Top Chinese, North American and European universities are offering salaries and access to laboratories and facilities of a size and on a scale that universities in smaller countries cannot match, says a report commissioned by the Australian government.The report says that given the size of the Australian university sector relative to these nations, local institutions cannot offer similarly attractive packages. It warns that universities face difficulties in attracting overseas researchers to counter a looming shortfall.Published by Allen Consulting, the report says Australia will find it increasingly difficult to attract researchers from these countries as their economies continue to expand and funds flow into their domestic innovation and university systems.The report, Employer Demand for Researchers in Australia, bases its conclusions on responses from a survey of 72 organisations, including universities, big business, industry and the Commonwealth Scientific, Industrial and Research Organisation.Federal Science Minister Kim Carr commissioned the report as part of the development of a workforce strategy on future demand for researchers over the next decade.It notes an Australian Council for Educational Research study found that demand for employees with higher degrees by research will expand 50% over the next 10 years. The report says 70% of its respondents expected an expansion in their annual demand for researchers during the next five years.Half the 72 respondents said demand for researchers would exceed supply for the next 10 years. But there are doubts about Australian universities' ability to meetl the demand.The number of PhD graduates "will be insufficient to meet the needs of Australian institutions over the next decade", the report says. "Australia has a shallow domestic talent pool and researchers in Australia do not have the breadth and depth of those in Europe, North America and northeast Asia."
geoff.maslen@uw-news.com
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0133, 18 July 2010
24 Juli 2010
Social Science Expanding
Social science from Western countries continues to have the greatest global influence but the field is expanding rapidly in Asia and Latin America, particularly in China and Brazil.In Sub-Saharan Africa, social scientists from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya produce 75% of academic publications. In South Asia, barring some centres of excellence in India, social sciences as a whole have low priority. These are a few of the findings from Unesco's World Social Science Report 2010: Knowledge divides. Produced by the International Social Science Council and co-published with Unesco, the report is the first comprehensive overview of the field in more than a decade. Hundreds of social scientists from around the world contributed their expertise to the publication. The report was presented during its official launch at Unesco Headquarters in Paris last month.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0133, 18 July 2010
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0133, 18 July 2010
12 Juli 2010
US: Stopping Student Cheats by Learning Trickery
The US frontier in the battle to defeat student cheating may be at the testing centre of the University of Central Florida, writes Trip Gabriel for The New York Times. No gum is allowed during an exam: chewing could disguise a student's speaking into a hands-free cellphone to an accomplice outside.
The 228 computers that students use are recessed into desk tops so that anyone trying to photograph the screen - using, say, a pen with a hidden camera, in order to help a friend who will take the test later - is easy to spot. Scratch paper is allowed, but it is stamped with the date and must be turned in later. When a proctor sees something suspicious, he records the student's real-time work at the computer and directs an overhead camera to zoom in, and both sets of images are burned onto a CD for evidence.
Taylor Ellis, the associate dean who runs the testing centre within the business school at Central Florida, America's third-largest campus by enrolment, said that cheating had dropped significantly, to 14 suspected incidents out of 64,000 exams administered during the spring semester. As the eternal temptation of students to cheat has gone high-tech, educators have responded with their own efforts to crack down.
Full report on The New York Times site, July 5, 2010
The 228 computers that students use are recessed into desk tops so that anyone trying to photograph the screen - using, say, a pen with a hidden camera, in order to help a friend who will take the test later - is easy to spot. Scratch paper is allowed, but it is stamped with the date and must be turned in later. When a proctor sees something suspicious, he records the student's real-time work at the computer and directs an overhead camera to zoom in, and both sets of images are burned onto a CD for evidence.
Taylor Ellis, the associate dean who runs the testing centre within the business school at Central Florida, America's third-largest campus by enrolment, said that cheating had dropped significantly, to 14 suspected incidents out of 64,000 exams administered during the spring semester. As the eternal temptation of students to cheat has gone high-tech, educators have responded with their own efforts to crack down.
Full report on The New York Times site, July 5, 2010
Ethics not a Priority for MBA Students
Cayley Dobie
A tiny proportion of MBA students feel ethics courses are a necessary part of MBA programmes and qualifications, according to a recent survey by London based business education specialists CarringtonCrisp.
The survey Tomorrow's MBA polled over 700 prospective MBA students from 91 countries worldwide last November and December, in the aftermath of the world's toughest recession in decades. Despite the fact business malpractice had deepened that slump, only 5% of the students who responded thought it would be important to learn specifics about ethics as part of their MBA education.
But, as ever, the message of statistics depends on how they are interpreted. "It's not that people don't want ethics, but that they expect it to be embedded in everything they learn rather than as a stand-alone course," says Andrew Crisp, author of Tomorrow's MBA.
Instead of offering courses that focus directly on ethics, Crisp says schools should ensure that their programme as a whole incorporates ethics into all types of business courses.
"For business schools the message is that selling a programme on the back of specific ethics courses may not work well; rather, prospective students are interested in courses that can be practically applied," Crisp says.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0132, 11 July 2010
A tiny proportion of MBA students feel ethics courses are a necessary part of MBA programmes and qualifications, according to a recent survey by London based business education specialists CarringtonCrisp.
The survey Tomorrow's MBA polled over 700 prospective MBA students from 91 countries worldwide last November and December, in the aftermath of the world's toughest recession in decades. Despite the fact business malpractice had deepened that slump, only 5% of the students who responded thought it would be important to learn specifics about ethics as part of their MBA education.
But, as ever, the message of statistics depends on how they are interpreted. "It's not that people don't want ethics, but that they expect it to be embedded in everything they learn rather than as a stand-alone course," says Andrew Crisp, author of Tomorrow's MBA.
