The Population Bomb is Still Ticking

In this interview, one of the world's best-known biologists, Paul R Ehrlich, answers questions from Dr John Richard Schrock.
Ehrlich is Bing Professor of Population Studies and President of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. He received his PhD from the University of Kansas. As co-founder with Peter H Raven of the field of co-evolution, Ehrlich has pursued long-term studies of the structure, dynamics and genetics of natural butterfly populations.
He has also been a pioneer in alerting the public to the problems of overpopulation and in raising issues of population, resources and the environment as matters of public policy. A central focus of his group is investigating ways that human-disturbed landscapes can be made more hospitable to biodiversity.
The Ehrlich group's policy research on the population-resource-environment crisis takes a broad overview of the world situation but also works intensively in such areas of immediate legislative interests as endangered species and the preservation of genetic resources. A special interest of Ehrlich's is cultural evolution, especially with respect to environmental ethics.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0105 13 Desember 2009

Military of Indonesia Seeks Help from Top Universities

David Jardine
In an attempt to boost their professionalism, Indonesia's sometimes notorious armed forces - the TNI - have agreed to cooperate with the Ministry of National Education. The ministry will direct TNI to top state universities that it hopes will aid the military in achieving its aims.
Sceptics have pointed out the TNI has yet to be taken to account for the late 1990s killings of demonstrating university students in Jakarta and the disappearance of some 14 activists at the hands of the Army Special Forces, Kopassus.
Colonel Guntur Wahyudi, a spokesman for the military, said the planned co-operation with the national education ministry would be part of a TNI drive "to be more professional and innovative". "It is the ministry that will direct us to universities that fit our needs," Wahyudi said.
Under the plan, some university lecturers from top state institutions will teach at the Indonesian Military Staff and Command College in West Java. Among the areas Wahyudi has pinpointed are management skills, technology and human rights.
Given the abuses for which the TNI is known, the latter reference can either be seen as a breakthrough or a cynical ploy. Whether inclusion of human rights on the proposed scheme of co-operation brings about an improvement in the TNI's abysmal rights record remains to be seen. It most certainly poses a challenge to the academics charged with teaching the programme.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0104 06 Desember 2009

PhD Explosion in China Accompanied by Quality Fears

Often overlooked in the 'miracle' of China's rapid economic development over the past three decades is the 'miracle' of the massive number of PhD graduates it now produces, reports Stephen Wong for Asia Times. China is expected to replace Japan as the world's second biggest economy after the US this year or the next in terms of gross domestic product. But by 2008, it had already surpassed the US as the world's top producer of PhD holders - despite postgraduate programmes only resuming in 1978 after the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.
Unlike national pride over China's economic success, the expansion of PhD programmes is viewed with suspicion, due to allegations that corruption in the education system has severely compromised academic standards.
According to statistics released by Yang Yuliang, the director of the Academic Degree Commission under the State Council, China's first PhD programmes in 1978 had only 18 candidates. In 1982, the first doctorates were awarded to six of the 18. Since then enrolment in PhD programmes has grown by some 23.4% annually and by the end of 2007 China had awarded 240,000 doctorates. But the number of qualified professors needed to supervise doctoral programmes has not kept pace, raising fears that quantity is not being matched by quality. According to Yang, each qualified Chinese professor has to supervise 5.77 doctorate candidates, much higher than the international level.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0103 29 November 2009

Harmonised Test goes International

Anca Gurzu
Asia is witnessing a dramatic increase in demand for graduate business education as more candidates in the region are writing an American standardised admission test and choosing to study closer to home. A new analysis released by the Graduate Management Admission Council, known as GMAC, the US-based association representing leading graduate business schools worldwide, shows that the number of students in Asia taking its graduate management admission test has increased 75% between 2005 and 2009.
This demand has outpaced that of all other regions. North America saw a 30% increase in examinations taken during the same period, Europe increased by 25%, and the Middle East and Africa by 43%.
"In Asia, especially India and China, we are seeing both a rapid economic growth rate and a population boom," says Alex Chisholm, a senior analyst at the council. "Having a graduate education gives people the ability to stand out and get a better job."
The test, created in 1954, is a critical part of the admission process for many business schools around the world. According to the council, the test was taken 265,613 times worldwide in the testing year 2009 (ending in June), bringing the global test volume up 7.55% from the previous year.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0102 22 November 2009

Isalmic World: Plan to Reform Nations’ Universities

Wagdy Sawahel
The 57 Islamic states have approved a plan to upgrade their universities as a means of achieving world-class status, as well as reforming them to become "functional developmental institutes" providing valuable resources for business, industry and society.
The plan was announced at a workshop, Achieving Excellence in Higher Education, in Ifrane in Morocco earlier this month. It was organised by the Islamic development bank of the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and Al-Akhawayn University. The conference consists of countries from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Caucasus, Balkans, Southeast Asia and South Asia.
The aim of the plan is to build a critical mass of world-class scientists and technologists in targeted science and technology areas, while also promoting relevant research and development outcomes for the private sector.
Fifteen institutions, five from Africa, Asia and the Arab world, were identified to carry out the upgrades and reform, and to promote scientific research in agriculture, nanotechnology and information and communication technologies.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0101 15 November 2009

Indonesia: Call to Not Revoke University Entry Test

The Regional Representatives Council, or DPD, has urged Indonesia's Education Minister Muhammad Nuh to delay a plan to recruit state university students based on their national final school examination results, writes Hasyim Widhiarto for The Jakarta Post. State universities currently recruit most of their students through admission tests.
Sulistiyo, head of a DPD committee overseeing education, religion and people's welfare, said last week that the plan required a thorough discussion with experts and schools before its implementation.
It was "common" for schools to violate national examination procedure to help their students pass the test, which meant school-leaving results did not actually represent the real achievements of students, Sulistiyo said in a statement.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0100 08 November 2009

Indonesia: $29 Million Nanotech Initiative

Wagdy Sawahel
Indonesia will spend US$29 million to foster communication between industry and universities to encourage the use of nanotechnology and improve the nation’s industrial competitiveness.
The initiative was announced by the Ministry of National Education which will provide $26.5 million with the remaining funding ($1.59 million) coming from the Ministry of Industry.
The fund will be used to support 60 nanotech research projects in universities and research centres, focusing on applications for industry including ceramics, textiles, food, environment, energy, and information technology and communications. The research projects will be identified by the Indonesian Nanotechnology Society, Masyarakat Nanoteknologi Indonesia or MNI, which is staffed by industry representatives and academics.
Zulkarnain Jalil of the graduate school of materials science at the University of Indonesia said the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology was planning an integrated and coordinated national effort from government, academia, industry and public.
As well as the nanotech fund, several strategic initiatives were needed, including strengthening policy-making institutions and formulating nanotech policy guidelines, establishing research and educational institutions and infrastructure and formulating scientific human resource development plans, he said.
The MNI promotes nanotechnology in Indonesia and organises awards to honour researchers, technologists and policy-makers who have developed, published, and facilitated nanotechnology. It also coordinates a number of research and educational projects including one for early education in nanoscience for young students.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0099 1 November 2009

Male Decline Continues

Geoff Maslen
For the past 20 years, the Australian higher education student population has been dominated by women who have increased their numerical superiority over males year by year until now they comprise nearly 58% of the total student body. A mere four of the 12 fields of university study now enrol more men than women and that could soon be reduced to two, leaving engineering and IT the only places on campus where males are in the majority.
As is the case across most of the developed world, women have long held top spot in the 'typically female' professions of education and health (where three out of four Australian students are women), food and hospitality, the arts and humanities, and creative arts (where almost two in every three are female).
But for most of this decade, women have also outnumbered their male counterparts who used to occupy most seats in the physical sciences lecture rooms and in agriculture and environmental sciences. Not any longer: in the natural and physical sciences, women comprise 54% of the students and in the other field they make up just over half.
In management and commerce, women are closing the gender divide with almost 49% of enrolments although they lag behind in architecture (40:60%).
Even among postgraduates undertaking higher degrees by research, 54% of the students are women while in the other postgraduate courses they hold a substantial 57% lead over the males.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0098 25 October 2009

School the Cause of Male Minority?

