NUI Galway – UL Alliance First Annual ENGINEERING AND - ARAN ...

Abstract
University Rankings are a tool used to compare
universities based on a number of criteria deemed to be
common to all universities. A university’s rank has been
shown to influence admission numbers for that
university [1] and so universities actively compete to
better their positions in rankings. Visualisation refers to
presenting raw data in visual form. Visualisation of
data makes information clearer and more accessible.
This research proposes to investigate the different
ranking systems and their current flaws as well as
different visualization techniques suitable for
representing university rankings. A treemap
visualization will be implemented showing a
university’s ranking over time.
1. Introduction
World university rankings began in 2003 with the
publication of the Academic Ranking of World
Universities (ARWU) by the Shanghai Jiao Tong
University. Initially the purpose of this publication was
to measure the differences between Chinese and World
class universities. The rankings attracted attention
worldwide and have been cited in The Economist
magazine. Today it is one of the most influential
rankings, along with the QS World University Rankings
and Times Higher Education World University
Rankings. University rankings also exist at a national
level. For example “The Sunday Times” ranks
universities in Ireland.
2. Methodologies
THE and QS World University Rankings were not
always separate and used to be called THE-QS World
University Rankings. The two split in 2010 with THE
adopting a new methodology. Both use an academic
reputation survey which gathers the opinions of
academics on universities. This criterion has a high
weighting in both and is subject to much criticism.
ARWU give the highest weightings to the criteria
„quality of staff‟ and „research output‟.
3. Visualisation Techniques
A treemap is a visualisation tool. It is a visualisation
of a hierarchical structure. Data items are represented as
rectangles and their size is proportionate to a particular
attribute defined by the user. For example the amount of
a particular item a store has in stock. The more of the
item in stock, the larger the rectangle is drawn. A time
series can show how a measurable feature, for example
Visualisation of University Rankings
Nicola Rowntree, Conn Mulvihill,
n.rowntree1@nuigalway.ie
14
products sold or rainfall; changes over time [2]. It is a
series of data points, measured at regular intervals.
Examples of a treemap and a time series are shown
below:
Figure 1: Treemap depicting soft drinks consumed
Figure 2: A time series
4. Implementation
The visualisation will be implemented using
Processing, a Java-based language specifically designed
for coding interactive graphics and animations.
5. References
[1] Bowman, N. A., & Bastedo M. N., „Getting on the front
page: Organizational Reputation, Status Signals, and the
impact of U.S News and World Report on Student Decisions‟.
(2009) Research in Higher Education 50(1):415-436
[Internet] Available at: http://wwwpersonal.umich.edu/~bastedo/papers/BowmanBastedo.ResHE
2009.pdf
[2] Fry, B. (2008) Visualizing data. O Reilly Media Inc.