Instead of offering courses that focus directly on ethics, Crisp says schools should ensure that their programme as a whole incorporates ethics into all types of business courses.
"For business schools the message is that selling a programme on the back of specific ethics courses may not work well; rather, prospective students are interested in courses that can be practically applied," Crisp says.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0132, 11 July 2010
06 Juli 2010
Science Metrics
The value of scientific output is often measured, to rank one nation against another, allocate funds between universities, or even grant or deny tenure. Scientometricians have devised a multitude of 'metrics' to help in these rankings. Do they work? Are they fair? Are they over-used? Nature investigated this key higher education issue in a series of articles published in its June edition.
Assessing assessment
Transparency, education and communication are key to ensuring that appropriate metrics are used to measure individual scientific achievement.
Metrics: Do metrics matter?
Many researchers believe that quantitative metrics determine who gets hired and who gets promoted at their institutions. With an exclusive poll and interviews, Nature probes to what extent metrics are really used that way.
Metrics: A profusion of measures
Scientific performance indicators are proliferating, leading researchers to ask afresh what they are measuring and why. Richard Van Noorden surveys the rapidly evolving ecosystem.
Science economics: What science is really worth
Spending on science is one of the best ways to generate jobs and economic growth, say research advocates. But as Colin Macilwain reports, the evidence behind such claims is patchy.
How to improve the use of metrics
Since the invention of the science citation index in the 1960s, quantitative measuring of the performance of researchers has become ever more prevalent, controversial and influential. Six commentators tell Nature what changes might ensure that individuals are assessed more fairly.
Let's make science metrics more scientific
To capture the essence of good science, stakeholders must combine forces to create an open, sound and consistent system for measuring all the activities that make up academic productivity, says Julia Lane.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0131, 04 July 2010
Assessing assessment
Transparency, education and communication are key to ensuring that appropriate metrics are used to measure individual scientific achievement.
Metrics: Do metrics matter?
Many researchers believe that quantitative metrics determine who gets hired and who gets promoted at their institutions. With an exclusive poll and interviews, Nature probes to what extent metrics are really used that way.
Metrics: A profusion of measures
Scientific performance indicators are proliferating, leading researchers to ask afresh what they are measuring and why. Richard Van Noorden surveys the rapidly evolving ecosystem.
Science economics: What science is really worth
Spending on science is one of the best ways to generate jobs and economic growth, say research advocates. But as Colin Macilwain reports, the evidence behind such claims is patchy.
How to improve the use of metrics
Since the invention of the science citation index in the 1960s, quantitative measuring of the performance of researchers has become ever more prevalent, controversial and influential. Six commentators tell Nature what changes might ensure that individuals are assessed more fairly.
Let's make science metrics more scientific
To capture the essence of good science, stakeholders must combine forces to create an open, sound and consistent system for measuring all the activities that make up academic productivity, says Julia Lane.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0131, 04 July 2010
21 Juni 2010
Global Rankings: Thousands Respond to The Survey
David Jobbins
The opinions of more than 13,000 academics will be used to build a picture of the standard of teaching and research in the world's universities for the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Ranking.Despite an increased sample size, the findings will account for 20% of final scores, compared with 40% under the methodology used from 2004 to 2009. Meanwhile its main rival, QS, is introducing a rating system to better reflect the diversity of institutions by measuring their broader missions.The inclusion of both research and teaching means THE can claim its 2010 rankings will include the first worldwide reputation-based indicator of teaching quality. Thomson Reuters, the exclusive data supplier for the rankings, confirmed that 13,388 people had responded to its Academic Reputation Survey launched in March. "It is an excellent response in terms of volume," THE Editor Ann Mroz said. "But it is not just size that matters. The respondents were carefully targeted as experienced scholars by an invitation-only survey to ensure they are representative of their region and subject areas."We have a very high-quality sample that is much more representative and rigorous than anything the rankings have used before."Most respondents (38%) are from the Americas, 30% from the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions and 28% from Europe. Engineering and technology supplied marginally more respondents (23%) than physical sciences (21%) and social sciences (18%).
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0129, 20 June 2010
The opinions of more than 13,000 academics will be used to build a picture of the standard of teaching and research in the world's universities for the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Ranking.Despite an increased sample size, the findings will account for 20% of final scores, compared with 40% under the methodology used from 2004 to 2009. Meanwhile its main rival, QS, is introducing a rating system to better reflect the diversity of institutions by measuring their broader missions.The inclusion of both research and teaching means THE can claim its 2010 rankings will include the first worldwide reputation-based indicator of teaching quality. Thomson Reuters, the exclusive data supplier for the rankings, confirmed that 13,388 people had responded to its Academic Reputation Survey launched in March. "It is an excellent response in terms of volume," THE Editor Ann Mroz said. "But it is not just size that matters. The respondents were carefully targeted as experienced scholars by an invitation-only survey to ensure they are representative of their region and subject areas."We have a very high-quality sample that is much more representative and rigorous than anything the rankings have used before."Most respondents (38%) are from the Americas, 30% from the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions and 28% from Europe. Engineering and technology supplied marginally more respondents (23%) than physical sciences (21%) and social sciences (18%).
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0129, 20 June 2010
Research Explores 'Development and Dreams'
Karen MacGregor
The 2010 FIFA world cup inspired one of the largest consolidated research exercises in South Africa in years. Culminating in a 2009 book, Development and Dreams, the research found the economic benefits of the global tournament had been wildly over-stated but its infrastructure and social legacies would be considerable, said co-editor Dr Udesh Pillay.
