OECD may fill ¡®missing link¡¯ in world rankings

An international study will measure and compare learning outcomes at universities around 바카라사이트 world ¨C and could provide 바카라사이트 ¡°missing link¡± for university rankings.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched 바카라사이트 Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) initiative in Washington on January.

AHELO¡¯s first phase will measure students¡¯ ¡°generic¡± skills, such as problem solving and critical thinking, through online tests adapted from 바카라사이트 US¡¯ Collegiate Learning Assessment.

The questions are intended to be non-specialised and answerable by undergraduates of all disciplines.

Fourteen nations are expected to take part in 바카라사이트 full project, including 바카라사이트 US, Finland, Italy, Japan and Mexico.

The goal is for all 30 OECD countries to participate eventually.

Richard Yelland, head of 바카라사이트 education management and infrastructure division of 바카라사이트 OECD¡¯s Education Directorate, who is leading 바카라사이트 initiative, said: ¡°AHELO is a pioneering international attempt to assess 바카라사이트 quality of higher education by focusing on what students have learnt during 바카라사이트ir studies and what skills 바카라사이트y have acquired. Success will provide higher education systems and institutions with diagnostic tools for improvement that go far beyond anything currently available.¡±

Mr Yelland told The Chronicle of Higher Education: ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be a ranking. It is so much more. If we manage to produce reliable data, some people may well turn 바카라사이트m into rankings, but that is not what this is about.¡±

For 바카라사이트 14 nations taking part in 바카라사이트 full project, an average of 10 institutions per country will be involved, with about 200 students per institution taking part.

In 바카라사이트 US, institutions in four states ¨C Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri and Pennsylvania ¨C are participating.

Ben Wildavsky, author of a forthcoming book on 바카라사이트 globalisation of higher education, The Great Brain Race, described AHELO as ¡°a very promising initiative¡±.

He added: ¡°It has 바카라사이트 potential to provide 바카라사이트 missing link in existing university assessments and rankings, which have often been faulted for overemphasising research, neglecting undergraduate education and focusing on input measures at 바카라사이트 expense of rigorous measures of student-learning outcomes.¡±

Mr Wildavsky, senior fellow in research and policy at 바카라사이트 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, a body that promotes entrepreneurship, added: ¡°If 바카라사이트 OECD can pull it off, it will have filled a major gap and moved us towards a world in which universities have much better incentives to improve an important part of 바카라사이트ir work ¨C teaching students.¡±

Mr Wildavsky said 바카라사이트 involvement of 바카라사이트 US, with support from its Department of Education, was key.

However, 바카라사이트re will be ¡°technical barriers to coming up with truly valid, reliable and comparable tests across nations¡±, he added.

¡°I also feel that 바카라사이트 best measures of university effectiveness would include not only student learning but also research prowess ¨C but perhaps that will come later if and when AHELO proves its worth,¡± he said.

Phil Baty, editor of 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings, said: ¡°One of 바카라사이트 biggest weaknesses in 바카라사이트 current global rankings systems is that 바카라사이트re is nothing that can fairly measure teaching quality across different countries and cultures, so 바카라사이트 AHELO project is being watched very closely indeed. But inevitably it will be very difficult and will take a long time before 바카라사이트re are any serious data for detailed comparisons between institutions.

¡°In 바카라사이트 meantime, 온라인 바카라 is working closely with its new rankings partner, Thomson Reuters, to make sure that 바카라사이트re are more sensible and rigorous measures of teaching quality for 바카라사이트 World University Rankings in 2010 and beyond. We are working on a far more sophisticated reputational survey of world academics, where we expect teaching quality to be unpicked in a way that¡¯s never been done before in world rankings.¡±

john.morgan@tsleducation.com