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Week 2 – Higher Education
Task 1 University ranking - vocabulary and listening
A) Do you understand the words below?
a decision upward elite dropped income
strength credible austerity shift growth
Can you find words from the bank below that collocate with them?
____________measures ____________ __________economic ____________
_____________make ______________ __________ power _____________
____________athletes ______________ ___________ scores _____________
____________research _____________ _________ movement ___________
_____________ main_______________ __________ system _____________
B) Work in pairs. Could you put the following universities into a rank order according
to their reputation (as you perceive it):
Harvard University ______
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) ______
University of Cambridge ______
Stanford University ______
University of Oxford ______
Imperial College London ______
CALTEC (California Institute of Technology) ______
Princeton University ______
University of Chicago ______
University of California, Berkeley ______
C) Watch the video and
a. check your rankings
b. answer the questions below.
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1. Why are university rankings important? (4 reasons according to Mishal Husain)
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2. How did Harvard perform in the ranking?
__________________________________________________________________
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3. What is currently the main trend in the ranking process?
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4. How does Phil Baty explain the situation in developing countries?
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5. What makes the ranking credible?
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(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbqUAqx-hiQ)
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Task 2 Reading
METHODOLOGY: CRITERIA FOR RANKING UNIVERSITIES
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013 are the only global
university performance tables to judge research-led universities across all their core missions teaching,
research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
We employ 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive
and balanced comparisons, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders,
industry and governments.
The methodology for the 2012-2013 World University Rankings is identical to that used for
the 2011-2012 tables, offering a year-on-year comparison based on true performance rather
than methodological change.
Our 13 performance indicators are grouped into five areas:
Teaching: the learning environment (worth 30 per cent of the overall ranking score)
Research: volume, income and reputation (worth 30 per cent)
Citations: research influence (worth 30 per cent)
Industry income: innovation (worth 2.5 per cent)
International outlook: staff, students and research (worth 7.5 per cent).
Exclusions
Universities are excluded from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings if
they do not teach undergraduates; if they teach only a single narrow subject; or if their
research output amounted to fewer than 1,000 articles between 2006 and 2010 (200 a year).
In some exceptional cases, institutions that are below the 200-paper threshold are included if
they have a particular focus on disciplines with generally low publication volumes, such as
engineering or the arts and humanities.
Scores
To calculate the overall rankings, "Z-scores" were created for all data sets except for the
results of the academic reputation survey.
The Z-score is then turned into a "cumulative probability score" to arrive at the final totals.
For the results of the reputation survey, the data are highly skewed in favour of a small
number of institutions at the top of the rankings, so last year we added an exponential
component to increase differentiation between institutions lower down the scale, a method we
have retained for the 2012-2013 tables.
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A) What have you learnt from the text above about the Times Higher Education
World University Rankings 2012-2013? True of false?
1. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are unique. T F
2. In total, the rankings are based on five criteria. T F
3. A new methodology has been developed for 2013 rankings. T F
4. Research is the most heavily weighted area. T F
5. The annual research output of included universities must equal 1000 articles. T F
6. The lowest acceptable number of published articles allows no exceptions. T F
7. All the data sets obtained in the ranking process were converted to Z-scores. T F
8. Cumulative probability score is the outcome of the academic reputation survey. T F
9. The data reflecting university reputation are biased towards small universities. T F
10. Since 2012 the reputation survey has been analysed in a modified way. T F
B) Vocabulary building. In the sentences below fill in the missing words from the text:
1. Research is the ______________ mission of this university.
2. The criteria for ranking universities are ______________ by students, academics and other
people concerned.
3. Is this ranking identical ______________ the ranking conducted by another agency?
4. Harvard is one of the most renowned research-_______________ universities.
5. The ranking is based on real ______________ of an included university.
6. Some universities ______________ on disciplines with low publication volumes.
7. How is the overall score ______________?
8. This university´s research ______________ is lower than the acceptable ______________ .
9. The data are ______________ in favour of non-European universities.
10. Those universities do not teach ______________. Due to this fact they were not included.
C) Grammar:
Underline all passive structures in the text.
Formulate passive sentences of your own using the following verbs:
- weight
- apply
- accept
- analyse
- change
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Task 3 University advisors
What did you have to do to get accepted to Masaryk University?
Did you ask somebody to give you advice what to do and how to do it?
Listen to a conversation between a student and a university advisor. The student is
currently studying at Kryptos University and is trying to decide where to go to school next
year. Decide which option A, B, C or D is correct and circle the letter of your choice.
1. Why is the student talking to the advisor?
A. to determine the best subject to major in
B. to ask about the advisor's experience
C. to decide which classes to choose
D. to get advice about transferring
2. The student
A. wanted to go to a school close to home.
B. is majoring in business administration.
C. has made lots of friends at Kryptos.
D. is senior at Kryptos University.
3. Why does the advisor say: "I was ready to pack it in after the first two weeks"?
A. to show that she sympathizes with the student's feelings.
B. to make the student feel foolish about wanting to leave.
C. to demonstrate how brave he was for staying in school.
D. to illustrate an example of his poor decision-making.
4. What will the student have to do if he transfers?
A. send educational records.
B. study one more year.
C. take extra courses.
D. change majors.
5. What will most likely happen next?
A. The advisor will call the students' parents.
B. The student will search for more information.
C. The student will move back to his hometown.
D. The advisor will ask her colleague for opinion.
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Fill in the missing words in the following extracts from the conversation. For each gap you
will need just one word.
I was hoping you could help me (1) ___________ a decision.
And would you (2) ___________ the same major if you transferred?
The (3) ___________ I've earned here will transfer to Central.
The thing is, you've got almost a year under your (4) ___________ here now. At Central,
you'll be starting from (5) ___________.
But I'm a little bit (6) ___________ with Central University since I have older friends who
went there.
You've given me a lot to (7) ___________ about.
Now work in pairs and answer the following questions:
1. Have you ever asked a university advisor for help?
2. Why? / Why not?
3. If you have, did they help you solve your problem?
4. If you haven´t, do you think it might happen in the future?
5. What reasons might students have to contact a university advisor?