Development and Dreams: The urban legacy of the 2010 World Cup pulled together four years of research co-funded by the Development Bank of Southern Africa and led by the Centre for Service Delivery of the Human Sciences Research Council, or HSRC, which published the book. Pillay is the centre's director.
The FIFA 2010 World Cup Research Project combined academic and applied research. The academic component aimed to enhance understanding of mega events and urban development, in South Africa and internationally, through research conducted by the HSRC in collaboration with the Centre for Urban and Built Environment Studies (CUBES) at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Studies were commissioned into urban development experiences and lessons learned from other mega sporting events, the South African World Cup bid and its governance, integration of planning into the strategic frameworks of host cities and their efforts to enhance their images, urban regeneration and the legacy dimension of the tournament, among other aspects.
The applied work contributed to the planning of host cities and conducted public perception surveys from 2005 to 2007, based on 3,000 respondents, to benchmark attitudes towards the World Cup.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0128, 13 June 2010
The 2010 FIFA world cup inspired one of the largest consolidated research exercises in South Africa in years. Culminating in a 2009 book, Development and Dreams, the research found the economic benefits of the global tournament had been wildly over-stated but its infrastructure and social legacies would be considerable, said co-editor Dr Udesh Pillay.
Development and Dreams: The urban legacy of the 2010 World Cup pulled together four years of research co-funded by the Development Bank of Southern Africa and led by the Centre for Service Delivery of the Human Sciences Research Council, or HSRC, which published the book. Pillay is the centre's director.
The FIFA 2010 World Cup Research Project combined academic and applied research. The academic component aimed to enhance understanding of mega events and urban development, in South Africa and internationally, through research conducted by the HSRC in collaboration with the Centre for Urban and Built Environment Studies (CUBES) at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Studies were commissioned into urban development experiences and lessons learned from other mega sporting events, the South African World Cup bid and its governance, integration of planning into the strategic frameworks of host cities and their efforts to enhance their images, urban regeneration and the legacy dimension of the tournament, among other aspects.
The applied work contributed to the planning of host cities and conducted public perception surveys from 2005 to 2007, based on 3,000 respondents, to benchmark attitudes towards the World Cup.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0128, 13 June 2010
Seven Recipes to Become a Top Researcher
Jüri Allik
Young people entertain the illusion they will live forever and therefore time has no particular value to them. But success in scientific research presupposes the ability to travel in time. Unlike a dilettante, the professional scientist needs to think about how his or her ideas will be received in 10 years' time.For example, to be in the top 1% of researchers most cited in the field of psychiatry and psychology today, articles you have published in the last 11 years need to have received at least 533 citations, according to ISI Essential Science Indicators. At present there are only 15 scientists in Estonia who have crossed the 1% mark in their respective fields of research, two of them psychologists Risto Näätänen and Jüri Allik. There is also Estonian-born professor emeritus at the University of Toronto Endel Tulving, a pioneer in memory research, but credit for his work goes to Canada.So achieving success is not that difficult. The fundamental rule has been nicely worded by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers (2008). The key to success in any field is a matter of practising a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours (The Ten-Thousand-Hours Rule). This rule, as Gladwell convincingly demonstrates, holds true both for Mozart and for Bill Gates.It is easy to see that it therefore requires you to focus on your favourite activity for approximately three hours a day, including all Saturdays and Sundays, for 10 continuous years.When applied to the discipline of psychology, this rule means that during these 10,000 hours you need to write and publish as many articles as possible that are good enough for other researchers to find it necessary to cite them nearly 600 times.I have a couple of very good recipes à la 'Nigella Express' on how to achieve at least 600 citations in 10 years. Actually, I have even more recipes, but as a psychologist I am aware of the magical number 7, which represents the limit of human capacity to process information. This is why in the following passages I will confine myself to seven of them.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0128, 13 June 2010
Young people entertain the illusion they will live forever and therefore time has no particular value to them. But success in scientific research presupposes the ability to travel in time. Unlike a dilettante, the professional scientist needs to think about how his or her ideas will be received in 10 years' time.For example, to be in the top 1% of researchers most cited in the field of psychiatry and psychology today, articles you have published in the last 11 years need to have received at least 533 citations, according to ISI Essential Science Indicators. At present there are only 15 scientists in Estonia who have crossed the 1% mark in their respective fields of research, two of them psychologists Risto Näätänen and Jüri Allik. There is also Estonian-born professor emeritus at the University of Toronto Endel Tulving, a pioneer in memory research, but credit for his work goes to Canada.So achieving success is not that difficult. The fundamental rule has been nicely worded by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers (2008). The key to success in any field is a matter of practising a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours (The Ten-Thousand-Hours Rule). This rule, as Gladwell convincingly demonstrates, holds true both for Mozart and for Bill Gates.It is easy to see that it therefore requires you to focus on your favourite activity for approximately three hours a day, including all Saturdays and Sundays, for 10 continuous years.When applied to the discipline of psychology, this rule means that during these 10,000 hours you need to write and publish as many articles as possible that are good enough for other researchers to find it necessary to cite them nearly 600 times.I have a couple of very good recipes à la 'Nigella Express' on how to achieve at least 600 citations in 10 years. Actually, I have even more recipes, but as a psychologist I am aware of the magical number 7, which represents the limit of human capacity to process information. This is why in the following passages I will confine myself to seven of them.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0128, 13 June 2010
07 Juni 2010
The Rise of the 'Multiversity'
Some scholars date the beginnings of globalisation from the first move of people out of Africa, writes Simon Marginson for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Some date it from the spread of world religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Others date it from the imperial European empires, the Napoleonic wars or the expanded trade and migration in the second half of the Victorian era. But one thing is certain: in the last two decades, the internet and cheaper air travel have created such closer integration and convergence that, for the first time, a single world society is within reach - and higher education, ranging beyond the nation-state, is a central driver.
