tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/sunday-times-university-rankings-33008/articlesSunday Times University rankings – The Conversation2018-09-28T10:50:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1040112018-09-28T10:50:01Z2018-09-28T10:50:01ZUniversity rankings: how do they compare and what do they mean for students?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238350/original/file-20180927-48659-mczgfq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What university rankings can tell us.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>University rankings can be highly influential. They can help prospective students to narrow down their choice of institution and, of course, they also give universities something to brag about.</p>
<p>The UK’s elite institutions, Oxford and Cambridge, continue to occupy the top two posts in the latest <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings">Times Higher Education World University Rankings</a> And many other UK universities also appear in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-university-rankings-open-days-are-the-biggest-factor-in-student-choice-87793">annual list</a> of “world class” universities. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uk-continues-to-top-world-university-rankings-heres-why-that-matters-83671">Rankings</a> are very much an indicator of a sector that has been “marketised”. As such, they should probably come with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-beware-university-rankings-should-come-with-health-warnings-48353">consumer warning</a> of their own. And although many rankings now offer some explanation of their <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=F8KZxONuGXQC&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71&dq=Longden,+B.+%282011%29.+%27Ranking+indicators+and+weights%27+University+Rankings:+Theoretical+Basis,+Methodology+and+Impacts+on+Global+Higher+Education&source=bl&ots=LTSRoWRrvh&sig=4SvvVRTKNTDJt0xCbc-_mmVoAG4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAmoVChMIt6jIvLCeyAIVS9oaCh0nAweQ#v=onepage&q&f=false">various methods</a>, what is less clear is whether the rankings’ different viewers carefully read and understand what the methodologies do – or what is actually being measured.</p>
<p>Times Higher Education editor <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/world-university-rankings-2019-evolution-and-expansion">Phil Baty claims</a> their world rankings were developed partly in response to a UK government report that lamented the tendency of British universities to compare themselves to each other rather than to global counterparts. </p>
<p>Introducing international benchmarks means that <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-universities-have-already-changed-in-the-21st-century-39676">British universities</a> now need to perform even better as they enter into competition with the rest of the world – both in terms of rankings and attracting students. And in this sense, the UK is competing with both elite US institutions and rising Asian challengers.</p>
<h2>How rankings differ</h2>
<p>But has this increased competitiveness brought about a better experience for students at UK universities? The answer is complex. It involves several related questions: what do students care about – and what should they demand from their universities and their lecturers? In recent years, the question has also been posed as: what kind of experience are students entitled to? Different <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-rankings-good-intentions-image-polishing-and-more-bureaucracy-79936">rankings</a> answer these questions in different ways. </p>
<p>Students probably care about the quality of teaching first and foremost and, if UK policy discourse is a guide, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ranking-universities-on-graduate-job-prospects-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction-79962">how employable they will be</a> after gaining their degree. Different ranking organisations address these two issues in various ways. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings says it uses indicators that show evidence of teaching quality but does not directly address the issue of employability – which is harder to compare across countries.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.topuniversities.com/qs-world-university-rankings">The QS World University Rankings</a> – another well known league table – uses a survey of employers to determine which universities have the best reputation for producing skilled graduates. Another approach is that of the <a href="http://www.shanghairanking.com/">Academic Ranking of World Universities</a>, also known as Shanghai Rankings, which does not claim to measure either teaching quality or employability. Instead, it focuses mainly on indicators surrounding research excellence.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uk-continues-to-top-world-university-rankings-heres-why-that-matters-83671">The UK continues to top world university rankings – here's why that matters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With these different nuances among rankings, students might be better advised to look at the recently released <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/europe-teaching/2018">Europe Teaching Rankings</a>. The purpose of the Europe Teaching ranking was to produce a league table that would speak more <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/europe-teaching/2018#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/undefined">directly to students</a> and, presumably, to their teaching staff who feel neglected by the mainstream ranking tables. But then again, although developed to measure teaching quality, some of the indicators in this ranking have <a href="http://eprints.brighton.ac.uk/17540/">been criticised</a> as measuring the wrong things. </p>
