scholarly journals Rankings Season is Here

Author(s):  
Philip Altbach

The major international rankings of higher education have appeared in recent months. The ranking is an inevitable result of the massification and commercialization of higher education worldwide. Ranking presumes a zero-sum game, but in reality, improvement is taking place everywhere. The current rankings are largely measured by research productivity, and they are advantageous for major English-speaking countries. Each ranking use different measures, and also changes over time. The user must be aware of the uses and problems of rankings.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Qiang Zha

Abstract This paper examines several research questions relating to equality and equity in Chinese higher education via an extended literature review, which in turn sheds light on evolving scholarly explorations into this theme. First, in the post-massification era, has the Chinese situation of equality and equity in higher education improved or deteriorated since the late 1990s? Second, what are the core issues with respect to equality and equity in Chinese higher education? Third, how have those core issues evolved or changed over time and what does the evolution indicate and entail? Methodologically, this paper uses a bibliometric analysis to detect the topical hotspots in scholarly literature and their changes over time. The study then investigates each of those topical terrains against their temporal contexts in order to gain insights into the core issues.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (64) ◽  
pp. 1665-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Alpern ◽  
Robbert Fokkink ◽  
Marco Timmer ◽  
Jérôme Casas

We advance and apply the mathematical theory of search games to model the problem faced by a predator searching for prey. Two search modes are available: ambush and cruising search. Some species can adopt either mode, with their choice at a given time traditionally explained in terms of varying habitat and physiological conditions. We present an additional explanation of the observed predator alternation between these search modes, which is based on the dynamical nature of the search game they are playing: the possibility of ambush decreases the propensity of the prey to frequently change locations and thereby renders it more susceptible to the systematic cruising search portion of the strategy. This heuristic explanation is supported by showing that in a new idealized search game where the predator is allowed to ambush or search at any time, and the prey can change locations at intermittent times, optimal predator play requires an alternation (or mixture) over time of ambush and cruise search. Thus, our game is an extension of the well-studied ‘Princess and Monster’ search game. Search games are zero sum games, where the pay-off is the capture time and neither the Searcher nor the Hider knows the location of the other. We are able to determine the optimal mixture of the search modes when the predator uses a mixture which is constant over time, and also to determine how the mode mixture changes over time when dynamic strategies are allowed (the ambush probability increases over time). In particular, we establish the ‘square root law of search predation’: the optimal proportion of active search equals the square root of the fraction of the region that has not yet been explored.


Author(s):  
Fahreta Fijuljanin ◽  
Samina Dazdarević ◽  
Amela Lukač-Zoranić

The paper examines the influence of modern linguistics and the consequences of language reflection on both English language and global philology. A comparative analysis of preferences and lacks of traditional and modern linguistics represent a common view of the progress and the needs of the language. The paper aims to highlight several recent studies of modern linguists in the field of English linguistics such as Chomsky, Sapir, Halliday and Bloomfield as the representative of English speaking grammarians. Modern linguistics, as a set of different variations, raises the question of how and why language changes over time. It possibly may represent the basis for research on contemporary linguistics as a turning point for language change in the future, as well as the impact of society on language, change and universals.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-120
Author(s):  
Colin Knox

This article is a contribution to a special issue of Teaching Public Administration, which offers teachers with many years’ experience the opportunity to reflect on changes over time. The context for this paper is teaching public administration in Northern Ireland, a region of the UK that has a sizeable public sector but a distinctive and unstable structure of governance. The paper begins by summarizing the pedagogic polemic in teaching public administration, how this played out in a devolved region of the UK that has witnessed political conflict, and the influence of this setting on the provision of higher education for public sector officials. It addresses how a regional university has sought to meet the seemingly parochial demands of its students with the wider demands for global outward-facing teaching and research.


Author(s):  
Judith Favish ◽  
Janice L. McMillan

Challenges facing the higher education sector globally include questions over what counts as knowledge and what are valid forms of both its reproduction and production. This paper addresses the question of how what counts as valid knowledge is challenged and how it changes over time. It does this via an analysis of examples of social responsiveness profiled as 'portraits of practice' in the annual social responsiveness reports produced at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, a traditionally strong research university. In this paper, we discuss and analyse key themes emerging from this work and argue that social responsiveness not only serves to enhance the core functions of teaching and research but can act to change them.