The 'multiversity' - the university with multiple constituencies and demands that Clark Kerr, the former president of the University of California identified in the 1960s - has given way to the Global Research University, or GRU. The Global Research University is the multiversity with much more mobility, more cross-national research and learning, and more global systems and rankings.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0127, 06 June 2010
The 'multiversity' - the university with multiple constituencies and demands that Clark Kerr, the former president of the University of California identified in the 1960s - has given way to the Global Research University, or GRU. The Global Research University is the multiversity with much more mobility, more cross-national research and learning, and more global systems and rankings.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0127, 06 June 2010
Virtual University to boost Islamic Science
Wagdy Sawahel
Two institutions and a prize, all aimed at boosting scientific research in the Muslim world, have been announced by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The 57 member states agreed to establish the Islamic Virtual University, the Islamic Universities Business Network, and a prize for academic research papers.
The institutions were announced during the 5th session of the General Conference of the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan FROM 12-14 May.
The virtual university will offer higher education degrees in science and technology through partnerships among the federation's members and other leading universities. Besides developing training and educational programmes, it is hoped that the university will also catalyse educational reform and collaboration within the Islamic world.
The business network will focus on promoting the commercialisation of technology and on developing innovation-based businesses. It will offer training programmes and help better communicate science from university and research institutes to interested parties in the public and private sector.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0126, 30 May 2010
Two institutions and a prize, all aimed at boosting scientific research in the Muslim world, have been announced by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The 57 member states agreed to establish the Islamic Virtual University, the Islamic Universities Business Network, and a prize for academic research papers.
The institutions were announced during the 5th session of the General Conference of the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan FROM 12-14 May.
The virtual university will offer higher education degrees in science and technology through partnerships among the federation's members and other leading universities. Besides developing training and educational programmes, it is hoped that the university will also catalyse educational reform and collaboration within the Islamic world.
The business network will focus on promoting the commercialisation of technology and on developing innovation-based businesses. It will offer training programmes and help better communicate science from university and research institutes to interested parties in the public and private sector.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0126, 30 May 2010
28 April 2010
Indonesia: Supreme Court Annuls University Autonomy Law
David Jardine
A controversial university autonomy law sponsored by the ministry of national education has been annulled by Indonesia's Supreme Court. Opponents of the legislation claimed it gave unfair assistance to the offspring of wealthy families.
A lobby bringing together students' and parents' groups has defeated the ministry on a sensitive issue. A number of student protests had been violent, notably in Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi.
The autonomy visualised by the ministry would have enabled universities to generate up to one-third of their operational funds in the form of tuition fees and 'donations'. In a country with notorious systemic corruption, it was the latter that alarmed opponents most.
The law envisaged the government providing half the funding for higher education institutions. But the court rejected this argument, judging it was based on the invalid assumption that all higher education institutions were equally able to comply.
The panel of judges ruled that there were "obvious disparities" which, they said, hampered the educational process.
The government's response to the ruling came from as high up as Vice-President Boediono who claimed it would have a "massive impact on the national education system".
Nonetheless, the government is prepared to abide by the judgement.
The government is thus faced with drawing up another plan covering university finances. This may be bad news at a time when the ministry has tripled the allocation for university science and maths research programmes. That is a moot point given that the University of Indonesia (UI) has stated its ambition to become the regional centre for climate change studies.
Meanwhile UI has said it is happy to get on with "facts on the ground" where the court ruling is concerned. Its fees vary widely, from $11 to $824 a semester.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0121, 25 April 2010
A controversial university autonomy law sponsored by the ministry of national education has been annulled by Indonesia's Supreme Court. Opponents of the legislation claimed it gave unfair assistance to the offspring of wealthy families.
A lobby bringing together students' and parents' groups has defeated the ministry on a sensitive issue. A number of student protests had been violent, notably in Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi.
The autonomy visualised by the ministry would have enabled universities to generate up to one-third of their operational funds in the form of tuition fees and 'donations'. In a country with notorious systemic corruption, it was the latter that alarmed opponents most.
The law envisaged the government providing half the funding for higher education institutions. But the court rejected this argument, judging it was based on the invalid assumption that all higher education institutions were equally able to comply.
The panel of judges ruled that there were "obvious disparities" which, they said, hampered the educational process.
The government's response to the ruling came from as high up as Vice-President Boediono who claimed it would have a "massive impact on the national education system".
Nonetheless, the government is prepared to abide by the judgement.
The government is thus faced with drawing up another plan covering university finances. This may be bad news at a time when the ministry has tripled the allocation for university science and maths research programmes. That is a moot point given that the University of Indonesia (UI) has stated its ambition to become the regional centre for climate change studies.
Meanwhile UI has said it is happy to get on with "facts on the ground" where the court ruling is concerned. Its fees vary widely, from $11 to $824 a semester.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0121, 25 April 2010
25 April 2010
Unesco Director-General Appoints Senior Staff
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova last week informed the members of UNESCO's Executive Board of her choice of senior management team. Bokova, whose mandate began on 15 November last year, said that she had chosen a "strong, competent, coherent and motivated team" to lead the organisation. The Education Sector will be headed by Qian Tang of China, who is currently its interim Assistant Director-General.
A specialist in secondary and technical education, Tang has been an educator and a diplomat as well as a technical and professional education manager in China's Ministry for Education. He played a central role in establishing UNEVOC, UNESCO's International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Bonn, Germany, has been instrumental in mobilising donor resources for Education for All and has promoted South-South cooperation in education.