<h2>Choosing a top scorer</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-017-0147-8">own research</a> shows how analysts develop these different rankings to respond to, and develop different audiences. Different rankings operate according to different “businesss models”. Some develop their products for different audiences specifically to create more opportunities to sell their expertise. Some rankings are better at this than others. </p>
<p>The Times Higher Education rankings, for example, appear to be among the more successful organisations. From a single university ranking, they now produce rankings of universities in specific world regions – such as the Asia Rankings, Young University Rankings and are even now developing rankings that address the themes of innovation and social responsibility. </p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that the results for British universities in the Times Higher Education’s Europe Teaching Rankings vary from those of UK-only rankings – such as those produced by UK newspapers such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2018/may/29/university-league-tables-2019">The Guardian</a>. The Guardian’s rankings and the other national ones are targeted at students doing their A-levels (as well as their parents) who are starting to think about university options. So quite often teaching-oriented UK universities will do better in these national rankings. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238347/original/file-20180927-48634-u1kmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238347/original/file-20180927-48634-u1kmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238347/original/file-20180927-48634-u1kmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238347/original/file-20180927-48634-u1kmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238347/original/file-20180927-48634-u1kmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238347/original/file-20180927-48634-u1kmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238347/original/file-20180927-48634-u1kmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Findings from US research company Gallup, reveal that only 9% of businesses said university choice was ‘very important’ when it came to selecting future employees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These UK national rankings consider the results of the <a href="https://www.thestudentsurvey.com/">National Student Survey</a> which aims to measure student satisfaction and is broadly comparable across the UK. These rankings also show the relative performance of different academic departments. </p>
<p>So, for a British student seeking to study a particular degree in the UK, these rankings might be a better starting point than global rankings. Students from overseas would do well to examine both national as well as global rankings to get a better picture of what is on offer in the UK. The same applies to other countries.</p>
<p>Given the large number of organisations producing university rankings and league tables, the issue of whether rankings are changing universities into ever more fierce competitors with each other is of course a consideration. And while rankings, such as those released this week, can indeed keep universities on their toes, it’s easy to wonder if a more cooperative rather than competitive sector would be better for both for universities and the students they teach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miguel Antonio Lim received funding from the Marie Curie Actions.</span></em></p>What university rankings mean for students.Miguel Antonio Lim, Lecturer in Education and International Development, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/825582017-09-11T23:21:11Z2017-09-11T23:21:11ZWhy Canada fails to be an education superpower<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185531/original/file-20170911-8010-iu15w8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Almost 10 per cent of Canadian 15-year-olds do not have the science proficiency level required to participate fully in society. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada’s <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">recent results</a> in the Programme for International Student Assessment (<a href="https://www.cmec.ca/251/Programs-and-Initiatives/Assessment/Programme-for-International-Student-Assessment-(PISA)/Overview/index.html">PISA</a>) have been celebrated widely. In August 2017, the BBC marked Canada as an “<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40708421">education superpower</a>” because we were one of the top-ranking countries.</p>
<p>In fact, in-depth analysis indicates that our high school students’ performance has remained stagnant over the past decade. Even more troubling, almost 10 per cent of Canadian 15-year-olds do not have the science proficiency level required to participate fully in society. </p>
<p>And last week’s announcement of the <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2018/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats">2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings</a> places Canadian universities in a similar situation — <a href="https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/canadian-universities-hold-steady-in-rankings-but-must-boost-research-investment-to-rise/article36163082/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&">just clinging to their positions</a>. </p>
<p>As an assistant professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, I have been <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15305058.2013.841702?needAccess=true&">working with PISA data</a> for many years. My research with PISA stems from an interest in educational assessment which began when I was a high school science teacher. One of my research streams focuses on investigating the <a href="https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/jcie/index.php/JCIE/article/download/21392/20114">different types of assessments</a> used across Canada.</p>
<h2>No improvements</h2>
<p>PISA is an international assessment of the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students, a collaborative effort among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/">OECD</a>). In the last round of the assessment, 72 countries participated. </p>