Philip Fine
For the last 10 years, Canadian women have enrolled in university at a greater rate than their male counterparts. That steady climb seems to have abated slightly but their numbers are still so high questions are being asked why so many men are not enrolling.
This summer, Statistics Canada released its latest enrolment figures from the 2007-08 academic year showing a general slowing from past years. The 0.6% increase in total enrolments was down from the past decade's annual average increase of 2.9%. While growth in female enrolments was negligible, with a 0.1% increase, this compared with the 1.3% for males.
But the rise in male enrolment means little on Canadian campuses where women still far outnumber men: the StatsCan figures reveal that of the almost 1.1 million university students, 613,600, or 57.5%, were female and 452,600 or 42.4% were male. The same proportion of women to men has remained constant since 2002-03.
At the graduate level, women made up 55% of master's students but, as in the previous seven years, they are in the minority among doctoral students, at 46%.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0098 25 October 2009

Spanish Flu Remedy Kills Swine Flu Virus

To overcome the shortage of Tamiflu - the World Health Organization's drug of choice for treating people infected with the H1N1swine flu virus - and the controversial swine flu vaccine, Chinese and Egyptian scientists have turned to a herbal remedy used to combat the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
They have discovered the roots of a plant commonly called "devil's dung" for its foul smell contain substances with powerful effects in killing the H1N1 swine flu virus in laboratory tests.
Lead researcher Yang-Chang Wu, from the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan, and colleagues identified a group of chemical compounds, sesquiterpene coumarins, in extracts of the devil's dung plant that showed strong antiviral properties against the H1N1 swine flu virus in test tubes.
The devil's dung plant, Ferula assa-foetida, grows and is used in folk medicine in Mediterranean and central Asian countries, particularly Iran, Afghanistan and mainland China.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0097 18 October 2009

Revolutionising Higher Education

Universities need to transform in various ways if they are to respond effectively to the socio-economic and technological demands of today's world, according to internationally respected scholar Manuel Castells. But despite the many challenges and opportunities facing universities, many "continue to be corporatist and bureaucratic", rigid in their functioning and primarily concerned with defending their own and professors' interests.
The global knowledge economy and society is based on processing information, which is also what universities are primarily about, Castells said during a lecture on higher education delivered at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa recently.
"Therefore the quality, effectiveness and relevance of the university system will be directly related to the ability of people, society and institutions to develop."
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0096 11 October 2009

Who Owns IP, University or Researcher?

The question whether a university or its employees own the intellectual property in inventions is not a new one. It has been around for a long time, has been the subject of many disputes and judicial decisions, and with the increasing commerc ialisation of universities, the involvement of several institutions in one project and the hunger for research funds and venture capital, it is not going to become any easier.
To some extent, a recent decision by the Federal Court of Australia in the University of Western Australia v Gray provides some guidance on the issues involved; if it does not provide an automatic answer to all cases where the question arises, it at least gives a clear guide to individuals and institutions as to what they should not do and what they should try to do to protect their positions.
In short: do not rely on implied terms being read into a contract of employment and do make sure that as far as possible, a written contract of employment sets out precisely the rights and duties of institutions and employees and who will be entitled to intellectual property in inventions and other products of the work of the researcher.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0096 11 October 2009

The Global Crisis of Capitalism

The global crisis of capitalism, fully revealed in 2008, has been brewing for some time and is a structural crisis of 'informational capitalism' because it affects the heart of the system - the global and all interdependent financial markets. It will not bring down capitalism, according to renowned scholar Manuel Castells, "but is going to change it fundamentally".
The responsibility of scholars "is to help define the roots of the crisis and explore possible paths towards a more sustainable world."
Castells lectured on the crisis of capitalism at Stellenbosch University during a trip to South Africa as a guest of the Cape Higher Education Consortium, the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study and the Centre for Higher Education Transformation.
He said capitalism had been transformed over the last three decades and it was important to try to understand the dramatic moments of this transformation in terms of the current, new form of financial and economic crisis.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0096 11 October 2009

Professors Must Work 40 Hours a Week in India

Professors and university lecturers must clock up 40 hours a week, reports The Times of India. It is also mandatory for them to be 'physically' available on campus for at least five hours a day. India's University Grants Commission has set the academic workload at all universities in new regulations.
The new rules are set in the Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education Regulations 2009.
The commission ruled that the workload of university teachers in full employment should not be less than 40 hours a week, for 30 working weeks (180 teaching days) in an academic year. To promote research, every teacher must earmark a minimum of six hours per week for research activities. However, there is a relaxation of two hours in the workload for professors actively involved in extension and administration. These rules come into force immediately.
Full report on The Times of India site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0095 04 October 2009

Quality Assurance Makes Significant Headway

In its first report on progress in quality assurance in higher education, the European Commission has pointed to significant developments towards greater transparency and credibility over the past few years. Progress has not only been made in the way universities deal internally with quality assurance, but also on external evaluation of institutions and programmes. Many new national quality assurance agencies have been established and there is increased awareness of European standards and guidelines on quality assurance.
Ján Figel, the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, said in a statement: "Quality assurance is vital for making European higher education attractive and trustworthy, in line with the objectives of the EU modernisation agenda for higher education and the Bologna Process. Globalisation, economic integration and increased academic and professional mobility are making mutual recognition and cross-border quality assurance increasingly important. As a consequence, higher education is becoming more transparent and credible for citizens, employers and students within and outside Europe.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0094 27 September 2009

Improving Student Retention

As a key performance indicator in university quality assurance processes, the retention of students in their studies is an issue of concern worldwide. Implicit in the process of quality assurance is quality improvement. In an article titled "Improving student retention in higher education", published in the latest edition of Australian Universities' Review, authors Glenda Crosling, Margaret Heagney and Liz Thomas examine student retention from a teaching and learning perspective, in terms of approaches that have an impact on students' decisions to continue with or withdraw from their studies. Ways are discussed in which student engagement can be facilitated through teaching and learning programmes.
The authors point out, in conclusion, that the collection of statistical data on student retention is alone limited in its impact on educational quality improvement, which is implicit in quality assurance objectives. One way to improve quality in regard to student retention is to identify influences and causes of student retention and attrition. Engaging students in their studies has been identified as important in retaining students and stemming attrition. Institutions have shared responsibility to facilitate student engagement.
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Source: University World News,Issue No: 0094 27 September 2009

Indonesia: Top Academic Supported Militarism

David Jardine
An Australian academic’s book about Indonesia’s military reveals the alleged role of a leading academic and university rector in spinning history in favour of militarism and the dictatorship. Nugroho Notosusanto, one-time rector of the University of Indonesia and Minister of Education under Suharto, is the subject.
In 1945, when Indonesia proclaimed its independence from the Netherlands, it had no army-in-waiting, indeed no police, nothing at all in the way of a formal apparatus of repression or defence. The leadership was essentially anti-militarist and in the case of Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir, avowedly anti-fascist.
Twenty years later the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) submerged the nation's leftists, principally but not solely the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in a bloodbath that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
That bitter episode continues to be the target of official obfuscation and falsification. The shameful 2007 burnings of school history texts offering alternative versions of the events of 1965-66 demonstrate a continuum between democratic Indonesia and Suharto's New Order, at least where presentation of uncomfortable truths is concerned. The spectre of the New Order continues to hover above writers and historians.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0093 20 September 2009

Unexpected Philosophers

When you think of successful university careers, you might think of presidents, provosts and deans; when you think of the wisdom to be found on campus, you’re likely to think of professors sharing the fruits of their decades of research on chemistry, classics, or quantum mechanics, writes Serena Golden for Inside Higher Ed. You almost certainly won’t think of the folks cleaning the bathrooms, washing the floors, and changing the trash bags. Might you be missing something?
Patrick Shen thought so. While working on a previous film, Shen - who works at Transcendental Media, the independent film company he founded, as a director and producer of documentaries - interviewed Sheldon Solomon, a professor of psychology at Skidmore College. During one conversation, Solomon remarked - Shen told Inside Higher Ed - "that he is often mistaken for a homeless person because of the way he dresses and wears his hair long. That got me thinking about what wisdom we might find from the people on the fringes of society." So, along with his co-producer, Greg Bennick, Shen set out to make a film about the wisdom of people whom we rarely think of as wise. The two called colleges and universities across the United States to ask if they could interview the janitors.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0091 06 September 2009

Study of Humanities Neglected in Universities

Higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates say they want to correct an “imbalance” in the types of courses students are being offered and make more humanities subjects available, write Daniel Bardsley and Hassan Hassan in The National. There should be more science and liberal arts courses, officials said, as figures showed that more than 60% of programmes at universities were in business, information technology and engineering.
A study by the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) found that business administration courses made up 25% of the total offered by universities. Information technology and computer engineering courses constituted 19%, while engineering accounted for 18%. In all, 276 university courses were analysed.
The study excluded the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and the forthcoming New York University Abu Dhabi, each of which has a humanities focus. It also did not include universities in free zones such as Dubai International Academic City or Ras al Khaimah Free Trade Zone.
More on the The National site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0091 06 September 2009

Indonesia: Private Universities Under Threat

David Jardine
Some 700 private universities in Indonesia have been put on notice by the Ministry of National Education that their accreditation will be withdrawn if they do not quickly comply with regulations. The universities are under instructions to re-register with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
Many of Indonesia's 2,700 private universities are run by foundations known as yayasan, which are essentially charities. Yayasan have a rather controversial history especially as the late dictator Suharto used a network of more than 100 of them to hide revenues and to move them around.
Weak law enforcement has made it difficult to police such foundations. The National Education Ministry, however, gave the foundation-run higher education institutes three years up to December 2008 to complete the re-registration process that would bring them under proper supervision but the 700 are still apparently dragging their feet.
Universities are being given the option of changing their status by severing ties with the foundations that run them by becoming managed educational agencies (BHPP) or public educational agencies (BHPM). This would bring them into line with the 2009 Law on Autonomy for Educational Institutions passed last year by the House of Representatives.
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Source: University World News,Issue No: 0090 30 August 2009