The new Deputy Director-General will be Getachew Engida, an Ethiopian who is currently UNESCO's Comptroller and has had a distinguished international career in auditing and financial management. The new Assistant Director-General in charge of the Natural Sciences Sector will be Gretchen Kalonji of the US, who is currently direction of international system-wide research development at the University of California's Office of the President.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0120, 18 April 2010
A specialist in secondary and technical education, Tang has been an educator and a diplomat as well as a technical and professional education manager in China's Ministry for Education. He played a central role in establishing UNEVOC, UNESCO's International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Bonn, Germany, has been instrumental in mobilising donor resources for Education for All and has promoted South-South cooperation in education.
The new Deputy Director-General will be Getachew Engida, an Ethiopian who is currently UNESCO's Comptroller and has had a distinguished international career in auditing and financial management. The new Assistant Director-General in charge of the Natural Sciences Sector will be Gretchen Kalonji of the US, who is currently direction of international system-wide research development at the University of California's Office of the President.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0120, 18 April 2010
Academics Identify Ideal Research-teaching Nexus
Research and teaching are supposed to be closely related in universities. Among academics the belief in a symbiotic relationship is strong. However, it is unclear what form this relationship can take. In an article in the latest edition of Higher Education Research & Development , several authors present categories and dimensions to clarify this relationship. The aim of the project was to understand what academics' ideal research-teaching nexus would look like.
The ideal images of 30 academics were investigated using a mental visualisation assignment. Respondents were encouraged to describe in detail what for them the linkage between research and teaching would look like in the ideal situation.
Five profiles of the research-teaching nexus could be distinguished: teach research results; make research known; show what it means to be a researcher; help to conduct research; and provide research experience. These profiles are related to dimensions proposed earlier in the literature on the research-teaching nexus.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0119, 11 April 2010
The ideal images of 30 academics were investigated using a mental visualisation assignment. Respondents were encouraged to describe in detail what for them the linkage between research and teaching would look like in the ideal situation.
Five profiles of the research-teaching nexus could be distinguished: teach research results; make research known; show what it means to be a researcher; help to conduct research; and provide research experience. These profiles are related to dimensions proposed earlier in the literature on the research-teaching nexus.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0119, 11 April 2010
Private Education and Development
In the past decade, private education has had an increasingly significant impact in the developing world, with many countries promoting private sector growth to expand educational capacity and access at all levels, an international education conference was told last week.
The conference heard that more entrepreneurs were investing in the private sector in developing countries and "bringing fresh approaches and perspectives".
It was the fifth global conference to be held in Washington by the International Finance Corporation and attracted representatives of private education organisations and institutions from around the world.
The IFC provides investments and advisory services to expand the private sector in developing countries.
The corporation - an arm of the World Bank - has committed US$469 million in financing 62 education projects in 30 countries at a total value of $1.54 billion. Of these, 21 or 35% were in the world's poorest countries. IFC-supported projects help educate about 1.2 million students annually.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0118, 04 April 2010
The conference heard that more entrepreneurs were investing in the private sector in developing countries and "bringing fresh approaches and perspectives".
It was the fifth global conference to be held in Washington by the International Finance Corporation and attracted representatives of private education organisations and institutions from around the world.
The IFC provides investments and advisory services to expand the private sector in developing countries.
The corporation - an arm of the World Bank - has committed US$469 million in financing 62 education projects in 30 countries at a total value of $1.54 billion. Of these, 21 or 35% were in the world's poorest countries. IFC-supported projects help educate about 1.2 million students annually.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0118, 04 April 2010
10 Maret 2010
Malaysia: Terror-accused Students Remain in Detention
Tunde Fatunde
The Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMTC) has protested to the Malaysian government over the arrest in January of 50 people at the International Islamic University near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. They are believed to include at least two students from Nigeria and others from Ghana, Kenya, Syria and the Sudan. Although 38 of those arrested were later released, 12 remain in custody and were accused of having links with Al-Qaeda. Two of the Nigerian students are likely to be deported - another incident involving students and religious extremism that is causing the Nigerian authorities concern.
The previous incident involved former Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was arrested in the US after allegedly trying to blow up an American aircraft en route from Amsterdam last Christmas day.
In its letter of protest to the Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, the OMCT says it is seriously concerned about the fate of the 12 individuals, in particular because of the 60-day detention for investigation allowed under the Internal Ssecurity Act.
"Previous detainees under the ISA have reported to have been interrogated and tortured during that initial detention time," the organisation says.
Malaysian security agencies are believed to have swooped on an audience attending a lecture at the Islamic University campus in Senangor. The packed audience was listening to a lecture by Syrian Islamic preacher and fiery orator Sheikh Aiman Al Dakkak, who advocated the need for Muslims to destroy the infidel Christian America and Europe.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0114, 07 March 2010
The Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMTC) has protested to the Malaysian government over the arrest in January of 50 people at the International Islamic University near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. They are believed to include at least two students from Nigeria and others from Ghana, Kenya, Syria and the Sudan. Although 38 of those arrested were later released, 12 remain in custody and were accused of having links with Al-Qaeda. Two of the Nigerian students are likely to be deported - another incident involving students and religious extremism that is causing the Nigerian authorities concern.
The previous incident involved former Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was arrested in the US after allegedly trying to blow up an American aircraft en route from Amsterdam last Christmas day.
In its letter of protest to the Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, the OMCT says it is seriously concerned about the fate of the 12 individuals, in particular because of the 60-day detention for investigation allowed under the Internal Ssecurity Act.
"Previous detainees under the ISA have reported to have been interrogated and tortured during that initial detention time," the organisation says.
