Shaping who you become
RESEARCH is important to universities. Anyone who spends time reading about universities will know that the best universities have quality lecturers who excel at research. But is this really relevant to the average school-leaver looking to pursue a degree and secure a job?
Most definitely. It might not seem like a big deal, but having good researchers as lecturers makes for a conducive learning environment.
To better understand the situation, it is best to consider the words of Multimedia University (MMU) president Prof Datuk Dr Muhamad Rasat Muhamad: “The university where you earn your first degree will have the most profound impact on your development as a student and graduate.”
In other words, where you choose to further your studies will shape who you become.
Here are three reasons you should choose a university where lecturers are celebrated for their research work.
Firstly, a lecturer who is also a researcher truly understands the subject and does not rely only on textbooks for knowledge.
This is a vital matter because we live in a world where knowledge must be implemented in order for it to be beneficial. Exactly how that knowledge is applied can be tricky because every situation is different.
Secondly, researchers who lecture tend to be passionate about their respective fields.
Passion is what drives a profession. Teaching without passion often means instructions only take place in the classroom and students only become well acquainted with the subject on the surface.
But with passion, lecturers are continuously involved with the subject matter and always strive to find new ways of applying knowledge, developing new applications and discovering how a particular field can be taken to the next level.
In the process, students will develop the same passion and be able to master the subject.
The third reason for being a researcher means that you are actually generating new knowledge. This matters greatly, not just because knowledge is important but because new knowledge enables the improvement of products and services.
All this is fine, you might say, but how could the layman determine which university has good lecturers who are active in research? After all, most people don’t read academic journals.
One way is by looking at a university’s ranking. MMU, for example, is ranked by the QS World University Rankings by Subject in Computer Science and Information Systems. It has also been voted as one of Asia’s best private education institutes by the World Consulting and Research Corporation (WCRC).
Another way is by looking at the output of the lecturers themselves in terms of research and applications.
Last year, MMU lecturers managed to win six gold and six silver awards for their 12 products showcased in the 25th International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX) 2014. This is a clear case of the lecturers possessing a deep understanding of what they teach their students.
Of course, perhaps the best way to see how meaningful it is to have researchers as lecturers is to examine the performance of the students themselves.
For MMU, one of the best achievement of its students last year was when Losini Amarasan from the Faculty of Engineering was crowned the third place winner at the Young Person’s World Lecture Competition held in the United States, beating other finalists from top universities from around the world.
Furthermore, students and alumni from the Faculty of Information Systems and Technology won one of the world’s biggest hackathon competition, AngelHack, last year.
Not to be outdone, MMU students made an almost clean sweep at the 11th Student Film Festival (FFP11) in November last year. They won six out of nine Main Category awards, which included Best Overall Film, and 10 out of 13 Adjunct Category awards.
The positive results experienced by MMU students are a clear indicator of the quality of education they are getting from their lecturers and university.
To learn more about MMU, log on to www.mmu.edu.my or call 1300 800 668.