1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Riney ◽  
James E. Flege

This study assessed global foreign accent in sentences and the production of two English consonants, /[upside-down r]/ and /l/, by 11 Japanese college students during their freshman and senior years (T1, T2). In Experiment 1, native English-speaking listeners rated five sentences spoken by the Japanese speakers and five native English control speakers. Experiments 2 and 3 examined 25 word onsets containing /[upside-down r]/ and /l/. Auditory evaluations by native English-speaking listeners were used to determine: (a) to what extent the consonants produced could be identified as intended at T1 and T2; and (b) whether /[upside-down r]/ and /l/ were produced more accurately at T2 than at T1. The results provided little support for a markedness hypothesis based on statistical frequencies and mixed support for a hypothesis based on perception studies. Some speakers made significant improvement, however, in both global foreign accent and liquid identifiability and accuracy.


Author(s):  
Dóra Révész ◽  
Martijn J. L. Bours ◽  
Johannes A. Wegdam ◽  
Eric T. P. Keulen ◽  
Stéphanie O. Breukink ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Alcohol consumption can lead to worse prognosis and mortality among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. We investigated alcohol consumption of CRC survivors up to 2 years post-diagnosis, and how sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors were associated longitudinally with these habits. Methods We pooled longitudinal data of 910 CRC survivors from the ongoing PROCORE and EnCoRe studies with data collected at diagnosis (baseline) and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-diagnosis. Both studies assessed alcohol consumption, including beer, wine, and liquor. Generalized estimated equation models were used to examine changes over time in alcohol consumption and multivariable longitudinal associations of sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors with alcohol consumption. Results At baseline, participants were on average 67 years old, 332 (37%) were female, and alcohol was consumed by 79%. Most survivors (68–71%) drank less at all follow-ups. Beer, wine, and liquor were consumed by 51%, 58%, and 25% at baseline, respectively, and these declined over time. Males consumed more alcohol, and higher education, more physical activity, and not having a (permanent) stoma were associated with consuming more alcohol. Conclusion CRC survivors decreased their alcohol consumption in the 2 years post-diagnosis. Future studies should take the significant factors that were associated with alcohol post-diagnosis consumption into account, when they investigate CRC health outcomes or for identifying subgroups for interventions. Males with higher education, more physical activity, and no stoma should be reminded after diagnosis for reducing their alcohol consumption.


VASA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 355-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Urban ◽  
Alban Fouasson-Chailloux ◽  
Isabelle Signolet ◽  
Christophe Colas Ribas ◽  
Mathieu Feuilloy ◽  
...  

Abstract. Summary: Background: We aimed at estimating the agreement between the Medicap® (photo-optical) and Radiometer® (electro-chemical) sensors during exercise transcutaneous oxygen pressure (tcpO2) tests. Our hypothesis was that although absolute starting values (tcpO2rest: mean over 2 minutes) might be different, tcpO2-changes over time and the minimal value of the decrease from rest of oxygen pressure (DROPmin) results at exercise shall be concordant between the two systems. Patients and methods: Forty seven patients with arterial claudication (65 + / - 7 years) performed a treadmill test with 5 probes each of the electro-chemical and photo-optical devices simultaneously, one of each system on the chest, on each buttock and on each calf. Results: Seventeen Medicap® probes disconnected during the tests. tcpO2rest and DROPmin values were higher with Medicap® than with Radiometer®, by 13.7 + / - 17.1 mm Hg and 3.4 + / - 11.7 mm Hg, respectively. Despite the differences in absolute starting values, changes over time were similar between the two systems. The concordance between the two systems was approximately 70 % for classification of test results from DROPmin. Conclusions: Photo-optical sensors are promising alternatives to electro-chemical sensors for exercise oximetry, provided that miniaturisation and weight reduction of the new sensors are possible.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda Olff ◽  
Mirjam Nijdam ◽  
Kristin Samuelson ◽  
Julia Golier ◽  
Mariel Meewisse ◽  
...  

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