Malaysian security agencies are believed to have swooped on an audience attending a lecture at the Islamic University campus in Senangor. The packed audience was listening to a lecture by Syrian Islamic preacher and fiery orator Sheikh Aiman Al Dakkak, who advocated the need for Muslims to destroy the infidel Christian America and Europe.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0114, 07 March 2010
Higher Education Budgets and The Recession
John Aubrey Douglass
In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments around the world viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations have proactively protected funding for universities and colleges to help maintain access, to help retrain workers and to mitigate unemployment rates? And which nations have simply made large funding cuts for higher education in light of the severe downturn in tax revenues?
This essay, part of Research and Occasional Papers series published by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California - Berkeley, provides a moment-in-time review of the fate of higher education among a number of OECD nations and other countries, with a particular focus on the United States and on California - the largest state in terms of population and in the size of its economy.
Preliminary indicators show that most nations are not resorting to uncoordinated and reactionary cutting of funding and reductions in access, such as we see in the US. Their political leaders see higher education as a key to both short-term economic recovery and long-term competitiveness.
Further, although this is speculative, it appears that many nations are using the economic downturn to actually accelerate reform policies, some intended to promote efficiencies, but most focused on improving the quality of their university sector and promoting innovation in their economies.
More on the University World News site
Paper from the Center for Studies in Higher Education, Berkeley
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0114, 07 March 2010
In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments around the world viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations have proactively protected funding for universities and colleges to help maintain access, to help retrain workers and to mitigate unemployment rates? And which nations have simply made large funding cuts for higher education in light of the severe downturn in tax revenues?
This essay, part of Research and Occasional Papers series published by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California - Berkeley, provides a moment-in-time review of the fate of higher education among a number of OECD nations and other countries, with a particular focus on the United States and on California - the largest state in terms of population and in the size of its economy.
Preliminary indicators show that most nations are not resorting to uncoordinated and reactionary cutting of funding and reductions in access, such as we see in the US. Their political leaders see higher education as a key to both short-term economic recovery and long-term competitiveness.
Further, although this is speculative, it appears that many nations are using the economic downturn to actually accelerate reform policies, some intended to promote efficiencies, but most focused on improving the quality of their university sector and promoting innovation in their economies.
More on the University World News site
Paper from the Center for Studies in Higher Education, Berkeley
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0114, 07 March 2010
02 Maret 2010
Indonesia: Level University Entrance Playing Field
David Jardine
Confusion over higher education entrance requirements continues across Indonesia.In response, the Ministry of National Education plans to review this year’s arrangements for conducting entrance examinations.
The ministry is particularly keen to have state universities operating a transparent system which is at the same time 'friendly'. The review, due to be completed next year, is to address admissions policies at 84 state universities and technical institutes.
Deputy Minister Fasli Jalal, former Director-General of Higher Education at the ministry and an energetic advocate of reform in that sector, said: "People are getting confused by the whole process."
The confusion derives, Jalal said, from lack of transparency about the number of places available at the various universities and how many were allocated for certain tests. He said the ministry was annually inundated with public complaints from parents and students regarding the vast range of entrance tests and admissions procedures across the country.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0113, 28 February 2010
Confusion over higher education entrance requirements continues across Indonesia.In response, the Ministry of National Education plans to review this year’s arrangements for conducting entrance examinations.
The ministry is particularly keen to have state universities operating a transparent system which is at the same time 'friendly'. The review, due to be completed next year, is to address admissions policies at 84 state universities and technical institutes.
Deputy Minister Fasli Jalal, former Director-General of Higher Education at the ministry and an energetic advocate of reform in that sector, said: "People are getting confused by the whole process."
The confusion derives, Jalal said, from lack of transparency about the number of places available at the various universities and how many were allocated for certain tests. He said the ministry was annually inundated with public complaints from parents and students regarding the vast range of entrance tests and admissions procedures across the country.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0113, 28 February 2010
The Future of the Internet
The latest in a series of expert studies, The Future of the Internet IV, has revealed “fascinating new perspectives on the way the internet is affecting human intelligence and the ways that information is being shared and rendered”, according to the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. The web-based survey obtained opinions from nearly 900 internet stakeholders including prominent scientists, business leaders, consultants, writers and technology developers.
The web-based survey gathered opinions from prominent scientists, business leaders, consultants, writers and technology developers. It is the fourth in a series of Internet expert studies conducted by the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. In this report, we cover experts' thoughts on the following issues:
•Will Google make us stupid?
•Will the internet enhance or detract from reading, writing, and rendering of knowledge?
•Is the next wave of innovation in technology, gadgets, and applications pretty clear now, or will the most interesting developments between now and 2020 come “out of the blue”?
•Will the end-to-end principle of the internet still prevail in 10 years, or will there be more control of access to information?
•Will it be possible to be anonymous online or not by the end of the decade?
More on The Future of the Internet IV
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0113, 28 February 2010
The web-based survey gathered opinions from prominent scientists, business leaders, consultants, writers and technology developers. It is the fourth in a series of Internet expert studies conducted by the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. In this report, we cover experts' thoughts on the following issues:
•Will Google make us stupid?
•Will the internet enhance or detract from reading, writing, and rendering of knowledge?
•Is the next wave of innovation in technology, gadgets, and applications pretty clear now, or will the most interesting developments between now and 2020 come “out of the blue”?
•Will the end-to-end principle of the internet still prevail in 10 years, or will there be more control of access to information?
•Will it be possible to be anonymous online or not by the end of the decade?
