Following the tremendous success of the FDP( Faculty Development Program )on Dec 16 and 17 ,2016, TAPMI was proud to host the Second FDP on SEM (Structured Equation Modeling) using R Studio – For Research & Publications on October 7–8, 2017. The program was carried out as a workshop by Prof. Kartikeya Bolar, using hands on lab sessions with valid data sets and RStudio. The program was open to Faculty Members and Research Scholars. Dr. Kartikeya Bolar , has been conducting many faculty development programs/workshops and trained over 100 research scholars and faculty members on Structural Equation Modeling and Multivariate Data Analysis since last five years.

Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) has emerged as one of the most powerful approach/tool to look at relationships between data. Consider a situation where a series of dependent-independent relationships are examined simultaneously or a situation where the validity of the measure has to be established. These situations are typical in research in most disciplines like psychology, marketing, organizational and information systems research. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) provides the power to analyse such situations. In research publications, use of SEM is considered to be the epitome of rigor. Several software packages exist for fitting structural equation models like LISREL, Mplus, EQS and Amos. However either they are not easy to use; and even one is determined to master its complexity, the cost of the software would be too high to fit the pocket of the institute with adequate number of licenses for entire faculty. In contrast an open source software which is easy to use and available to everyone on an individual basis which one can use at will whenever was the logic for swinging to R.The learning outcomes of the program were as follows

• Create structural and measurement models using RStudio
• Determine the reliability and validity of the constructs
• Analyze the structural relationships between the constructs
• Integrate and post the results of the analysis appropriately in a research paper

The program was attended by 7 participants which included research scholars and faculty members from prestigious institutes at Surathkal, Goa and Coimbatore. and TAPMI. There was an inaugural address by Prof. Simon George, Dean , TAPMI. The participants provided written feedback about the program. Rating was provided by the participants on the scale of 1-5 on criteria such as Design of the program, Relevance of information for research, Quality of discussions and Overall Delivery of the learning outcomes The mean rating of the participants about the program is 4.1 out of 5. The participants appreciated the design of the program, the efforts and commitment of the resource person in conveying complex concepts with ease.