Students believe NTU ranking due to strong research

By Sophia Tan

GRAPHIC: FIONA LIM

STUDENTS acknowledged the University’s strong research record following the results of two world university rankings published last month that placed NTU among the best in the world.

Those interviewed by the Nanyang Chronicle said the presence of international teaching faculty and the University’s emphasis on research contributed to NTU’s good standing in the rankings.

“Our foreign professors boost research standards in NTU with their expertise, and professors who know their research well bring multiple perspectives to problem solving that students can learn from,” said Wang Wei Yang, 26, a second-year student from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

But some students expressed doubt at how accurately the University’s high placing reflected their learning experience.

NTU ranked 13th for the second consecutive year in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings released on 6 Sep, while it placed 54th in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking released on 22 Sep.

Established in 1991, NTU is the youngest university on QS’s top 20 list. The QS ranking grades universities based on six indicators – academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, international students, international faculty and research citations per faculty.

NTU garnered the highest number of research citations per faculty among Singapore universities, and emerged as a top 10 university for engineering and technology.

“NTU is leading the charge of the Asian universities up the young universities table through its focus on science and technology. Being young is an advantage, as it allows us to be nimble and to chart our own dynamic paths without being held back by conventions,” NTU President Professor Bertil Andersson said in a press statement.

NTU’s strong performance in global rankings has attracted international students, such as Monica Voicu, to join the University for their exchange programme.

Voicu, 22, a Romanian student from the University of Essex, said that she chose to apply to NTU after comparing universities across the Times ranking.

“I believe that NTU’s strong standing is due to the effort of lecturers and the bell curve system, which promotes competitiveness among students. It has really stretched me academically as every seminar here requires a lot of readings and work done beforehand, which is usually not the case back in Essex,” she said.

Final-year School of Humanities and Social Sciences student Tessa Ng said that all her modules, regardless of discipline, had been “challenging”, as research papers are required in all her classes.

“Professors will upload their own research papers or papers from other critics to stimulate our thinking and help us understand concepts better,” the 22-year-old said.

But some students felt that the ranking only showed the strength of the University’s research and does not exactly equate to high teaching standards.

“I feel that teaching quality is lacking among some professors because research is their focus and teaching is simply a compulsory component,” said second-year Nanyang Business School student Alvin Neo.

Second-year School of Art, Design and Media student Ho Ping, 21, also said: “Here, the teaching quality is inconsistent and varies by professor. Sometimes we fail to cover everything we are supposed to learn in the syllabus because the teacher cannot finish in time.”

“I think the rankings are more indicative of high-calibre academics that the University attracts instead of faculties having good teaching abilities, as strengths in research and teaching are two separate matters,” she added.

Other students felt that the University can learn from its peers in the rankings to make the learning experience of students better.

For instance, final-year School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences student Chua Wei Ling said that NTU’s assessment of students based on the bell curve cultivates a “learning for grades” attitude, rather than out of interest. In comparison, Ivy League universities do not grade students on a bell curve.

The 22-year old said: “The bell curve system makes class participation incentive-driven and feels like it penalises a student that obtains an average grade but whose competency in the subject is higher than that.”

But Chua also felt that the University has an advantage in making learning more holistic for students in time to come.

She added: “The University is still young and we have ample opportunities to gather feedback and look at how students are assessed.”