More on The Future of the Internet IV
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0113, 28 February 2010
22 Februari 2010
Obstacles to Social Mobility
It is easier to climb the social ladder and earn more than one's parents in the Nordic countries, Australia and Canada than in France, Italy, Britain and the United States, according to a new OECD study. But weak social mobility can signal a lack of equal opportunities, constrain productivity and curb economic growth, says a report on the study.
"A Family Affair: Intergenerational social mobility across OECD countries" says climbing the social ladder depends on a range of factors such as individual ability, family and social environments, networks and attitudes. But public action - particularly education and to some extent tax policies - can play a key role in helping people achieve a higher income and social status than their parents.
Across all countries family and socio-economic background are a major influence on a person's level of education and earnings. But the impact of parental education, or lack of it, on a child's future prospects is particularly marked in southern European countries and the UK.
The report says in these countries people whose fathers have a university degree earn on average at least 20% more than children of men whose education ended at upper- secondary level, and well over a third more than children of men who had not reached upper-secondary education.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0112, 21 February 2010
"A Family Affair: Intergenerational social mobility across OECD countries" says climbing the social ladder depends on a range of factors such as individual ability, family and social environments, networks and attitudes. But public action - particularly education and to some extent tax policies - can play a key role in helping people achieve a higher income and social status than their parents.
Across all countries family and socio-economic background are a major influence on a person's level of education and earnings. But the impact of parental education, or lack of it, on a child's future prospects is particularly marked in southern European countries and the UK.
The report says in these countries people whose fathers have a university degree earn on average at least 20% more than children of men whose education ended at upper- secondary level, and well over a third more than children of men who had not reached upper-secondary education.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0112, 21 February 2010
16 Februari 2010
Plagiarism Dilemmas in University Management
Wendy Sutherland-Smith
Paper in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
Universities face constant scrutiny about their plagiarism management strategies, policies and procedures. A resounding theme, usually media inspired, is that plagiarism is rife, unstoppable and university processes are ineffectual in its wake. This has been referred to as a ‘moral panic’ approach and suggests plagiarism will thwart all efforts to reclaim academic integrity in higher education. However, revisiting the origins of plagiarism and exploring its legal evolution reveals that legal discourse is the foundation for many plagiarism management policies and processes around the world. Interestingly, criminal justice aims are also reflected in university plagiarism management strategies.
More on the University World News site
Paper in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0111, 14 Februari 2010
Paper in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
Universities face constant scrutiny about their plagiarism management strategies, policies and procedures. A resounding theme, usually media inspired, is that plagiarism is rife, unstoppable and university processes are ineffectual in its wake. This has been referred to as a ‘moral panic’ approach and suggests plagiarism will thwart all efforts to reclaim academic integrity in higher education. However, revisiting the origins of plagiarism and exploring its legal evolution reveals that legal discourse is the foundation for many plagiarism management policies and processes around the world. Interestingly, criminal justice aims are also reflected in university plagiarism management strategies.
More on the University World News site
Paper in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0111, 14 Februari 2010
The Rise of Asia’s Universities
Richard C Levin
At the beginning of the 21st century, the East is rising. The rapid economic development of Asia since the Second World War has altered the balance of power in the global economy and hence in geopolitics. The rising nations of the East all recognise the importance of an educated workforce as a means to economic growth and understand the impact of research in driving innovation and competitiveness. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s the higher education agenda in Asia’s early developers – Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – was first and foremost to increase the fraction of their populations provided with postsecondary education. Their initial focus was on expanding the number of institutions and their enrolments, and impressive results were achieved. Today, the later and much larger developing nations of Asia – China and India – have an even more ambitious agenda.
More on the University World News site
Yale President’s lecture to The Royal Society, UK
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0111, 14 Februari 2010
At the beginning of the 21st century, the East is rising. The rapid economic development of Asia since the Second World War has altered the balance of power in the global economy and hence in geopolitics. The rising nations of the East all recognise the importance of an educated workforce as a means to economic growth and understand the impact of research in driving innovation and competitiveness. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s the higher education agenda in Asia’s early developers – Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – was first and foremost to increase the fraction of their populations provided with postsecondary education. Their initial focus was on expanding the number of institutions and their enrolments, and impressive results were achieved. Today, the later and much larger developing nations of Asia – China and India – have an even more ambitious agenda.
More on the University World News site
Yale President’s lecture to The Royal Society, UK
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0111, 14 Februari 2010
More Academics and Students Suffer Attacks
Brendan O’Malley
Unesco’s new global study, Education under Attack 2010, reports that in a hard core of countries, academics and students are suffering serious human rights violations, ranging from assassination to torture and death threats, mainly at the hands of government or government-backed forces. The study was launched in New York last week and presented to US policy makers in Washington. A new alliance of education, human rights and child protection agencies, held in New York at the offices of Human Rights Watch, sought a common agenda of co-operation to prevent attacks on education and ensure that perpetrators are punished.
More on the University World News site
* See also a case study from the Unesco report of a Zimbabwean academic who escaped death threats from the Mugabe regime.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0111, 14 Februari 2010
Unesco’s new global study, Education under Attack 2010, reports that in a hard core of countries, academics and students are suffering serious human rights violations, ranging from assassination to torture and death threats, mainly at the hands of government or government-backed forces. The study was launched in New York last week and presented to US policy makers in Washington. A new alliance of education, human rights and child protection agencies, held in New York at the offices of Human Rights Watch, sought a common agenda of co-operation to prevent attacks on education and ensure that perpetrators are punished.
