of the day. Later he explained various practices with which we can engage the students in the class, like conducting debate, quizzes, and all. The session ended with a note of thanks.

One-Day FDP on Ftir/Atr Handling and Working
Date 05 January 2024
On 5th of January, 2024, the Department of Forensic Science at Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous), Bengaluru, organized a one-day workshop on "FTIR/ATR Handling and Working" for the teaching staff from the Departments of Life Sciences and Forensic Sciences. The objective of the workshop was to familiarize the participants with the principles, techniques, and applications of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) with Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) in various scientific fields.

The workshop commenced with a warm welcome of all the HODs, Coordinators and faculty members of the mentioned Departments by Mr. Don Caeiro, Coordinator, Dept. of Forensic science, who also then introduced the purpose of the workshop and emphasized the significance of FTIR/ATR in scientific research and forensic investigations. The session covered the basic principles of FTIR, including the interaction of infrared radiation with molecules, molecular vibrations, and the concept of wavenumbers. The participants gained a solid foundation in the fundamental concepts required to understand FTIR/ATR working principles. The participants gained valuable insights into the theory, practical aspects, and diverse applications of FTIR/ATR in scientific research and forensic investigations. The hands-on sessions with the FTIR instrument provided them with the necessary skills to incorporate FTIR/ATR techniques into their teaching and research activities effectively.

The Department of Forensic Science received positive feedback from the participants, expressing their gratitude for organizing such an informative workshop. The event successfully fostered interdisciplinary collaboration among the faculties of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences, paving the way for potential joint research projects and academic endeavors.

7-day Virtual FDP on ‘Evolving research paradigms in forensic science’
Date: 12 - 20 December 2022
The Department of Forensic Science, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore organized a national level 7-day FDP on ‘Evolving research paradigms in forensic science’. The FDP was specifically crafted for the discipline of forensic science and had various topics ranging through the different disciplines of forensic science. The FDP spanned 7 days and each day had two technical sessions. The FDP gathered a lot of interest from delegates from different parts of India from various academic institutions. The FDP was conducted in the virtual mode over the zoom platform.

With 10 sessions, the FDP was rich in substance and diverse in variety.

Overall there were 22 external delegates in the FDP from around 8 different institutions spanning 7 different states of India.

Inauguration
The FDP started with the inauguration on 12th December 2022. The ceremony was set in motion by the presence of Dr. N P Waghmare, Director, State Forensic Science Laboratory, Goa who was the chief guest of the ceremony. Sir delivered a talk on the various research opportunities in the field of forensic science and the rich scope in the field of forensic science as of date. Sir's talk was enlightening and enriching and offered many ideas for planning forensic science research.

The ceremony was also graced by the Principal, Kristu Jayanti College, Rev. Fr Augustine George. Father emphasized the importance of forensic science and the need to be updated in the field in order to sufficiently support the criminal justice system.

The convener of the FDP Dr. Suchita Rawat, Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Science presented the prelude to the FDP.

Technical session I The first session was on ‘Paradigm shift in research in forensic science’ by Dr. Vina Vaswani, Professor at Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore. Mam rightfully began the FDP by outlining the shift and the paradigm shift that we are witnessing in the field of forensic science research. She encouraged the audience to indulge in the field of research at a right time such as this. She also outlined the ethical and moral responsibilities to possess during research.

Day 2 - Technical sessions II & III
Technical session II The second session was on ‘ethical guidelines for responsible conduct of research’ by Dr. Piyoosh Singh, Scientist, National Institute of Malaria Research. Sir with his rich experience outlined the need for ethical guidelines, the organisations involved in ethical guidelines, and outlined the steps a researcher needs to take in order to conduct fair and responsible research. He exhorted the audience to take these guidelines both seriously and rightly for being effective researchers of tomorrow.

Technical session III The third session was an engaging one on ‘The art and science of research paper writing’ by Dr. Prajakta Harne, Senior Scientific Editor Elsevier. Being from an editor’s point of view, the session provided aptly and key pointed guidelines on how to target journals, how to prepare research papers, tools to use for drafting and finalising, how to make use of the article transfer tools and she could also outline plan maps for proposal seeking. The session was engaging and had many queries from the delegates.

Day 3 – Technical sessions IV & V
Technical session IV The fourth session was on ‘Virtual Autopsy’ by Dr Hemanth Naik, CMO, Virtual Autopsy India. Sir from an industry point of view could break down the need and application of Virtopsy and from a medical doctor’s point of view was able to explain the science and reliability of the tool. The session was interestingly crisp and had lot of learning points as to the use and status of virtopsy in India. Questions on legal admissibility and reliability along with its cost factor were discussed during the session.

Technical session V The fifth session was on the research challenges and opportunities in the field of cyber criminology by Dr. Febin Baby, Assistant Professor and Head, Department of Criminology and Police Science, St Thomas College Autonomous, Thrissur. This session was eye opening as to how this field of cyber criminology even though rudiment in India is fashioning itself into a prospective and futuristic field. The session took us through the science, the theories and the application of the principles of the emerging field of cyber criminology.

Day 4 – Technical sessions VI & VII
Technical session VI The sixth session was on Structural investigations of biomolecular interactions using advanced experimental and computational strategies by Dr. Prateek Pandya, Assistant Professor & Research Coordinator (AIFS), Amity Institute of Forensic Sciences, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, U. P. Sir took us through a journey of computational biology beginning from crystal structuring using computational tools onwards to advanced drug kinetics using computational tools. The session targetted the interest of researchers in the field of forensic toxicology and pharmacokinetics and could help in the scope and extent to which technology can aid their research.