Virtual Textbooks Transforming Education

The sound of students flipping through textbook pages may soon be a thing of the past, writes David Wylie for Canwest News Service. Instead, university and college students may be using their index fingers to silently scroll through virtual textbooks they've downloaded to their iPhone or iPod Touch. More than 7,000 post-secondary textbooks from 12 large publishers can now be downloaded though CourseSmart LLC for about half the cost of printed versions.
The textbooks cover courses offered in Canada and the United States. "Textbooks right now are very much a print business, but more and more students are aware that they have a choice," said Frank Lyman, executive vice-president of CourseSmart. "I don't think it's the end of the print textbook business. But for a lot of students out there, this is a better way to learn and study, and it's a better fit for their lifestyle. It really is taking off very broadly."
CourseSmart, created in 2007 by a handful of publishers, already has hundreds of thousands of users throughout North America. Students subscribe to the service, paying a fee to access digital textbooks through their laptops and cell phones. With the addition of the free iTunes app, which went live last weekend, CourseSmart subscribers can now also use their portable Apple touch-screen devices.
Full report on the Canada.com site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0089 16 August 2009

E-research to Revolutionise Humanities

An online tool to be designed by a researcher at the University of Western Australia will enable a scholar in a remote part of the globe, or even an astronaut with some free time, to access the world's rare medieval vellum manuscripts and carry out in-depth investigations with just a few clicks.Dr Toby Burrows, Digital Services Director of the ARC Network for Early European Research, hopes the day will soon come when a humanities scholar will also be able to explore a whole body of data to conduct intensive research without having to leave his or her desk. "While many scientists have access to massive worldwide e-research datasets, the humanities have lagged behind - until now," Burrows said. He has been awarded funding to help him continue his work in improving the effectiveness and applicability of e-research in the humanities. His project is in collaboration with the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Sheffield, which, like UWA, is a member of the 16-strong research-intensive Worldwide Universities Network."Humanities scholars have been using computers for 60 years," Burrows said. "A Jesuit priest, Father Roberto Busa, was the first to digitise medieval texts, copying the works of Thomas Aquinas into a computer in a way not dissimilar to the early monks who painstakingly copied the Bible word by word." Now there are large numbers of humanities resources available in digital form. "Almost every English book published between 1473 and 1800 has now been digitised, for example, but this does not add up to e-research in the scientific sense," he said."We need to add new layers to this. The sources of data need to be joined up, to enable researchers to pose large-scale questions across the whole corpus of material. The best way forward involves the use of Semantic Web technologies: uniquely identifying objects, people and concepts, constructing graphs to describe and navigate the relationship between them; and linking them to all kinds of relevant digital data."The Humanities Research Institute at Sheffield uses text-mining software to identify, extract and encode personal names found in more than 190,000 digitised pages of The Old Bailey Proceedings Online. "Sheffield is one of the leaders in this field," said Burrows. "Designed and conceptualised properly, e-research holds out great promise for the humanities."
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0087 02 August 2009

Ranking Webometrics Unpad Juli 2009: Melorot Lagi Menjadi Ranking ke-3142

Rilis ranking webometrics akhir Juli 2009, menempatkan UNPAD hanya pada peringkat ke-3142 di tingkat dunia dari sekitar 17.000 perguruan tinggi yang dievaluasi. Jika dibandingkan dengan rilis Januari 2009 yang menduduki ranking ke-2730, berarti ada penurunan peringkat sebesar 412 tingkat. Untungnya tidak anjlok hingga seperti setahun sebelumnya, yaitu pada bulan Juli 2008 yang hanya menduduki ranking ke-4110.
Dengan peringkat seperti di atas, Unpad masih jauh untuk bisa masuk ke kelompok 100 universitas top Asia berdasarkan pemeringkatan webometrics. Bahkan kali ini yang masih bisa bertahan di 100 besar Asia, hanya diwakili oleh UGM yang menempati ranking ke-72. Sedangkan ITB, yang pada semester lalu masih masuk top 100 Asia kali ini terdegradasi.
Di Asia Tenggara pun Unpad hanya berada pada posisi ranking ke-90, sebagai salah satu dari 19 perguruan tinggi Indonesia yang masuk 100 top Asia Tenggara. Sementara di tingkat Nasional, Unpad hanya berada pada ranking ke-17. Padahal pada periode sebelumnya, posisi Unpad menduduki ranking ke-12 (Januari 2009) dan ranking ke-16 (Juli 2008).
Webometrics memakai 4 kriteria penilaian. 1. Size (S), banyaknya halaman yang dapat dicari oleh searching engine Google, Yahoo, Live Search, dan Exalead. 2. Visibility (V), banyaknya unique eksternal links. 3. Rich File (R), penilaian terhadap aktivitas akademik dan banyaknya publikasi baik dalam bentuk pdf, ps, doc, maupun ppt. 4. Scholar (Sc), banyaknya paper, laporan penelitian, dan sitasi.
Untuk masing-masing kriteria, Unpad memiliki ranking: 2172 (S), 3884 (V), 3548 (R), dan 3764 (Sc). Jika dibandingkan dengan sebelumnya, sebetulnya telah terjadi peningkatan ranking dari kriteria-kriteria tersebut, kecuali kriteria (V) yang melorot dari ranking ke-3689 menjadi ke-3884. Artinya Unpad harus berusaha untuk lebih meningkat unique eksternal link-nya.

Bubble Trouble in the Humanities

Philip Gerrans
The cause of the meltdown in global financial markets is obvious: leveraged trading in financial instruments that bear no relationship to the things they are supposed to be secured against. When creditors finally ask how much bonds secured by collateralised debt obligations backed by billions of dollars of mortgages are actually worth, the answer is what the buildings can be sold for. In some cases, nothing. In many cases, the buildings are no more than weed-covered lots or graphics in a developer’s PowerPoint presentation. Article originally published in the Times Higher Education.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, EducatioIssue No: 0086 26 July 2009

Detecting Plagiarism and Collusion

Geoff Maslen
A Melbourne educationist has developed a free plagiarism and collusion detection tool called DOC Cop that can be used to check files against one another or against material on the web. The system does not retain any material submitted for investigation.
Inventor Mark McCrohon says that Doc Cop is ideal for ad hoc use by academics, bloggers, editors, journalists, researchers, students, teachers and writers. He says the system requires only an email address to get started and is in use within institutions and by individuals around the world.
"I worked at the University of Melbourne from 1998 to 2005 developing educational software for the web. I am currently a postgraduate student in the field of education," McCrohon told University World News.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0085 19 July 2009

Free Help for Developing Nation Researchers

John Gerritsen
A group of undergraduates is hoping to make a difference in the world by offering a free editing service to help researchers from developing nations get their work published in mainstream English language journals.
SciEdit was launched in February by the Journal of Young Investigators, a peer-reviewed, non-profit science journal run by students around the world and based in the US. The SciEdit service offers free manuscript proof reading and editing in order to increase the likelihood research from scientists in non-English speaking and developing nations will be accepted by English language publications.
Editor-in-Chief Alexander Nikolich Patananan, a doctoral student in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said SciEdit had so far attracted about 10 manuscripts. But, because of their quality, none had actually been reviewed.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0084 12 July 2009

Redefining Knowledge and Development

After 10 years of analysising systems around the world, the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge needs to redefine key concepts that underpin research and innovation and their contributions to development. Profiles and analyses of emerging knowledge systems in low- and middle-income nations have provided a vital building block – but it is limited in usefulness as the basis for new and more effective ways of linking knowledge with development for the benefit of developing nations.
Attention to lists of research gaps that emerged in the work of the Forum is likely to be valuable but does not necessarily constitute a basis for a different theory on knowledge and development, and a different practice that is better suited to the needs of low- and middle-income countries, writes Mala Sing in the final chapter of Forum's Research Report.It is time to rethink and re-theorise concepts such as what "counts as development within a Knowledge Society", and "what knowledge counts for development", she argues in a chapter titled "On the Way from the Forum: A future research agenda".
Full article on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Special Edition, Issue No: 0001 1 July 2009

Indonesia: Plans for ‘World’s Largest Library’

David Jardine
The University of Indonesia, the country's leading higher education institution, has announced spectacular plans to build "the largest library in Asia, possibly the world", according to a university spokesperson. Work on the library is to begin later this year.
In a country without a deep-rooted reading culture, although the national literacy rate is far above what it was in Dutch colonial times, this is indeed ambitious and possibly rather reckless. UI will be taking on a student body with much the same indifference to book reading as the wider public, although proponents of the library, to be built at Depok outside Jakarta, are optimistic.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0082 28 June 2009

