Vice Chancellors Weekly Higher Education Digest: November 5, 2018
KENYA: Anti-corruption drive – What about the universities? By Gilbert Nakweya
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta’s war on corruption has seen the arrest and prosecution of high-profile civil servants from current and past regimes, but have universities been overlooked in his campaign? Some academics and stakeholders think so.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20181024141546644
GHANA: Accreditation needs critical thinking and innovation By Eric Fredua-Kwarteng and Samuel Kwaku Ofosu UNIVERSITY WORLD NEWS
In a previous article we contended that accreditation lies at the heart of development and that the Ghana National Accreditation Board (NAB) is strategically irrelevant to the development of Ghana. Our contention was based on the ineffective ways in which the NAB conducts the accreditation process and also the fact that accreditation of higher education is not aligned with other national development policies in Ghana.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20181024101609199
AU’s development goals hampered by skills shortages By Gilbert Nakweya UNIVERSITY WORLD NEWS
Key targets for the first 10 years of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 are being jeopardised by a lack of critical technical skills, and a new skills development agenda led by business and academia is urgently needed, the recent Sixth African Higher Education Week and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) Biennial Conference heard.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20181031121429886
Ministers propose three-point plan to boost PhD numbers By Christabel Ligami
Recognising the need for more doctoral graduates who can contribute to the science and innovation agendas needed to promote development, African ministers of education, agriculture, science and technology have proposed a three-point plan to escalate postgraduate training and staffing in African universities.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20181031082312519
We Are All Research Subjects Now By Sarah E. Igo THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
This spring, with some fanfare, Facebook and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) announced that they would team up for a novel research collaboration. The unusual partnership has been greeted with equal parts praise and criticism. What seems undeniable, however, is what the project represents: the first outlines of a 21st-century social-research complex shaped more by big data than conventional data sets, and by corporate rather than public backing.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/We-Are-All-Research-Subjects/244705?cid=wcontentgrid_41_5
Self-Directed Learning and Augmented Reality: How to Teach Gen Z By Jeffrey J. Selingo THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Some campus leaders still talk about millennials as if they were the prototypical undergraduates. But enrolling now is Generation Z, the most diverse cohort in modern American history, one that grew up during the Great Recession and its aftermath, entirely in the era of the smartphone and social media. Today’s students crave value and relevance, they seek campus services over amenities, and they’re near-constant users of Instagram and YouTube.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Self-Directed-Learning-and/244968?cid=wcontentgrid
Lecture capture: vital learning aid or a licence to skip class? By Anne Mckie TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION
The introduction of lecture capture has proved, like most technological innovations in higher education, controversial. Debates over the merits of recording lectures and making them available online for students have ranged from the issue of who retains copyright of the content to the divisive use of pre-recorded lectures to provide “tuition” during strikes by academics.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/lecture-capture-vital-learning-aid-or-licence-skip-class
With Student Interest Soaring, Berkeley Creates New Data-Sciences Division By Alexander C. Kafka THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
The University of California at Berkeley today announced a new Division of Data Science and Information. It is the university’s largest program change in decades and helps secure its status among the country’s top data-science research and training hubs…. Berkeley’s move follows MIT’s announcement last month that it was investing $1 billion in a new college of artificial intelligence.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/With-Student-Interest-Soaring/244986?cid=wcontentgrid_7_1a
Giving Classroom Experiences (Like VR) More… Dimension By Mark Lieberman INSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION
Institutions are forging ahead with virtual and augmented reality and 3-D printing in the classroom -- and learning in the process how best to approach those initiatives…. Institutions are forging ahead with virtual and augmented reality and 3-D printing in the classroom -- and learning in the process how best to approach those initiatives.
How Asian business schools are beating Western rivals By Maxim Feldman WORLD UNIVERSITY NEWS
Despite their relative youth, Asian business schools are competing with and beating their Western counterparts on affordability and teaching a global approach – they recognise that understanding different mindsets is an important skill for contemporary businessmen operating globally.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20181025092955636
Leading Asian universities fall back in arts and humanities By Ellie Bothwell TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION
Asian universities’ performance in arts and humanities disciplines is waning, according to Times Higher Education’s latest ranking – a trend that a leading Asian scholar has warned will be “hard to reverse”. Several flagship universities in the continent declined in THE’s latest arts and humanities subject ranking, published on 31 October.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/leading-asian-universities-fall-back-arts-and-humanities
The New Canon: What's the most influential book of the past 20 years? THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Each year, more than 15,000 academic books are published in North America. A scant few will reach beyond their core audience of disciplinary specialists. Fewer still will enter the public consciousness. We invited scholars from across the academy to tell us what they saw as the most influential book published in the past 20 years
https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/influential-books?cid=wsinglestory_41_1
African students shun West for China By Zahir Irani
China’s growing presence in Africa is causing many students to head to Asia rather than Western universities…. Increasingly, the Chinese university offering includes choice, quality and the opportunity to integrate into a familiar Chinese-heavy community when students return to Africa…. Most international students from the developing world are no longer pursuing a dream of escape. They want primarily to attain the self-development that will let them make a difference in their home countries.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/african-students-shun-west-china