Technical session VII The seventh session was on the usage of mitochondrial DNA and Y-SNPs in Forensic Science and Population Genetics by Dr. I Arjun Rao, Assistant Professor Department of Life Science Faculty – Forensic Science Christ University (Central campus) Bengaluru Karnataka. The session covered primer requirements, PCR conditions, and DNA sequencing strategies for Mitochondrial and Y chromosome SNP analysis. The session also introduced the audience to various software available for DNA sequence alignment and software for the creation of phylogenetic analysis. Sir emphasised the use of Mitochondrial and Y chromosome SNPs in population genetics understanding the evolutionary aspect.

Day 5 & 6 – Technical sessions VIII & IX
Technical sessions VII & IX The eighth and ninth sessions were two-hour sessions and were handled by Dr. Suniti Yadav, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi. Dr. Suniti took us through a hands-on demonstration of data analysis using SPSS. Mam covered topics such as Introduction to SPSS, using data editor, summary statistics for individual variables, creating and editing charts, simple inference for continuous and categorical data, data presentation, and many more. Mam was patient enough to teach right from the basics of data analysis and also took us to the common challenges faced and how to troubleshoot them.

Day 7 – Technical session X
Technical session X The tenth session of the 7-day FDP happened today and Dr. Nelson Justin Michael, Director, of the Centre for Research at Kristu Jayanti College spoke to us on institutional research quality. Sir took us through the UGC API policy and laid a roadmap for improving one’s individual research score and even for an institution to improve its research quality drawing inspiration from today’s assessment environment.

FDP on Advance Comparison microscope (RCM-22)
Date: 27th September 2022
A Faculty development Programme on the Advance Comparison microscope (RCM-22), a ballistics comparison microscope was organized for the faculty members of the Department of Forensic Science at Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore on 27th September, 2022. The session was held at the Forensic Science Laboratory II, 3rd floor, Main Block. The resource person for the session was Mr. Vishal Bakshi, Technical representative of Radical Instruments which was a knowledge partner for the FDP.

The objective of the FDP was to provide hands-on training to the faculty members on a recently installed instrument, which will be used in teaching the courses related to forensic physics and ballistics.

The session was started with a silent prayer, after which Prof. Jeremiah Justus. M, faculty member of the unit of Forensic Science welcomed the resource person and the participants.

The resource person unboxed the Advance Comparison microscope (RCM-22) instrument purchased for the Forensic Science Laboratory, Kristu Jayanti College and went through the installation procedures with the participants. The Advance Comparison microscope (RCM-22) is a ballistics comparison microscope which is useful for real-time comparison of 3-dimensional objects like bullets, cartridge cases, tools etc. It is highly useful in the field of Forensic Physics and Ballistics and is also suitable for studying physical evidences. It is a gold standard requirement in the field of forensic ballistics.

The features, handling and troubleshooting of the device was explained elaborately by the resource person. The participants were also given hands-on time to work and learn about the equipment in detail.

Prof. Chetna Tidke, faculty member, Unit of Forensic Science concluded the session with a vote of thanks.

FDP on MiScope MP3 (Digital Forensic Microscope)
Date: 20th November 2021
A Faculty development Programme on the MiScope MP3, a digital forensic microscope was organized for the faculty members of the Department of Life Sciences at Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore on 20th November, 2021. The session was held at the Forensic Science Laboratory, 3rd floor, Main Block. The resource persons for the session were Mr. Suraj G (Director) and Mr. Senthil Kumar (Manager), Metronic Services, Bangalore which was a knowledge partner for the FDP.

The objective of the FDP was to provide hands-on training on the use of the MiScope MP3, which is a new technology available in the field of Forensic Science.

The resource people unboxed the MiScope MP3 instrument purchased for the Forensic Science Laboratory, Kristu Jayanti College and went through the installation procedures with the participants. The MiScope MP3 is a digital Forensic microscope which uses alternate light sources while magnifying images. It is highly useful in the field of Questioned Documents examination and is also suitable for studying biological specimen and physical evidences. It is a handy and portable device which can be very useful in field work as well.

The features, handling and troubleshooting of the device was explained elaborately by the resource people. The participants were also given hands-on time to work and learn about the equipment in detail.

Faculty development programme on “Understanding Cyber Space and Maintaining Safety”
A Faculty development programme on “Understanding Cyber Space and Maintaining Safety”, was organized by Unit of Forensic Science, Department of Life Sciences, Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous), Bengaluru. It was conducted from the 10th of June 2020 to 12th June 2020. The target audience was undergraduate, postgraduate students, research scholars, faculties of many other institutions and organizations. The cost of registration for the progamme was Rs 200 for those outside Kristu Jayanti College The number of participants attended the webinar were 58 from many institutions. The resource person Was Mr. Don Caeiro, Asst Professor, Unit of Forensic Science, Department of Life Sciences, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore. The session was arranged and hosted by Dr. Dileep Francis, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Kristu Jayanti College on the first day. The webinar was inaugurated by Vice Principal, Rev. Father Dr. Augustine George. The second session was arranged and hosted by Dr Neha Pandey, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Kristu Jayanti College, and the third day session was hosted and arranged by Dr Sangeetha Menon, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Kristu Jayanti College. On the third day the session was concluded and vote of thanks was delivered by Fr. Josekutty P D, Principal, Kristu Jayanti College. The programme spanned three days, covering specific topics. On the first day the session was about various incidents that can happen to any one of us who use the cyber space and the technology. Crimes like phishing, crimes involving banking transactions, exploitation of messaging applications that we use and many others. On the second day the resource person spoke on the basic functioning of the cyber space and what happens when we are connected to the various technology that we are using day in and day out. On the third day various methods of staying safe while using this technology was discussed that was very beneficial. Throughout the three session good examples and case studies were discussed that helped the audience understand the topic.