On-line Forum Prior to World Conference

In the run-up to next week’s Unesco World Conference on Higher Education*, a series of regional meetings refined the themes to internationalism, regionalism and globalisation, as well as equity, access and quality and, finally, learning, research and innovation. Officials regarded the consultative process as highly productive but they also wanted to broaden the debate while ensuring the discussions reached the broadest consensus on practical solutions proposed. As part of this process, Unesco organised a three-week online internet forum ahead of the conference so the issues raised could be fed into conference debates.
Georges Haddad, Director of Unesco's Higher Education Division, said: "The objective of this forum was to contribute to the work of the conference by broadening and sharpening the debate on the future of higher education with a view to extending it beyond the conference itself - opening the windows to new thoughts, ideas and solutions that will inform policy making at system and institutional levels and empower the younger generation of thinkers and higher education leaders."
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0082 28 June 2009

US$400 Million to Build Vietnam World-class Universities

‘New model’, ‘high-quality’ and ‘quick access to international standard’ were phrases used by Tran Thi Ha, Director of the University Education Department in the Ministry of Education and Training, when talking about plans to build four world-class universities.
Ha said one of the four universities of international standard will be the Vietnam-Germany University, which has been operating in HCM City with Germany being the main partner. The second university will be the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, whose strategic partner will be the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.
The Ministry is moving ahead with a plan to establish two universities of international standard in Da Nang and Can Tho cities, whose strategic partners will be the Da Nang and Can Tho universities. Strategic partners will also be selected from the US, Japan and Russia. The government will spend $400 million sourced from loans from the World Bank and Asia Development Bank to build the four universities.
Full report on the VietNamNet Bridge site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0081 21 June 2009

Ujian Perbaikan Sosiologi 2009

Mahasiswa Fapet angkatan 2008 yg ikut kuliah Sosiologi di Kelas D, diberi kesempatan untuk melakukan Ujian Perbaikan.
Pada hari Senin 22 Juni 2009, jam 10.30, di Gd.2, Ruangan Pak Nugraha.
Ujian LISAN...!
Mahasiswa yang diberi kesempatan ujian perbaikan adalah mahasiswa angk 2008 dengan NPM: 0125 - 0126 - 0130 - 0134 - 0138 - 0139 - 0145 - 0147 - 0154 (lisan+tertulis) - 0155.

Why Boys Can't Keep Up With Girls

Is the future female? asks Lee Elliot Major in The Guardian. Ten years ago I wrote an article for the New Statesman magazine predicting as much, on the back of figures showing women for the first time making up the majority of university admissions - a transformation from the exclusive preserve of white, middle- and upper-class males that made up academe as little as 50 years ago.
Last week, a report by the Higher Education Policy Institute once again documented the relentless rise of girls in the educational stakes. Females now outperform males on just about every higher education indicator, at every university in the land (with the exception of Oxbridge entry, where the sexes remain tied), and in most degree subjects.
The educational gender gap has emerged as a worrying trend. Female pupils outnumber males two-to-one, for example, on university summer schools, the week-long visits to encourage more non-privileged students to consider elite research universities. The annual surveys of 11- to 16-year-olds, meanwhile, show that boys consistently lag behind girls in their aspirations to go onto higher education.
Full report on The Guardian site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0080 14 June 2009

Sensus: Sebuah Metode atau Hanya Sekedar Teknik Pengambilan Data

Nugraha Setiawan

Dalam wacana metodologi penelitian yang sering mencuat mengenai terminologi sensus adalah, apakah sensus merupakan sebuah metode penelitian atau hanya sekedar teknik pengambilan data. Penulis sendiri berpendapat bahwa sensus adalah sebuah metode. Penjelasan ringkasnya sebagai berikut:

Buku-buku metode penelitian sekarang ini, jarang yang membahas mengenai sensus. Berbeda sekali dengan survey, sehingga pada saat ini survey lebih akrab dengan para peneliti. Padahal sensus itu sendiri berkembang jauh lebih awal dibandingkan dengan survey. Hasil telaah kepustakaan mengenai ini menyatakan, sensus modern telah berkembang sejak 1810-an, sementara survey modern baru berkembang sejak 1960-an (Shryock dan Siegel, 1976).

Kembali pada perdebatan mengenai sensus, ada baiknya menyimak beberapa definisi berikut ini:

“A CENSUS is the complete enumeration of a population or groups at a point in time with respect to well defined characteristics, for example: population census is the total process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analysing and publishing or otherwise disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specified time, to all persons in a country or in a well delimited part of a country.”

“A SURVEY is an investigation about the characteristics of a given population by means of collecting data from a sample of that population and estimating their characteristics through the systematic use of statistical methodology.”

Referensi:
(1) Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations (UNECE), "Terminology on Statistical Metadata", Conference of European Statisticians Statistical Standards and Studies, No. 53, Geneva, 2000.
(2) Shryock, J.S. dan J.S. Siegel, “The Methods and Materials of Demography”, Academic Press, New York, 1976.
(3) The International Statistical Institute, “The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms”, edited by Yadolah Dodge, Oxford University Press, 2003.

Indonesia: Special Scheme's Growth Impedes Access

Students from poor families will likely find it increasingly difficult to enter state-owned universities in Indonesia in the coming years, as the number of seats offered through special entrance schemes – which require higher admission fees – are steadily increasing, writes Yuli Tri Suwarni for The Jakarta Post.
The Bandung Institute of Technology, for example, will offer 1,140 of its total 2,985 seats (or 38%) to students who pass a special entrance test this academic year. As of 2004, just 13% to 20% of seats were made available through this scheme. The Indonesian Education University makes some 80% or 3,500 of a total of 4,205 seats available through special - a marked rise from the 40% it offered in 2007.
Asep Gana Suganda, secretary of the local committee of the 2009 university entrance tests (SNMPTN) said the committee only printed 28,000 application forms because of the increasing trend of students choosing to take special entrance tests over the national test. Over 55,000 students took the regular tests in 2001, but just 28,000 took it last year.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0079 07 June 2009

US-Islamic World: Obama's Cooperation Plan

Wagdy Sawahel
US President Barack Obama has announced a plan for promoting cooperation between the US and Islamic States in higher education, science, technology and innovation in a bid to promote the development of a knowledge-based society in the Muslim world.
Obama launched the plan during his historic address, A new beginning, at the University of Cairo last Thursday: "All of us must recognise that education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century and in too many Muslim communities there remains under-investment in these areas", he said. The US president called for "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims", declaring that Americans "were ready to join with citizens and governments, community organisations, religious leaders and businesses in Muslim communities to help our people pursue a better life".
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0079 07 June 2009

Ibu Prita Mulyasari Menulis di Internet: Ditahan Karena Mengeluhkan Pelayanan Rumah Sakit OMNI

Seorang Ibu membuat sebuah tulisan di dunia maya, yang berisi keluhan dengan bahasa yang menurut saya sangat santun dan apa adanya tentang pelayanan yang dirasa tidak memuaskan dari sebuah rumah sakit. Substansi yang ditulis oleh Ibu Prita Mulyasari pada intinya hanya mengeluhkan pelayanan rumah sakit, namun pihak rumah sakit tidak senang dan merasa terusik dengan tulisan tersebut, sehingga berusaha untuk memenjarakan Ibu Prita.
Sangat Ironis. Bagi saya ini merupakan cerminan carut-marutnya hukum di Indonesia dan hegemoni kekuatan ekonomi. Konsumen jasa yang seyogyanya di dunia beradab mendapatkan pelayanan yang baik, di negeri kita malah sengaja dibungkam hak-haknya.
Saya sarankan pembaca tulisan ini untuk mendukung Ibu Prita, paling tidak dukungan do'a agar tetap diberi kekuatan untuk menegakkan hak-hak konsumen. Namun kalau pembaca penasaran dan ingin membaca tulisan lengkapnya seperti apa, silakan KLIK Tulisan lengkap yang dibuat Ibu Prita Mulyasari (detikom)

The Business of Higher Education in US

Timothy McGettigan
Professor of Sociology at Colorado State University
In recent years, colleges and universities have encountered increasing pressure to operate like businesses. As the logic goes, businesses must survive in a cut-throat climate of unfettered competition and thus their organisations need to be leaner, more efficient and more responsive to the needs of their customers than not-for-profit organisations, such as colleges and universities.
In the unforgiving crucible of free market competition, only the fittest businesses (for example, those that deliver the highest quality products at fair market value), will survive. Of course, the seemingly endless government bail-outs following the 2008 financial crash cast a dubious light on the above claims, nevertheless, the notion that higher education should embrace a more business-like organizational philosophy remains deeply entrenched.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0078 31 May 2009