More on the University World News site
* See also a case study from the Unesco report of a Zimbabwean academic who escaped death threats from the Mugabe regime.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0111, 14 Februari 2010
03 Februari 2010
Measuring Student Learning, Globally
Nearly two years after the Bush administration said it would not participate in an international experiment aimed at developing a global assessment of student learning, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday formally announced the launch of the effort - with the full participation of the United States and the Obama administration - reports Doug Lederman for Inside Higher Ed.
The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) project aims to gauge whether it is possible to develop "reliable and useful comparisons of learning outcomes" that are valid across countries with different cultures and languages, said Richard Yelland, who heads the Education Management and Infrastructure Division at the OECD. The experiment will focus on producing three separate measures: one designed to measure general skills, and two in disciplines, economics and engineering. The Australian Council for Educational Research will lead a consortium that will develop the discipline-specific tests.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0109, 31 Januari 2010
The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) project aims to gauge whether it is possible to develop "reliable and useful comparisons of learning outcomes" that are valid across countries with different cultures and languages, said Richard Yelland, who heads the Education Management and Infrastructure Division at the OECD. The experiment will focus on producing three separate measures: one designed to measure general skills, and two in disciplines, economics and engineering. The Australian Council for Educational Research will lead a consortium that will develop the discipline-specific tests.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0109, 31 Januari 2010
26 Januari 2010
Survey Finds More Students Worried about Finances
Family unemployment and a growing student loan burden are making American college students increasingly anxious about finances, according to a national survey by University of California - Los Angeles researchers, writes Larry Gordon for the Los Angeles Times. Nearly 67% of freshmen at four-year colleges and universities said they had at least some concerns about paying their tuition bills, the highest percentage expressing such anxieties in a dozen years, the annual study found. And with unemployment affecting many families, about 53% of freshmen who took part in the survey last autumn said they carried student loans, up about 4% from the previous year and the highest in nine years.
The report, considered the nation's most comprehensive assessment of college student attitudes, found that 4.5% of the students' fathers were unemployed, the largest jobless proportion among fathers since the survey began 44 years ago. Nearly 8% of the respondents' mothers were jobless, the most in 30 years.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0108 24 Januari 2010
The report, considered the nation's most comprehensive assessment of college student attitudes, found that 4.5% of the students' fathers were unemployed, the largest jobless proportion among fathers since the survey began 44 years ago. Nearly 8% of the respondents' mothers were jobless, the most in 30 years.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0108 24 Januari 2010
More Women Out-earning, Out-learning Husbands
Bringing home the bacon is less and less a man's job in the US these days, writes Nicole Santa Cruz for The Los Angeles Times. According to a Pew Research Center study released on Tuesday, a larger share of men are married to women whose education and income exceed their own. In 1970, 4% of husbands had wives who made more money than they did. In 2007, that share rose to 22%.
"As women have made these extraordinary gains in working and education, men have been able to share in these gains through marriage," said D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer with Pew and a co-author of the study. "With so many women working and achieving higher income, it's increasingly a way for men to achieve economic security."
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0108 24 Januari 2010
"As women have made these extraordinary gains in working and education, men have been able to share in these gains through marriage," said D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer with Pew and a co-author of the study. "With so many women working and achieving higher income, it's increasingly a way for men to achieve economic security."
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0108 24 Januari 2010
06 Januari 2010
Winners of the UN Moot Court Contest
Munyaradzi Makoni
Five out of 10 shortlisted universities - two from each of the five United Nations regions - were named winners this month of the first World Human Rights Moot Court held at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The winning universities were from Brazil, Egypt, India, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Mock cases on discrimination, rooted on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and moulded for an international court, were judged in a competition to mark International Human Rights day on 10 December. The Moot Court celebrated the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with law students showcasing how they would fight human rights violations in a court of law.
The African region was won by American University in Cairo, Egypt, which competed against Université de Yaoundé II, International Relations Institute of Cameroon.
The University of Lucerne Law Faculty, Switzerland, beat Germany's Freie University for the Western Europe region. Eastern Europe saw the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Ukraine, take first position ahead of Hungary's Debrechen University.
The National Law School of India pipped Gujarat National Law University in the Asia category, while Latin America and the Caribbean produced Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo of Brazil as the winner ahead of Universidad Juarez Del Estado De Durango of Mexico.
UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Judge Navi Pillay, served as the first president of the Moot Court. The judging panel included former South African Chief Justices, Pius Langa and Arthur Chaskalson, advocate Jobi Makinwa, Civil Society coordinator of the UN Global Compact in New York, and George Mugwanya, senior counsel of the International criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Source: University World News, 06 January 2010
Five out of 10 shortlisted universities - two from each of the five United Nations regions - were named winners this month of the first World Human Rights Moot Court held at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The winning universities were from Brazil, Egypt, India, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Mock cases on discrimination, rooted on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and moulded for an international court, were judged in a competition to mark International Human Rights day on 10 December. The Moot Court celebrated the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with law students showcasing how they would fight human rights violations in a court of law.
The African region was won by American University in Cairo, Egypt, which competed against Université de Yaoundé II, International Relations Institute of Cameroon.
The University of Lucerne Law Faculty, Switzerland, beat Germany's Freie University for the Western Europe region. Eastern Europe saw the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Ukraine, take first position ahead of Hungary's Debrechen University.
The National Law School of India pipped Gujarat National Law University in the Asia category, while Latin America and the Caribbean produced Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo of Brazil as the winner ahead of Universidad Juarez Del Estado De Durango of Mexico.
UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Judge Navi Pillay, served as the first president of the Moot Court. The judging panel included former South African Chief Justices, Pius Langa and Arthur Chaskalson, advocate Jobi Makinwa, Civil Society coordinator of the UN Global Compact in New York, and George Mugwanya, senior counsel of the International criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Source: University World News, 06 January 2010
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