Teaching matters too: Rethinking what makes a great university — Jazli Aziz
There are two major university rankings used globally — the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. These two ranking systems utilise slightly different methods and indicators for quantifying university performance, encompassing factors such as student and faculty ratios, income, reputation, employability, and of course, research performance. Despite their differences, one similarity is that both rankings place a greater emphasis on research, as research-related indicators contribute more towards a university's score than other indicators. For the QS rankings, 'Research and Discovery' make up 50 per cent of the total score for a university (30 per cent for academic reputation and 20 per cent for citations per faculty), while 'Research Environment' (29 per cent) and 'Research Quality' (30 per cent) collectively contribute 59 per cent to the overall score of THE's ranking system. With research contributing immensely to a university's ranking, it's no surprise why these institutions are channelling more resources and effort towards their research endeavours.
A general view of Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur on January 22, 2024. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
However, if a healthy balance between research and teaching priorities is compromised, universities may risk alienating their students. The student body is not only the largest population in a university, it's arguably also the most important. And by deprioritising teaching, we may inadvertently be sending the wrong message to students. Our students are future professionals and will one day take on the responsibilities of running the nation. Should their education not be prioritised at least as much as research output?
Shifting institutional priorities will also affect the motivations of academic staff. Despite what some people may think, teaching is not easy. Academic staff revise curriculums, prepare for lectures, find reading material, design and mark exam questions, and this is all in addition to going for classes, tutorials, and group discussions with students. How much time and effort could academic staff afford to put into their teaching responsibilities if institutional policies require them to increase their research output? How many academic staff would resort to doing the bare minimum for the education of their students if they feel pressured to perform more research to align with university goals? In the end, educators may feel demotivated to innovate and improve their teaching methods which will lead to stagnation and an eventual decline in teaching quality.
An imbalance between research and teaching efforts could have long-term consequences to both universities and their students. If academic staff are not able to provide an engaging and stimulating learning environment, students may struggle and be forced through a poor learning experience. And if this continues throughout the students' entire study programme, we may end up with graduates who lack the necessary skills and competencies expected of a university graduate. This will not only affect our graduates' employability and their abilities to contribute meaningfully to the nation, but also the reputation of universities, as employers may form unfavourable opinions of universities based on the quality of their graduates.
While global ranking systems are unlikely to change any time soon, universities can implement their own internal benchmarks which value and reward teaching excellence. This is an important step to show that universities recognise teaching as equally important as research, even if it may not be reflected in global ranking systems. Universities can utilise teaching-related indicators for reward systems or promotion criteria. This could potentially encourage academic staff to invest their time and effort into teaching innovations and improvements, ultimately leading to an improved learning experience for students as well.
Universities have existed for hundreds of years. Yet these global rankings were only introduced in the early 2000s. Universities should not make rankings the be-all and end-all of higher education. Institutes of higher learning existed long before the invention of these rankings, and they can stand on their own. Research is invaluable to the progress of mankind, there's no doubt about that. But a university graduate should be just as valuable to a university as a research publication. I strongly urge universities to give equal importance to teaching quality and to not neglect it in favour of increasing research output. The true prestige of a university should not lie in its ranking or number of publications, but in the quality of graduates it produces.
* Dr Jazli Aziz is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya, and may be reached at [email protected]
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
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Malay Mail
10-07-2025
- Malay Mail
Teaching matters too: Rethinking what makes a great university — Jazli Aziz
JULY 10 — University rankings are a highly visible indicator of a university's status. Due to the increased visibility among the general public and perceived importance of these global rankings, universities around the world have slowly been focusing more on increasing their research output. This is because a university's ranking is heavily influenced by its research performance. But as universities chase the 'prestige' of these rankings by making a stronger push for research output, is the importance of teaching being neglected? Is student education being sidelined in favour of research publications? There are two major university rankings used globally — the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. These two ranking systems utilise slightly different methods and indicators for quantifying university performance, encompassing factors such as student and faculty ratios, income, reputation, employability, and of course, research performance. Despite their differences, one similarity is that both rankings place a greater emphasis on research, as research-related indicators contribute more towards a university's score than other indicators. For the QS rankings, 'Research and Discovery' make up 50 per cent of the total score for a university (30 per cent for academic reputation and 20 per cent for citations per faculty), while 'Research Environment' (29 per cent) and 'Research Quality' (30 per cent) collectively contribute 59 per cent to the overall score of THE's ranking system. With research contributing immensely to a university's ranking, it's no surprise why these institutions are channelling more resources and effort towards their research endeavours. A general view of Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur on January 22, 2024. — Picture by Firdaus Latif However, if a healthy balance between research and teaching priorities is compromised, universities may risk alienating their students. The student body is not only the largest population in a university, it's arguably also the most important. And by deprioritising teaching, we may inadvertently be sending the wrong message to students. Our students are future professionals and will one day take on the responsibilities of running the nation. Should their education not be prioritised at least as much as research output? Shifting institutional priorities will also affect the motivations of academic staff. Despite what some people may think, teaching is not easy. Academic staff revise curriculums, prepare for lectures, find reading material, design and mark exam questions, and this is all in addition to going for classes, tutorials, and group discussions with students. How much time and effort could academic staff afford to put into their teaching responsibilities if institutional policies require them to increase their research output? How many