Indonesia: Universities Defend Foreign Med Students

Several state universities have hit back at comments from controversial Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari that medical schools should limit the number of foreign students studying medicine in Indonesia to make way for more local students, reports the Jakarta Globe.
Suryo Baskoro, a spokesman for Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, said that aside from the financial benefits, accepting foreign students increased trust in the quality of local education and contributed to creating an international atmosphere on campus, which benefited the students. "I see [local] students communicating with their international friends," he said. "They don't need to go abroad anymore for this experience."He said that by law, 10% of seats in a particular course, including medicine, could be allocated to foreign students. His university has 822 foreign students, about half of whom are enrolled in the medical school. The students pay up to $12,000 annually - far more than local students - once they are accepted into the highly competitive programme.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0077 24 May 2009

Indonesia: Dispute Over Foreign Students

David Jardine
An inter-ministerial battle has broken out over the number of foreign students taking up places in the country’s university medical faculties. The row involves the Ministry of National Education and the Heath Ministry with the Health Minister claiming the number of foreign medical students disadvantages Indonesians.
Siti Fadilah Supari is no stranger to controversy as it was she who refused to participate in international research into the H5N1 bird flu virus by blocking the release of tissue from Indonesian virus fatalities. She claimed at the time that the only beneficiaries would the big pharmaceutical firms.
In her latest intervention, Supari claimed the number of foreign medical students was disadvantageous to Indonesians. She has urged universities admitting foreign students to review their policies so more places are available for local would-be medics.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0076 17 May 2009

Animal Research Helps Animals too

John Richard Schrock
Last month, the FBI released a wanted poster on America’s first domestic terrorist. Daniel Andreas San Diego, an animal rights extremist, is being sought for alleged arson attacks on biotechnology companies in California. The FBI is offering a bounty of up to $250,000 for information leading to his arrest. The warrant highlights the issue of whether animals should be used in experiments intended to help humans.
Kansas is not California, a statement most Kansans are proud to assert. Membership in extreme animal rights organisations in Kansas is very low and most Kansans are at most only two or three relatives away from someone who works in an animal industry, from ranchers to meat processing to rodeo to pharmaceutical testing near Kansas City.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0075 10 May 2009

Indonesia-Australia: Higher Education Plays Diplomatic Role

David Jardine
Australia and Indonesia bind their sometimes strained relationship through Canberra’s progressive aid programme in higher education. Bill Farmer, Australian Ambassador to Jakarta, recently announced that Canberra was offering 300 postgraduate scholarships in Australia to Indonesian students.
There have been numerous low points in the relationship between the two massive neighbours, not least during and just after the 32-year Suharto dictatorship ended in 1998 amid turmoil on university campuses. Perhaps the most critical of those lows occurred during Indonesia's brutal occupation of East Timor and with the Bali and Australian embassy bombings.
The role that cooperation in higher education can play in binding wounds should not be underestimated. Farmer, for his part, clearly understands this, telling the Indonesian media,
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0075 10 May 2009

China: Universities to Test Morals, Knowledge

Universities will look beyond a student’s academic achievements to include moral and social efforts under new entrance guidelines announced on Monday, writes Liang Qiwen for China Daily. The Ministry of Education said results from the annual national college entrance examination would not be the sole criteria when assessing prospective university students.
Dai Jiagan, director of the Ministry of Education's examination centre, said students would have to undertake an overall scholastic assessment, and a comprehensive evaluation of other factors including their moral outlook, sport capabilities and social work.
Dai did not reveal when the new guidelines would be rolled out across the country, but said that provinces and cities that joined the curriculum reform program would be the first to introduce the new system. So far, 11 provinces and cities, including Guangdong and Shanghai, have joined the curriculum reform. Beijing will join next year.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0074 03 May 2009

Swine Flu Spreads Alarm in Higher Education

Geoff Maslen
The Mexican government last week ordered the closure of all universities and schools across the country as fears of a worldwide pandemic caused by the swine flu outbreak spread around the globe. The government’s Health Secretariat issued the closure order to apply from last Monday and more than 2.5 million university students and 30 million school students were immediately affected – the first nationwide shutdown of education institutions in Mexico’s history.
The increasing spread of the swine flu has led to a dozen US universities withdrawing students on exchange programmes in Mexico and to cancelling planned visits and seminars, although most institutions have taken a 'wait-and-see' attitude. Universities in other countries, whose governments have warned their citizens against travelling to the Americas, are likewise considering abandoning visits and exchanges.
Nations around the world are closely monitoring the outbreak after the World Health Organization raised its alert level and warned that a pandemic was possible. Last Wednesday, the WHO lifted the worldwide pandemic alert level to phase 4 - but the following day lifted it again to phase 5, the second highest of the six alert levels which the organisation classes as involving widespread human infection.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0074 03 May 2009

Jumlah Sampel dan Ukuran Sampel: Tinjauan Terminologi

Nugraha Setiawan
Jumlah sampel merupakan rangkaian dua kata yang banyak ditemukan dalam buku-buku metode penelitian maupun statistika praktis yang ditulis dalam bahasa Indonesia untuk menyatakan “n”. Tepatkah terminologi tersebut?
Sekarang simak baik-baik definisi berikut ini: “Sample Size is the number of sampling units which are to be included in the sample. A sampling unit is one of the units into which an aggregate is divided for the purpose of sampling, each unit being regarded as individual and indivisible when the selection is made (The International Statistical Institute, “The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms”, edited by Yadolah Dodge, Oxford University Press, 2003)”.
Jadi dalam terminologi statistik yang benar, “n” dinyatakan dengan sample size, atau ukuran sampel, bukan jumlah sampel. Besar-kecilnya ukuran sampel dinyatakan dengan jumlah sampling unit.
Sebagai contoh, dalam penelitian yang mengkaji mengenai rata-rata pendapatan keluarga peternak di sebuah desa dengan responden 100 orang, maka bisa disebutkan bahwa jumlah sampel=1 (satu), ukuran sampel=100 (100 sampling unit).

Scientists, Supporters Rally for Animal Research

Led by a professor whose car was set on fire last month in an anonymous attack, more than 400 University of California, Los Angeles, scientists and their supporters rallied on campus last Wednesday to defend research using animals and to protest the violent tactics of some opponents, write Larry Gordon and Raja Abdulrahim for the Los Angeles Times. At almost the same time, about 40 critics of animal research demonstrated just across the boulevard, and the two groups briefly traded slogans before marching to different UCLA plazas. Police reported no violence and no arrests.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0073 26 April 2009

Facebook Students Underachieve in Exams

An American study has found that students who spend their time adding friends, chatting and 'poking' others on the website may devote as little as one hour a week to their academic work, writes Urmee Khan in The Telegraph. The study by Ohio State University showed that students who used Facebook had a "significantly" lower grade point average than those who did not.
The study questioned 219 undergraduates and graduates about their study practices and general internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook. They found that 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, usually checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each login varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0072 19 April 2009

Interpretasi Nilai Koefien Korelasi menurut Guilford (1956)

Nugraha Setiawan

Ketika selesai menghitung koefisien korelasi, kita sering dihadapkan pada masalah menginterpretasikannya. Interpretasi yang didasarkan pada tulisan Guilford (1956: 145) sering kali dijadikan acuan, namun beberapa diantaranya hanya mendapatkan dari buku lain yang melakukan sitasi terhadap buku aslinya. Bahkan hasil sitasi tersebut diacu kembali oleh buku lainnya secara berantai.
Masalah yang kemudian timbul adalah dalam menerjemahkan apa yang ditulis Guilford sering menjadi berbeda satu sama lainnya. Sehingga ada baiknya kalau dikemukakan bagaimana sebetulnya Guilford menulis tentang penginterpretasian koefisien korelasi tersebut, seperti bisa dibaca di bawah ini.
Suggested Interpretation for Correlation Coefficient:
Less than .20 Slight correlation; almost negligible relationship
.20 - .40 Low correlation; definite but small relationship
.40 - .70 Moderate correlation; substantial relationship
.70 - .90 High correlation; marked relationship
.90 - 1.00 Very high correlation; very dependable relationship

Guilford, J.P. (1956). Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education. (p. 145). New York: McGraw Hill.

