Academic standards and role of universities in Bangladesh
Dr. Mohammed Hossain | Sunday, 29 June 2008
THE word university is derived from Latin 'universitas magistrorum et scholarium,' roughly meaning "community of teachers and scholars". A university is an institution of higher education and research, which confers academic degrees in a variety of disciplines. If the definition of a university could be assumed to mean an institution of higher education and research which issues academic degrees at all levels, undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral, in the modern sense of the word, then the Jami'ahs, "university" in Arabic, founded in the 9th century were the first examples of universities. The University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco is thus recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university in the world, founded in 859 by princess Fatima al-Fihri. Virtually since then, universities have grown around the world. And history identified universities as old, medieval, and modern.
Teaching and learning are at the heart of the academic pursuit. Students attend universities and other institutions of higher learning in order to learn and to earn qualifications. These institutions provide learning opportunities to students and assess the progress, the learners made. Education involves the acquisition of skills and knowledge which is essentially the result of individual enterprise. It is important that degrees are awarded to individuals, not groups, and, in awarding its degree to a student, a university is certifying that a student is worthy to receive its imprimatur to be recognised as a graduate of that institution. Especially, at a higher level, the award of a degree signifies that the recipient is capable of independent thought and research, and at doctoral level, of the creation of new knowledge.
Academic standard refers to the level of achievement that a student has to reach in order to gain an academic award - a degree, for example. On the other hand, academic quality or teaching quality describes the standard of learning opportunities available to students, to help them achieve their award. It is about making sure that appropriate and effective teaching, support, assessment and learning opportunities are provided by the university at a standard level. Scholars argue that academic standards have been associated with the production and transmission of knowledge, in many cases, extremely specialised, that is closely guarded by agents and scholars in these disciplines and it should be in the form of routinised syllabuses or standard curricula that change, in a hierarchical fashion, only with the production of new knowledge systems.
Within this framework, the universities need to provide quality education and maintain standard syllabus and market orientated subjects so that the students can find jobs in the right place, right time and with right benefits. Basically, the teaching and learning modalities of the programme design are derived from the institution's mandate and the purpose the institution has to serve through learning programmes, research and community engagement and this can be seen at vision and mission statements of the university.
The process of learning programmes must be guided by the academic standard framework prepared by the universities. For example, if we say, how does the programme define a 'graduate'? The answer is simple. The design of learning outcomes and exit level outcomes should be linked to what the institution perceives as the competence and quality of graduates who exit with a qualification from the programme.
The most important thing in introducing any new academic programme should be to ensure the teaching and learning strategy to provide the appropriate learning outcome for the programme. Therefore, some of the key issues like the mode of delivery, level of interaction and philosophical underpinning of teaching practice in the programme set the parameters for student support arrangements and academic interaction in relation to how the programme defines 'graduateness' need to be ensured. It is true that academic standards at this level are shaped by the quality of teaching in the programme. These strategies are often chosen on the basis of the value academic leaders attach to particular knowledge systems and the learning outcomes. That's why the academicians say "If knowledge is perceived as 'absolute truth', then transmission teaching dominates; if knowledge is perceived as subject to critique and debunking, a critical discourse is foregrounded".
Any programme's curriculum content should be articulate with other programmes at the institution and at other institutions. External expert opinion and benchmarks foreground the academic complexity, depth and academic standards espoused in the programme. A sound understanding of disciplinary knowledge systems and hierarchies in particular knowledge domains, combined with the exit level outcomes, should be used to select the programme's content.
What I would like to say that if we like to introduce the academic programme we have to be careful the above factors for which we can have quality education programme. Not only internal academic expert member include in the curriculum committee rather than external expert from any organisation like banking, manufacturing, service can be included in order to have standard curriculum for the programme. We have to keep in mind our job markets' requirements and the needs of the future for example 10 years, what it would be and how could we adjust our curriculum on the global job markets. Regulatory policy framework should be established and in my personal opinion, this can play a pivotal role in leveling the field to reduce glaring disparities of academic standards between institutions in Bangladesh.
Teaching and learning are at the heart of the academic pursuit. Students attend universities and other institutions of higher learning in order to learn and to earn qualifications. These institutions provide learning opportunities to students and assess the progress, the learners made. Education involves the acquisition of skills and knowledge which is essentially the result of individual enterprise. It is important that degrees are awarded to individuals, not groups, and, in awarding its degree to a student, a university is certifying that a student is worthy to receive its imprimatur to be recognised as a graduate of that institution. Especially, at a higher level, the award of a degree signifies that the recipient is capable of independent thought and research, and at doctoral level, of the creation of new knowledge.
Academic standard refers to the level of achievement that a student has to reach in order to gain an academic award - a degree, for example. On the other hand, academic quality or teaching quality describes the standard of learning opportunities available to students, to help them achieve their award. It is about making sure that appropriate and effective teaching, support, assessment and learning opportunities are provided by the university at a standard level. Scholars argue that academic standards have been associated with the production and transmission of knowledge, in many cases, extremely specialised, that is closely guarded by agents and scholars in these disciplines and it should be in the form of routinised syllabuses or standard curricula that change, in a hierarchical fashion, only with the production of new knowledge systems.
Within this framework, the universities need to provide quality education and maintain standard syllabus and market orientated subjects so that the students can find jobs in the right place, right time and with right benefits. Basically, the teaching and learning modalities of the programme design are derived from the institution's mandate and the purpose the institution has to serve through learning programmes, research and community engagement and this can be seen at vision and mission statements of the university.
The process of learning programmes must be guided by the academic standard framework prepared by the universities. For example, if we say, how does the programme define a 'graduate'? The answer is simple. The design of learning outcomes and exit level outcomes should be linked to what the institution perceives as the competence and quality of graduates who exit with a qualification from the programme.
The most important thing in introducing any new academic programme should be to ensure the teaching and learning strategy to provide the appropriate learning outcome for the programme. Therefore, some of the key issues like the mode of delivery, level of interaction and philosophical underpinning of teaching practice in the programme set the parameters for student support arrangements and academic interaction in relation to how the programme defines 'graduateness' need to be ensured. It is true that academic standards at this level are shaped by the quality of teaching in the programme. These strategies are often chosen on the basis of the value academic leaders attach to particular knowledge systems and the learning outcomes. That's why the academicians say "If knowledge is perceived as 'absolute truth', then transmission teaching dominates; if knowledge is perceived as subject to critique and debunking, a critical discourse is foregrounded".
Any programme's curriculum content should be articulate with other programmes at the institution and at other institutions. External expert opinion and benchmarks foreground the academic complexity, depth and academic standards espoused in the programme. A sound understanding of disciplinary knowledge systems and hierarchies in particular knowledge domains, combined with the exit level outcomes, should be used to select the programme's content.
What I would like to say that if we like to introduce the academic programme we have to be careful the above factors for which we can have quality education programme. Not only internal academic expert member include in the curriculum committee rather than external expert from any organisation like banking, manufacturing, service can be included in order to have standard curriculum for the programme. We have to keep in mind our job markets' requirements and the needs of the future for example 10 years, what it would be and how could we adjust our curriculum on the global job markets. Regulatory policy framework should be established and in my personal opinion, this can play a pivotal role in leveling the field to reduce glaring disparities of academic standards between institutions in Bangladesh.