Malaysian Universities in Need of Reform

Rip Van Winkle woke up after sleeping for 50 years having consumed a brew prepared by some elves in the forest. He strolled into the city. He was aghast at the changes he saw – the number of skyscrapers, the automation of factories, electric cars, hospitals using robots, e-hailing, online banking, e-commerce and people busy talking on their phones. However, he smiled gleefully when he entered the campus of the university he attended. He chuckled to himself, “It is the same when I was an undergraduate 50 years ago. The lecturer is still pontificating in front of the class occasionally scribbling on the blackboard (Oh, now it is called a whiteboard) and students sitting in rows furiously copying what he said and what he wrote. In those days, if you did not have at least 3 foolscap pages of notes for an hours lecture, you have most probably missed out some important stuff. That is serious because if it came out in the exam, you are a gonner”. 

Wonder whether colleges and universities have changed. Colleges and universities are under siege from dwindling student numbers, rising cost of tuition fees, reduction in loans from PTPTN, pressure to obtain higher ranking, budget cuts, employers lamenting about the knowledge and skills of graduate, academics who are less proficient in English and having a degree does not ensure a job like in the good old days where graduates were spoilt for choice.

Perhaps the most significant disruption to higher education is the emergence of the Learning Revolution (which is discussed in another blog post) which has seen the convergence of three developments – Internet tools & technologies, affordable Devices & broadband access, and abundant Digital content accessible with a click anytime and anywhere. The following are some things that Malaysian colleges and universities should be giving serious though (if they had not done so):

Do We Teach Too Much?

• Critically evaluate the 120 credits assigned for most bachelor degrees. Why does a Malaysian undergraduate have to do 35 to 40 subjects over a period of 3 years while his or her Australian counterpart needs to do only 24 subjects over the same period. The American undergraduate completes a 120 credit bachelor degree in 4 years or 8 semesters with a long summer break. Why is the Malaysian undergraduate having to do so many subjects? Is the Malaysian graduate doing a BBA with 35 to 40 subjects superior to the Australian business graduate who does 24 subjects. Can Malaysian universities subscribe to the maxim “Less Can Be More” and spend more time promoting higher order thinking.

Nano-Degrees

• Re-visiting the concept of a bachelor’s degree. Discussion is brewing that in today’s world a 2 year bachelor’s degree (60 credits) that is flexible and adapted to the immediate needs of the job market is more attractive. Invariably it would be cheaper. After spending sometime in the workplace, the graduate returns to take another 2 year bachelor’s degree in a different field adapted to the changing needs of the workplace or continues to purse a competency-based masters programme.

Customisation

• As online education becomes more ubiquitous, an alternative credentialing system is proposed  somewhat similar to a Boy Scout or Girl Scout collecting badges aiming to become Pengakap Raja or King Scout. Students will be able to customise their own degree selecting massive open online courses (MOOCs) from a wide variety of institutions that is more aligned to the job market and more affordable. For example, the student could take a course in psychology from Edinburgh university, a course in finance from Indiana university, a course in international business from University Malaya and so forth. This was what Bill Gates predicted when he said in 2010:

“Five years from now on the web for free you’ll be able to find the best lectures in the world. It will be better than any single university” 

Unbundling

• The Learning Revolution enables the ‘unbundling’ of universities. Instead of buying an album where you may like only a few songs, you have the choice to buy and download individual songs online. An individual course may be broken into modules and offered as short segments. Not all that is studied is relevant to the workplace. Thus, it may be more prudent for the undergraduate to focus on relevant segments to make themselves market ready and market relevant.

Personalised Learning

• Individualising teaching or instruction has been around for decades but unfortunately teachers have only paid lip service to the concept. Today the term ‘personalised learning’ has gained popularity which simply means individualising teaching. With the emergence of the Learning Revolution and data analytics, personalised learning has been given a new twist. Through adaptive learning it is possible to deliver courses that is personalised to the individual student. The technology is available to measure student performance (or learning analytics) and design learning in meeting their needs and moving away from ‘one hat fits all’.