Kuliah ke-10 Sosiologi, 14 April 2009

Kuliah hari ini membahas tentang Perubahan Sosial. Mahasiswa yang tidak hadir di kelas ada 4 orang yaitu NPM 124, 128, 151, dan 154. Bahan yang harus dibahas tinggal satu materi lagi, yaitu mengenai Masalah Sosial dan Manfaat Sosiologi yang akan dibahas tanggal 21 April 2009.
Download Materi Kuliah: Perubahan Sosial (pdf)

US: Call to Hire More Foreign Graduates

The Association of International Educators, or NAFSA, has called on the American Congress to change existing laws and increase opportunities for foreign graduates to obtain permanent residency. The association said the changes should include removal or adjustment of unrealistic caps on temporary and permanent employment-based visa categories, including green cards.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: Universiry World News, Issue No: 0071 12 April 2009

Kuliah ke-9 Sosiologi, 7 April 2009

Materi kuliah yang dibahas pada hari ini adalah tentang Kekuasaan dan Wewenang. Mahasiswa yang tidak hadir di kelas ada 4 orang, yaitu NPM 152, 160, 1002('05), dan 0123 ('05). Setelah minggu yang lalu diadakan UTS dengan hasil nilai yang pada umumnya kurang begitu memuaskan, walaupun ada beberapa orang yang memperoleh nilai bagus, mudah-mudahan menjadikan perhatian agar mahasiswa semakin tekun belajar. Di sisi lain juga merupakan bahan introspeksi bagi pengajar agar dapat menyampaikan materi dengan lebih baik dan lebih mudah dipahami oleh mahasiswa. Dengan demikian proses belajar-mengajar dapat berjalan lebih efektif lagi.
Download Materi Kuliah: Kekuasaan dan Wewenang (pdf)

New Masters in Social Networking

Britain’s Birmingham City University is to offer a masters degree teaching students about social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Bebo, reports The Telegraph. The one-year masters in social media will also explain how to set up blogs and publish podcasts.
The £4,400 course, which will start next year, will consider social networking sites as communications and marketing tools. It was advertised through a makeshift video on the university's website.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0070 05 April 2009

Golput: Halal atau Haram?

Muhammad Yajid Kalam
Fenomena golput terus meningkat. Kondisi ini tampaknya mulai mengkhawatirkan banyak pihak, terutama para elite politik. Tingginya angka golput melemahkan legitimasi kekuasaan yang diperoleh para elite kekuasaan politik. Fenomena ini membawa sebagian elite politik menarik sisi agama untuk berbicara tentang golput.
Menurut Konstitusi
Dalam konstitusi Indonesia, memilih dan dipilih adalah hak bukan kewajiban. Berbeda dengan konstitusi Amerika yang menempatkan memilih sebagai hak dan kewajiban. Bila memilih dan dipilih adalah hak, siapa pun bebas untuk mempergunakan ataupun melepaskan haknya tersebut. Warga negara Indonesia dijamin oleh konstitusi kebebasannya untuk mempergunakan ataupun melepaskan hak memilih itu. Bila orang memilih golput artinya ia melepaskan haknya. Melepaskan hak bukanlah kejahatan. Siapa pun yang golput dilindungi konstitusi Indonesia.
Menurut Syariat Islam
Memilih dan dipilih dalam masalah ini berkaitan dengan kepemimpinan. Islam
mengharuskan umatnya mengangkat pemimpin. Pengangkatan pemimpin adalah kewajiban (fardu) menurut syariat. Dengan demikian, bila umat Islam tidak mengangkat
pemimpin artinya mereka melanggar syariat. Namun, mengangkat pemimpin adalah fardu kifayah bukan fardu ain. Mengangkat pemimpin adalah kewajiban yang dikenakan kepada seluruh anggota komunitas masyarakat, namun cukup dilakukan sebagiannya saja. Dengan demikian, tidak memilih atau golput yang dilakukan sebagian masyarakat Indonesia tidak menjadi dosa selama ada anggota masyarakat yang lain yang melaksanakan kewajiban memilih.
Politisasi Halal-Haram
Urusan golput tidak lepas dari urusan politik. Semakin tinggi golput semakin rendah legitimasi elite politik pemegang kekuasaan hasil pemilihan. Dengan demikian, menurunkan tingkat golput adalah kepentingan politik. Bila dikaitkan dengan permintaan fatwa haram atas golput, hal ini sebenarnya merupakan politisasi agama, membuat agama sebagai alat politik. Dengan demikian, masalah sebenarnya bukan halal dan haram, namun perilaku elite politik. Bila golput disikapi elite politik dengan meminta fatwa haram, elite politik sedang berusaha menutupi masalah sebenarnya. Mereka tidak mau menyadari dan tidak mengakui kesalahannya yang membuat masyarakat kesal dan tidak memercayai mereka lagi.
Lebih lengkap baca: Pikiran Rakyat Online, 3 April 2009

Bahan Kuliah Metode Penelitian Sosial 2009, Fapet Unpad

Bahan kuliah Metode Penelitian Sosial di Fakultas Peternakan, yang menyangkut topik sampling dan analisis data, serta bahan-bahan bacaan untuk pengayaan materi kuliah tersebut, dapat didownload di bawah ini:
Download Materi Kuliah (Pustaka Nugraha):
Pengertian dan Konsep Dasar dalam Metode Penelitian (pdf)
Teknik Sampling dan Penentuan Ukuran Sampel (pdf)
Skala dan Teknik Pengukuran (pdf)
Pengolahan dan Analisis Data (pdf)
Download Materi Pengayaan (Pustaka Unpad):
Teknik Sampling (pdf)
Penentuan Ukuran Sampel dengan Rumus Slovin dan Tabel Krejcie-Morgan: Telaah Konsep dan Aplikasinya (pdf)
Pengolahan dan Analisis Data (pdf)
Korelasi Rank Spearman: Signifikansi dan Penafsiran (pdf)
Link ke Tulisan Terkait:
Kalkulator untuk Menghitung Ukuran Sampel
Rumus Ukuran Sampel: Slovin vs Yamane
Interpretasi Nilai Koefien Korelasi Menurut Guilford (1956)

Kuliah ke-8 UTS Sosiologi, 31 Maret 2009

UTS Sosiologi diikuti oleh 44 orang mahasiswa (semua hadir), namun 1 orang ujiannya dianulir karena berbuat curang selama berlangsungnya ujian. Soal UTS dibuat sebanyak 6 soal masing-masing terdiri atas satu pokok bahasan yang telah dipelajari.
Setelah dilakukan penilaian, hasil UTS terbesar dicapai oleh sdr. Kurniawan (200110080127) dengan nilai 88. Nilai UTS selengkapnya, silakan download: Nilai UTS Sosiologi 2009 Kls. D (doc)

Masih ada 3 kali pertemuan tatap muka setelah UTS, yang dilanjutkan dengan diskusi kelompok mulai tanggal 28 April 2009.
Kelas dibagi menjadi 7 kelompok, dengan topik bahasan berurut mulai dari Kelompok 1 adalah: (1) Masyarakat dan Kebudayaan, (2) Interaksi Sosial, (3) Kelompok Sosial, (4) Pranata Sosial, (5) Startifikasi Sosial, (6) Kekuasaan dan Wewenang, serta (7) Perubahan Sosial.
Pembagian kelompok yang dirinci berdasarkan anggota dan topik bahasannya, download: Kelompok Diskusi Sosiologi 2009 Kls. D (doc)

Columbia Opens Global Centres

John Richard Schrock
Beijing in China and Amman in Jordan are the sites of the first two Columbia Global Centers, a markedly different departure from the standard branch campuses built by many universities around the world to promote exchanges and attract foreign students. Columbia University President Lee C Bollinger opened the Beijing centre last Friday week while the Middle East Research Center in Amman opened two days later.
The private, 250-year-old New York-based Columbia University is one of America's elite Ivy League institutions and is one of only two in the US to have been founded by Royal Charter under King George II.
Kenneth Prewitt, Vice-president of Columbia Global Centers and Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs, describes the creation of the global centres as the "next stage in the long evolution of international study".
This is not taking the Columbia campus abroad, he explains, nor is it an attempt to establish Columbia's presence internationally. The university, top ranked for research and its teaching college, has a long history of involvement in international studies as well as of international students on its campus.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0069 29 March 2009

Kuliah ke-7 Sosiologi, 24 Maret 2009

Kuliah hari ini diawali dengan Quiz tentang Pranata Sosial, sementara bahan kuliah yang dibahas mengenai Stratifikasi Sosial. Dengan pertanyaan yang mulai menyentuh aspek analisis, sepertinya hasil Quiz kurang bagus. Namun suasana interaksi di dalam kelas, antara dosen dan mahasiswa cukup menyenangkan, dengan banyaknya pertanyaan dari mahasiswa, sayang datangnya pertanyaan kebanyakan dari mahasiswa yang itu-itu juga. Adapun mahasiswa yang tidak hadir kali ini ada 3 orang, yaitu NPM 143, 147, dan 123 (’05). Jangan lupa Selasa 31 Maret UTS. Belajar yang tekun, mudah-mudahan nilainya nanti bagus semua.
Download Materi Kuliah: Stratifikasi Sosial (pdf)

Switch to Online Journals Under Attack

John Richard Schrock
A trend to make printed scientific journals available online worldwide, is under fire. Although President Barack Obama has signed a measure to make the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy permanent, some US lawmakers have launched legislation to roll back the effort. While advocates assert moving science journals online is tech-savvy, economical and the only proper use of taxpayer-generated research, problems with costs, archiving, copyright, and support of small professional organisations (centred on their journal identity and research collaboration) are causing second thoughts.
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, or SPARC, has advocated the switch to electronic journals to make biomedical research available to users, including third-world countries that cannot afford the rising costs of journals.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0068 22 March 2009