<p>After the 2015 results were released, Canada was celebrated because only a handful of countries outperformed us in science, math and reading. When these results were compared to our past performance, it suggested Canadian students’ achievement improved over the years; particularly in the past three years.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><iframe id="h4fMY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/h4fMY/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>However, analysis of Canada’s PISA results indicates that our 15-year-olds’ results have not improved at all. When we look at Canadian PISA scores over the past few years, we see (as shown in Figure 2) that there are only minimal changes in each subject. Although students’ performance has fluctuated throughout the years, when we compare the <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/365/PISA2015-CdnReport-EN.pdf">2015 results</a> to <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/docs/pisa2006/Pisa2006.en.pdf">those from 2006</a>, the results indicate that students’ performance has either decreased or stayed the same. </p>
<p>The PISA covers reading, mathematics and science. Each assessment includes questions from all three areas, but each year the focus area shifts. We compare 2015 with 2006 here because both are years in which science was the focus. </p>
<p><br></p>
<p><iframe id="8fhvH" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8fhvH/11/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Statistically, these differences are not significant which means these fluctuations may have occurred by chance and not due to actual decreases in student performance. When we consider the statistical insignificance and past trends, we can safely conclude that Canadian students have shown no improvements in any of the subjects over the past decade.</p>
<h2>Celebrating a decline</h2>
<p>If students’ scores indicate there are no improvement in students’ performance, then why do our rankings (shown in Figure 1) show that we have improved? The reason is because the rankings are depending on the performance of other countries in comparison to Canada. For example, students from Finland outperformed Canadian students in science during <a href="http://cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/318/PISA2012_CanadianReport_EN_Web.pdf">the 2012 PISA</a>. But by 2015 our students performed at the same levels as their counterparts in Finland. </p>
<p>Canada’s rankings improved because students’ performance from Finland decreased over time. Hence, as we celebrate the improvements of Canada’s rankings, we are also celebrating a decline in the performance of students from other top-performing countries. </p>
<p>Instead of focusing on the country rankings, it is more appropriate to highlight students’ performance based on the scores achieved in each subject.</p>
<h2>Failing initiatives?</h2>
<p>The stability of Canadian students’ performance on PISA warrants concerns regarding the state of our education programs. Over the past decade, there have been many initiatives and programs implemented across Canada in an effort to improve students’ achievement. These include the <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/">Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat</a> in Ontario and the <a href="http://www.uleth.ca/education/resources/research/research-centers/project-support">Alberta Initiative for School Improvement</a>.</p>
<p>However, the 2015 PISA results continue to indicate that almost one in 10 Canadian students do not meet the minimum level of science proficiency required to participate in society. Instead of celebrating Canada’s PISA results, now is the time to reflect upon them — to identify areas of weaknesses in our education programs so that we may enhance Canada’s education.</p>
<p>We need to ask ourselves: Why are our students failing to improve, especially in science?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Man-Wai Chu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada’s educational performance internationally has remained stagnant over the past decade. Students’ science and math proficiency is especially worrying.Man-Wai Chu, Assistant Professor of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/676592016-11-09T11:27:26Z2016-11-09T11:27:26ZWhy the teaching of creative writing matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144874/original/image-20161107-4711-1vkzi07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the last 30 years or so the rise of creative writing programmes in universities has been met with seemingly unending howls of derision from all quarters. Hanif Kureishi, novelist, screenwriter – and professor of creative writing at Kingston University – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/04/creative-writing-courses-waste-of-time-hanif-kureishi">described them as a</a> “waste of time”. But universities around the world beg to differ, as the increasing number of courses and students testify.</p>
<p>The recent <a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/gooduniversityguide">Sunday Times league tables for universities</a> ranked the quality of teaching in creative writing at The University of Bolton as the best in the country. The programme there also boasts the highest ranking in terms of student experience. </p>
<p>Given that I am the only full-time lecturer in creative writing at Bolton – and also led the programme for two of the three years the recent figures cover – I should be able easily to explain our success, and why our students rate our teaching so highly. I say “should”, because I’m not sure of the answer. </p>
<p>There are easy ways to get students to rate teaching highly. We can tailor the classes to their personal needs and wants, and give them all high marks. Or we can teach them at a lower level than we should so that they feel a greater sense of achievement. But at Bolton we do none of these. So what’s the secret? </p>
<h2>The measure of a mark</h2>