academic staff would resort to doing the bare minimum for the education of their students if they feel pressured to perform more research to align with university goals? In the end, educators may feel demotivated to innovate and improve their teaching methods which will lead to stagnation and an eventual decline in teaching quality. An imbalance between research and teaching efforts could have long-term consequences to both universities and their students. If academic staff are not able to provide an engaging and stimulating learning environment, students may struggle and be forced through a poor learning experience. And if this continues throughout the students' entire study programme, we may end up with graduates who lack the necessary skills and competencies expected of a university graduate. This will not only affect our graduates' employability and their abilities to contribute meaningfully to the nation, but also the reputation of universities, as employers may form unfavourable opinions of universities based on the quality of their graduates. While global ranking systems are unlikely to change any time soon, universities can implement their own internal benchmarks which value and reward teaching excellence. This is an important step to show that universities recognise teaching as equally important as research, even if it may not be reflected in global ranking systems. Universities can utilise teaching-related indicators for reward systems or promotion criteria. This could potentially encourage academic staff to invest their time and effort into teaching innovations and improvements, ultimately leading to an improved learning experience for students as well. Universities have existed for hundreds of years. Yet these global rankings were only introduced in the early 2000s. Universities should not make rankings the be-all and end-all of higher education. Institutes of higher learning existed long before the invention of these rankings, and they can stand on their own. Research is invaluable to the progress of mankind, there's no doubt about that. But a university graduate should be just as valuable to a university as a research publication. I strongly urge universities to give equal importance to teaching quality and to not neglect it in favour of increasing research output. The true prestige of a university should not lie in its ranking or number of publications, but in the quality of graduates it produces. * Dr Jazli Aziz is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya, and may be reached at [email protected] ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Malay Mail
08-07-2025
- Malay Mail
Why real conversation is our last defence against a lonely world — Ng Kwan Hoong
JULY 8 — 'People talking without speaking People hearing without listening...' ~ Simon & Garfunkel, 'The Sound of Silence' Those words, written in the 1960s, may as well have been written for today. We live in an age where communication is everywhere. It hums in our pockets, flashes across our screens, and echoes through every waking hour. Notifications ping, reels autoplay, and voice notes arrive in rapid fire. We talk, and talk, and talk. And yet, many of us feel unheard. It's a strange thing — to be surrounded by words but still feel alone. But that's what's happening. Conversation, the real kind, is quietly slipping through our fingers. We're losing not the ability to speak, but the willingness to listen. Not the tools to connect, but the time to care. And in that gap — between noise and meaning — grows something deeper. Silence. Not the peaceful kind, but the kind filled with absence. With disconnection. With loneliness. I'm not speaking from theory alone. Over the years, I've watched this shift happen. In classrooms, among colleagues, even in families. People share space, but not attention. They speak, but not to understand. Often, they don't even make eye contact anymore. The statistics tell the same story. Around the world, loneliness is rising — especially among the young. In surveys across countries, people in their twenties and early thirties report feeling more isolated than ever, despite having access to more communication tools than any generation before them. Technology isn't the enemy. It never was. Smartphones and social media have opened up access, especially during times of crisis. But something has changed in how we relate to one another. Speed has overtaken depth. Volume has replaced value. We're living, in many ways, in a constant state of partial attention. Celeste Headlee, in her 2017 book 'We Need to Talk', reminds us that conversation is a skill — one that must be practised. And like any skill, it fades when neglected. She offers simple but powerful reminders: stay present, be curious, resist the urge to interrupt. Ask questions not to steer the conversation your way, but to understand where someone else is coming from. These may sound like small things. But they're not. They are the building blocks of empathy. They are how trust is built. And in a world that feels increasingly uncertain and divided, trust is something we can't afford to lose. So where do we begin? Perhaps by remembering that a real conversation is a gift. One that asks for your full attention, and offers presence in return. You don't need to be eloquent or have all the right words. You just need to show up. To care. To be willing to sit in the silence until someone finds the courage to speak. A cup of coffee shared without devices on the table. A walk where questions are asked, and truly heard. A conversation with your child where you're not multitasking. These aren't grand gestures, but they matter. Because they tell the other person: I see you. I'm here with you. You are not invisible. A person talks to an AI-powered robot named Aluo at a shopping centre in Beijing. — AFP pic And maybe forgive ourselves for how far we've drifted. Life moves quickly. It's easy to slip into habits of convenience. But the good news is — it's never too late to return. To put the phone down. To look up. To begin again. I recently watched two strangers strike up a conversation in the waiting area at Menara Timur, UMMC, while waiting for their names to be called. One was an older man, the other a teenager. I couldn't hear their words, but I noticed the body language — one leaning in, the other nodding slowly. There was no rush, no distractions. Just the rhythm of two people discovering a shared moment. It reminded me that conversation doesn't always solve problems. But it helps us feel less alone in facing them. And that might be enough. We live in a world that often feels fractured. But in every real conversation lies the possibility of healing. Of being reminded that beneath our differences, we are all looking for the same things: understanding, connection, belonging. Let's not let that slip away. Because if we stop having real conversations, we don't just lose words — we lose each other. So the next time someone sits beside you, or reaches out, or lingers after a meeting... take the moment. Ask how they are — and mean it. Let them speak. Let them finish. Let them be heard. Because when we stop listening — really listening — silence begins to grow. Not the peaceful kind, but the kind that spreads like a cancer, just as that old Simon & Garfunkel song warned us. Choose to listen. Choose to connect. Choose, again and again, To be human. * Ng Kwan Hoong is Emeritus Professor at the Department of Biomedical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. This 2020 Merdeka Award recipient is a medical physicist by training, but also enjoys teaching, writing, drawing, taking photos and tinkering with ideas for new medical devices. He may be reached at [email protected] ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Malay Mail
28-05-2025
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ALE Announces New Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing
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