Teknik Pengolahan dan Analisis Data Penelitian

Nugraha Setiawan
Tujuan pokok dilaksanakannya penelitian adalah untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan penelitian. Untuk mencapai tujuan pokok tersebut antara lain harus melalui proses pengolahan dan analisis data. Alur kerjanya, dimulai dari pengumpulan hingga interpretasi data.
Hal penting yang perlu diingat dalam melakukan analisis data adalah mengetahui dengan tepat penggunaan alat analisis, sebab jika kita tidak memenuhi prinsip-prinsip dari pemakaian alat analisis, walaupun alat analisisnya sangat canggih, hasilnya akan salah diinterpretasikan dan menjadi tidak bermanfaat untuk mengambil suatu kesimpulan.
Model-model statistika untuk keperluan analisis data telah begitu berkembang, dari model-model statistika deskriptif hingga ke statistika inferensial non parametrik dengan persyaratan yang lebih “lunak “ dibandingkan dengan statistika parametrik yang sangat ketat dengan persyaratan-persyaratan tertentu dan sulit dipenuhi dalam kerangka penelitian sosial.
Ketika kita memutuskan untuk melakukan analisis data menggunakan alat statistika, ada beberapa hal yang perlu diperhatikan antara lain:
(1) Dari mana data diperoleh, apakah berasal dari sampel (melalui proses sampling) atau dari populasi (dengan cara sensus)
(2) Jika berasal dari sampel apa teknik sampling yang digunakan, apakah termasuk kelompok sampling probabilitas atau non probabilitas.
(3) Memakai skala apa data diukur, apakah menggunakan skala nominal, ordinal, interval, atau rasio.
(4) Bagaimana hipotesis yang dibuat apakah perlu dilakukan pengujian satu arah atau dua arah kalau memakai statistika inferensial.
Tulisan lengkap: Download di Pustaka Unpad (pdf)

Kalkulator untuk Menghitung Ukuran Sampel

Research Aids, Creative Research System menyediakan perangkat semacam kalkulator untuk menghitung berapa besar ukuran sampel yang harus diambil dalam sebuah penelitian yang mereka namakan "Sample Size Calculator".
Sangat memudahkan bagi kita, sebab cukup dengan meng-klik tingkat kepercayaan (ada dua opsi yaitu 95% dan 99%), terus mengisi selang kepercayaan (dalam persen tetapi cukup mengisikan angkanya saja), dan ukuran populasi, maka dengan meng-klik Calculate bisa langsung diperoleh ukuran sampelnya.
Rumus yang digunakan untuk membuat calculator ini, merupakan rumus dasar seperti yang dikembangkan oleh Krejcie-Morgan, Slovin, maupun Yamane. Untuk mempelajarinya rumusnya Klik di sini.
Dengan adanya kemudahan ini, penulis tak bosan-bosanya mengingatkan, pelajari dahulu mengenai rumusnya, cocok tidak dengan penelitian yang anda akan lakukan. Mau mencobanya?
Silakan Klik Sample Size Calculator.

Menghitung Ukuran Sampel: Antara Rumus Slovin dan Yamane

Nugraha Setiawan
Menentukan ukuran sampel dalam sebuah survey sering menjadi sebuah permasalahan tersendiri, terutama bagi mereka yang ingin memakai pendekatan statistika. Pada tulisan terdahulu pernah dibahas mengenai seringnya terjadi kekeliruan memakai rumus penentuan ukuran sampel, karena pemakai hanya melihat simple-nya rumus tersebut.
Hasil browsing di internet, penulis mendapatkan bahwa di Indonesia (termasuk untuk penelitian skripsi, tesis, dan disertasi) banyak yang memakai rumus Slovin, walaupun dalam pandangan penulis kebanyakan kurang tepat menerapkannya. Untuk memahaminya silakan kembali baca bahasan tentang Rumus Slovin (Nugraha Setiawan, 2007).
Pada tingkat global, yang lebih banyak dipakai adalah rumus Yamane, yang didasarkan pada tulisannya "Statistics an Introductory Analysis" yang diterbitkan oleh Harper and Row, New York, 1964. Namun menurut telaah penulis, tidak ada perbedaan yang mendasar antara rumus Slovin dan rumus Yamane. Artinya rumus Slovin = rumus Yamane. Walaupun hingga saat ini penulis belum dapat menemukan sumber asli dari tulisan Slovin, hanya bisa menemukan bahasannya dalam Guilford J.P. dan Fruchter B (1973), Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education, Mc.Graw Hill B.C., New York.
Baik rumus Slovin maupun Yamane sama-sama sederhana, namun sekali lagi penulis ingin mengingatkan bahwa penerapan rumus tersebut belum tentu cocok dengan disain penelitian yang anda rancang. Jadi pelajarilah dengan baik sebelum menerapkannya.

Menteri Pendidikan Republik Indonesia: Yang Pertama, Jabatan Terlama, Siapa-siapa Saja?

Ki Hadjar Dewantara merupakan Menteri Pendidikan RI yang pertama, kala itu diberi nama Menteri Pengajaran. Beliau menjabat menteri pada masa Kabinet Presedential, dalam waktu yang relatif singkat, yaitu hanya 87 hari, mulai tanggal 19 Agustus 1945 – 14 November 1945.
Sejak Indonesia merdeka, telah terjadi pergantian menteri pendidikan sebanyak 38 kali (walaupun ada menteri yang menjabat lebih dari satu kali), pada 37 kabinet yang berbeda, dengan pergantian nama kementrian sebanyak 7 kali.
Dua menteri yang berbeda pernah terjadi pada masa Kabinet Pembangunan IV. Dijabat oleh Nugroho Notosusanto dari 19 Maret 1983 – 3 Juni 1985, dan setelah beliau meninggal diganti oleh Fuad Hasan mulai 30 Juli 1985 – 21 Maret 1988.
Prijono adalah Menteri Pendidikan yang paling banyak menjabat dalam kabinet yang berbeda. Beliau pertama kali diangkat sebagai menteri pada masa Kabinet Djuanda pada tanggal 9 April 1957. Kemudian berturut-turut menjabat pada masa Kabinet Kerja 1, Kerja 2, Kerja 3, Kerja 4, dan Kabinet Dwikora 1. Untuk mengetahui siapa-siapa saja Menteri-nenteri Pendidikan Republik Indonesia sejak jaman kemerdekaan hingga saat ini, silakan Klik situs Dikti

Kuliah ke-6 Sosiologi, 17 Maret 2009

Kali ini bagian dosennya yang tidak bisa hadir dalam kuliah tatap muka, karena ada tugas lain yang tidak bisa ditinggalkan pada jam yang bersamaan dengan waktu kuliah di kampus Unpad Dipati Ukur. Namun demikian, tidak berarti kuliah menjadi libur karena ada dosen pangganti, yaitu Pak Alim (Syahirul Alim). Nuhun Pak.
Selesai jam kuliah, baru bisa sampai di kampus Unpad Jatinangor, dan mendapat laporan tentang kehadiran mahasiswa. Mahasiswa yang tidak hadir ada lima orang yaitu NPM 130, 141, 143, 146, dan 160. Adapun materi kuliah pada pertemuan ini mengenai Pranata Sosial, dan minggu depan masih dilanjutkan dengan bahasan mengenai Startifikasi Sosial. Sedangkan dua minggu lagi tepatnya tanggal 24 Maret 2009 akan diadakan Ujian Tengah Semester.
Pada belajar ya…..! biar nilainya bagus-bagus semua.
Download Materi Kuliah: Pranata Sosial (pdf)

Pengantar Teknik Sampling

Nugraha Setiawan
Pertanyaan yang sering diajukan oleh peneliti ketika akan melakukan penelitian adalah ”berapa besar sampel yang harus diteliti dari sebuah populasi?”, agar hasil (berupa data perkiraan) penelitian dapat mewakili atau merepresentasikan populasi. Data perkiraan (statistik) disebut mewakili jika angkanya mendekati parameter. Jika parameter 100, 95 disebut lebih mewakili dibandingkan dengan 90.
Dalam menentukan besarnya sampel, hal-hal yang harus diperhatikan dan dipertimbangkan adalah : 1. Parameter apa yang akan diteliti (misalnya rata-rata, proporsi). 2. Besarnya populasi (N) atau banyaknya elemen populasi yang akan diambil sampelnya. 3. Berapa tingkat kepercayaan/keyakinan yang dipergunakan untuk menjamin hasil penelitian agar kesalahan samplingnya tidak melebihi nilai tertentu (B = bound of error). 4. Bagaimana tingkat variasi atau heterogenitas populasi, dimana sampel akan diambil.
Tulisan lengkap: Download di Pustaka Unpad (pdf)

Consumers’ Meat Purchasing Habits Changing

Economic woes are affecting where people shop for meat as well as the kind of cut, brand and quantity purchased.