<p>How you actually go about judging the quality of teaching – particularly with a subject like creative writing – is tricky. There are the normal ways that universities use: peer-assessment, student feedback, the evaluation of staff by professionals who specialise in methods of teaching and learning and staff development programmes. And as Bolton is a teaching intensive, research informed university we do a lot of these things, and I think we do them very well. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144872/original/image-20161107-4688-1bqazth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144872/original/image-20161107-4688-1bqazth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144872/original/image-20161107-4688-1bqazth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144872/original/image-20161107-4688-1bqazth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144872/original/image-20161107-4688-1bqazth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144872/original/image-20161107-4688-1bqazth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144872/original/image-20161107-4688-1bqazth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hanif Kureishi, who says creative writing courses are ‘a waste of time’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">andersphoto/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But I wonder whether what is being measured or evaluated in these assessments is more the style of the teacher, rather than the content. Most assessors are experts in teaching methods and practices – and it’s unreasonable to expect them to have detailed knowledge of every subject. </p>
<p>As non-specialists they are able to measure the levels of student engagement, of academic challenge, of whether the “learning outcomes” which plague university teaching in creative writing are being met. And if you measure it this way, then it’s quite possible that detractors such as Kureishi are right.</p>
<h2>A place for play</h2>
<p>Except that the teaching of creative writing, when done well, is about more than the skills and craft and technique, important as these things are. And as the writer and lecturer Liam Murray Bell describes, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-i-learned-from-ben-okri-about-creative-writing-67178">writers must find and use</a> a consistency of tone, style and voice. </p>
<p>It’s also about encouraging students to play, to move beyond their normal styles and subjects of writing, beyond their use of traditional structural, narrative and poetic forms – and to ask them to see what happens. In this sense <a href="https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/commentary/euphemism-the-university-and-disobedience">university is a place for play</a>. Teacher and game designer <a href="http://www.ericzimmerman.com/texts/Four_Concepts.html">Eric Zimmerman has defined play</a> as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The free space of movement within a more rigid structure. Play exists both because of and also despite the more rigid structures of a system.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If students are not actively encouraged to play then we are simply encouraging them to remain as static as they were when they entered higher education – even if they are more adept at using “writerly” skills and techniques.</p>
<h2>The secret of success</h2>
<p>To me it seems there is no “secret” to good teaching. You do the basics, and you do them as well as you possibly can. You limit class numbers. You give student-writers the individual attention they crave. You make sure that your teachers are good writers and that your writers are good teachers, so that expertise can be shared effectively. </p>
<p>And you make students read widely. They should read the classics, I suppose, but they should also read the “non-classics” – what many academics see as trash fiction. And they should read their peers and contemporaries too. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144875/original/image-20161107-4694-4n3t3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144875/original/image-20161107-4694-4n3t3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144875/original/image-20161107-4694-4n3t3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144875/original/image-20161107-4694-4n3t3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144875/original/image-20161107-4694-4n3t3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144875/original/image-20161107-4694-4n3t3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144875/original/image-20161107-4694-4n3t3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Read far and wide to become a better writer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, they should read things such as advertising billboards and street signs, the shapes of buildings, the colour of the pavement, the weather, the look in people’s faces. Writers need to breathe in so that they can breathe out their own individual reactions and responses. At Bolton we spend time reading and breathing, and that helps students find voices and interactions which can blend with the craft of writing to produce work which means something to them. </p>
<p>Very few students will earn a living as a writer. But writing is about more than that, and the ability to communicate effectively is a rare and precious thing. Good teaching should not be measured in the texts which students produce, then, but in the knowledge gained through the actions of writing – knowledge which lasts forever. </p>
<p>In the end, if students enjoy their studies, and believe that they’re gaining skills which are transferable in the workplace and will last them well beyond university, then perhaps that is what they see as ‘good teaching’. And perhaps too they’re the best ones to judge.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Holloway lectures in Creative Writing at The University of Bolton </span></em></p>Not every student will publish work or win prizes and very few will be able to earn a living putting pen to paper, but the teaching of creative writing is about more than that.Simon Holloway, Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of BoltonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.