ABU DHABI // Higher Colleges of Technology faces a constant struggle to ensure a diploma from Ras Al Khaimah is worth the same as one from Al Ain, or any of its other 14 campuses around the country.
HCT is not alone. Many of the UAE's universities and colleges are similarly fractured, with branches in different emirates sometimes having very different ideas about what should be taught and how.
While the HCT colleges provide the same curriculums, it is hard to be sure they are being applied the same way in its hundreds of classrooms.
So two years ago it introduced system-wide assessment tests (Swats) to monitor what is being taught to its 18,000 students.
A quality control officer has been appointed at each HCT college. They and the heads of department are responsible for managing the system.
Between 15 and 20 per cent of students are picked at random each year to see if their coursework matches their exam results. The Swats count for 30 per cent of their final grades.
The quality watchdogs also look for non-standard teaching methods.
"The curriculum has to be uniform," said Dr Mark Drummond, the provost of HCT. "Colleges can't just adapt their own course implementation. We need to be sure that students are getting the same basic quality from one college to another."
One campus was using local alternatives to assigned textbooks to make it easier for students, Dr Drummond said. "That was a red flag and we fixed that right away."
In Sharjah, the assessment system has paid dividends. While students' exam scores are usually lower than their marks for coursework, in Sharjah it is the other way round.
This is because the teachers are more aware of the need to stick to the guidelines, Dr Drummond said.
"That's showing that you've got tough teachers … and shows the students are learning the right outcomes," he said.
Uniformity can be hard to achieve in some subjects, particularly practical or creative subjects such as art, but Dr Drummond said there was always some way of assessing a student's understanding.
"You should still be able to write something about these subjects other than just giving practical projects," he said.
Dr Drummond said it had also made teachers more attentive to project grading. In time, he expects further benefits.
"Within three to four years, I'd expect to see very broad consistency with deviation of no more than 10 per cent between course grades and test results," he said. "We're there with standardising English and maths but not with the other subjects yet."
The initiative has not been welcomed by all campuses. Dr Howard Reed, the director of Dubai Women's College, said while it was quick and easy, it was a backwards step in educating students.
Dr Reed said the multiple-choice Swats encouraged rote learning and were "all wrong", which is why the college had scrapped rote learning.
"The teachers just teach to the tests and the students just learn that," he said. "Real-world projects and experience become the exception and students don't get a deeper learning process."
But Dr Farid Ohan, the director of the Sharjah colleges, said teachers must be trained to better compile multiple-choice tests. Sharjah HCT gives its teaching staff two weeks of training for that every year.
Dr Ohan said Sharjah colleges had the best Swats results because they were the only ones to administer final examinations on all courses, as opposed to modular assessment.
Dr Reed insisted it would be better to have a team of academics visiting departments to make sure students were producing their own work and give the students verbal assessments. He admitted, though, this would take much more time.
Zayed University uses this approach, although with just two campuses the process is much easier.
Zayed has one dean in each of its six departments who runs the courses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to ensure they are the same. The dean visits classes and hosts retreats to bring academics together.
Its new provost Dr Larry Wilson, however, hopes to give more autonomy to the two campuses, making them more tailored to the needs of the emirates.
"Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have their own needs and personalities," Dr Wilson said. "Abu Dhabi has the 2030 plan and Dubai something similar, so we need to make sure we're responding to those.
"It won't be major changes, we're just assessing what we're doing."
Professor Russell Jones, the director of the Fatima College of Nursing, which has campuses in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi, said curriculum and assessment continuity were key.
"Any changes to the curriculum require approval by the curriculum committee, which is comprised of content and curriculum specialists from both campuses," he said.
Regular meetings between teachers allow the college to constantly monitor what is being delivered - and find the problems.
"In some cases we are able to use the same staff to teach courses at both campuses," Prof Jones said.
mswan@thenational.ae
The%20specs
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
The view from The National
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
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Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.