The recession is being felt throughout the grocery store, and especially in the meat department, according to a joint study by the American Meat Institute and the Food Marketing Institute.
Economic woes are affecting where people shop for meat as well as the kind of cut, brand and quantity purchased, found the “Power of Meat” study. While shoppers are eating out less and cooking more, they are also trading down, substituting and eliminating, resulting in the overall spending amount remaining roughly the same, at $91 per week. While grocery expenses may be relatively unchanged, the way shoppers are spending is not. The study found that at least half are using coupons whenever possible, buying only what they need and switching from national brands to store brands. Other popular measures include resisting luxury foods and buying items on sale.
More on the Watt Poultry Com site
Source: Watt Poultry Com, 09 March 2009

Asia-Pasific: Higher Education Sees Rapid Change

Facing an unprecedented expansion, Asian centres of higher education are looking for ways to diversify opportunities for learning, concluded the Asia-Pacific Sub-regional Preparatory Conference for Unesco’s 2009 World Conference on Higher Education held recently in Macao, China. The Asia-Pacific zone is the largest of the Unesco regions, containing over three billion people, or 60% of the world’s population, writes Hye-Rim Kim for the Bangkok Post. Its diverse geography, population, income and culture are reflected in the size and types of higher education institutions operating in the region.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0067 15 March 2009

New Thinking Needed on Innovation Infrastructure

Arnoldo Ventura
Rapid technological changes and more sophisticated societies generate changing needs in developing countries and old methods, technologies and choices are not coping. More innovative approaches are required to tackle social conundrums and to clear paths for progress. The ingredients for these must be the information, experiences and skills people get through higher education.
Full SciDev.net article on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0067 15 March 2009

Research Governance Policies Threaten Capacity

Phuong Nga Nguyen
Around the world, research-based knowledge is believed to enhance socio-economic development. So funding agencies, including governments, are pushing universities to focus on ‘usable’ research outputs. The way they bring this pressure to bear, through ‘research governance’, can either support and facilitate university research or hinder it, sometimes even damaging a university’s existing strengths.
Full SciDev.net article on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0067 15 March 2009

Satu Abad Transmigrasi Di Indonesia: Perjalanan Sejarah Pelaksanaan, 1905-2005

Nugraha Setiawan
Jurnal Historia, Vol.3, No.1, pp.13-35

Abstrak
Transmigrasi merupakan bentuk migrasi penduduk yang khas Indonesia. Selama satu abad pelaksanaannya (1905-2005), yang dimulai pada jaman pemerintahan kolonial Belanda dengan nama kolonisasi, hingga jaman reformasi saat ini, secara demografis belum bisa dikatakan berhasil. Selain tujuan demografis, pada setiap periode memiliki tujuan yang berbeda-beda, baik yang tersurat maupun yang tersirat. Dalam tulisan ini dideskripsikan pelaksanaan transmigrasi pada periode pemerintahan kolonial Belanda yang terdiri atas masa percobaan, masa Lampongsche volksbank, dan masa depresi ekonomi dunia, kemudian pada jaman pendudukan tentara Jepang, serta jaman setelah kemerdekaan Indonesia yang terdiri atas masa orde lama, orde baru, dan masa reformasi.
Kata kunci: transimgrasi, Indonesia, 1905-2005
Tulisan lengkap: Download di Pustaka Unpad (pdf)

Penentuan Ukuran Sampel Memakai Rumus Slovin dan Tabel Krejcie-Morgan: Telaah Konsep dan Aplikasinya

Nugraha Setiawan
Salah satu pertanyaan yang sering diajukan oleh para peneliti ketika akan melakukan suatu penelitian adalah, “berapa besar ukuran sampel yang sebaiknya harus diambil, agar sampel tersebut dapat merepresentasikan populasinya”. Peneliti sering dihadapkan pada beberapa alternatif pilihan metode, teknik, cara-cara, maupun rumus-rumus untuk menentukan ukuran sampel, namun tidak tahu mana yang sebaiknya harus mereka pilih.
Jalan pintas yang sering diambil adalah, mencari cara-cara penentuan ukuran sampel dengan memakai pendekatan statistika yang praktis dan sederhana, namun karena kepraktisannya itu justru penerapannya acap kali salah. Hal tersebut seiring dengan banyak terbitnya buku-buku metodologi penelitian yang didalamnya memasukan bahasan tentang sampling, tetapi tidak memberi penjelasan lebih detil mengenai konsep-konsep dasar dan asumsi-asumsi yang menjadi landasan dari pembuatan rumus-rumusnya.
Dari aspek aplikasi dan kepraktisan misalnya, rumus Slovin dan Tabel Krejcie-Morgan memang sangat mudah dan sederhana, walau sering kali salah dalam menerapkannya. Misalnya ada peneliti yang memakai rumus Slovin atau Tabel Krejcie-Morgan untuk penelitian yang menggunakan analisis regresi dengan skala pengukuran rasio.
Tulisan lengkap: Download di Pustaka Unpad (pdf)

Kuliah ke-4 dan 5 Sosiologi, 3 dan 10 Maret 2009

Mahasiswa yang tidak hadir pada kuliah ke-4 Sosiologi yang membahas mengenai Interaksi Sosial adalah NPM 124, 130, 143, 123 ('05), dengan demikian mahasiswa yang hadir di kelas sejumlah 41 orang. Suasana interaksi antara mahasiswa dan dosen dalam proses belajar-mengajar secara kualitas agak menurun dibandingkan dengan kuliah ke-3 yang dilaksanakan tanggal 24 Februari 2009. Juga mahasiswa yang hadir terlambat, walaupun masih dalam batas toleransi lebih banyak dari minggu sebelumnya. Hal ini tentu saja mengganggu ketenangan kelas dan kurang menyenangkan, semoga pada kuliah hari ini Selasa 10 Maret 2009, suasana kelas akan lebih kondusif lagi.
Pada kuliah ke-5 yang membahas mengenai Kelompok Sosial diawali dengan Quiz yang hanya diikuti oleh 32 orang mahasiswa, sementara sampai batas toleransi kesiangan mahasiswa yang hadir ada 40 orang. mahasiswa yang tidak hadir adalah NPM: 124, 128, 143, 156, 136 ('05). Hasil Quiz belum diperiksa, tapi semoga lebih baik dari hasil Quiz yang pertama.
Download Materi Kuliah: Interaksi Sosial (pdf), Kelompok Sosial (pdf)

Role of Professors Mired in Confusion

Geoff Maslen
Professors in Britain are not alone in seeing their role very differently from the universities that employ them. But a new report, based on a survey of 200 UK professors, confirms what many in the professoriate around the world privately believe: significant ‘expectation gaps’ exist between them and their universities regarding the importance of income generation versus mentoring staff and the leadership of their departments or faculties. In an exclusive commentary on our webpage this week, survey author Professor Bruce Macfarlane says the lack of clarity about the role of a professor is partly a symptom of the way appointment criteria at the professorial level have broadened in recent years. Almost one in 10 UK academics is now a full professor.
Full report on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0066 08 March 2009

Tackling Graduate Unemployment in Indonesia

David Jardin
Indonesia's Ministry of National Education has announced a sizeable fund to finance entrepreneurship programmes at university level that it hopes will enable more graduates to quickly enter the jobs market. The most recent figures released by the manpower ministry show some 1.15 million unemployed graduates nationwide.
The national education ministry's pro-active director-general for higher education Fasli Jalal believes too many graduates emerge without marketable skills. The ministry has thus earmarked Rp 108 billion (US$8.9 million) to fund entrepreneurship programmes. Graduates will have to compete for a share of the spoils by creating viable models.
Jalal, who has been previously featured here, identifies a lack of student creativity in finding jobs as part of the problem. Other critics point to a lack of such creativity throughout the national education system.Graduate unemployment figures do fluctuate, of course. The fulcrum of the year is August when traditionally most state and private university graduates pass out. This year as the global recession bites deeper it will indeed to be more difficult to staunch the flow into the pool of unemployed.
Reyna Ahmadi, a senior official at the manpower ministry says, "I am sure we will see more graduates failing to secure employment on account of the worsening economic conditions."Jalal nonetheless is determined to make a good fist of his efforts. A number of university rectors are backing his latest scheme. Among them is Idrus Patarusi of the Hassanuddin University in Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi province.
Meanwhile, Jalal has admonished state universities for "inefficient accounting practices" after the ministry received a rebuke from the national audit agency. "Inefficient" in Indonesia is often a code for "creative" where accounting is concerned.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0066 08 March 2009

Universities Socially Engineer Intakes

In a move that critics claim filters out middle class students, admission tutors at leading institutions are being told to give interviews and make offers to working class candidates who have attended low performing schools or who live in postcodes where few go on to higher education, writes Julie Henry in The Sunday Telegraph. It comes as more universities, including Suss ex, Worcester, Dundee and the University of East Anglia, have decided not to use the new A* grade at A-level in offers from 2010 amid fears that independent school pupils will win more places.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0066 08 March 2009