Đại học Quốc gia Tp Hồ Chí Minh

increasingly high demands of the society.Currently the University continue to play the key role in Vietnamese higher education system, who pioneers in implementation of CDIO technology,

2015

VNU-HCM is home to talented faculty and excellent students, and dedicated to preparing highlyqualified human resources, conducting significant researches and leading innovations so as topromote national development and social advances

VNU-HCM is governed, managed and administered as an exemplary university model with highdegree of autonomy, social accountability and self-control It also creates a favorable environmentfor science innovation and academic freedom in a standard university city

Assoc Prof Dr Phan Thanh Binh

Another year is coming to an end with major milestones.This was also the final year of its 2011-2015 strategy.The year witnessed a lot of events which showed dedicationand efforts of leadership, staff, faculty and students atVNU-HCM It was also an active year to integrate intothe world for a continuous development of the University.2015: Renovation and Integration

The renovation of higher education in particular andeducation in general would make a direct impact onhuman resources quality and sustainable growth of theeconomy For VNU-HCM, renovation was an importantneed to make its model more complete, and create itsinternational standard administration scheme Therefore,RENOVATION and INTEGRATION wereinterlinked Renovation was for integration, which wouldenable it to keep pace with international trends Integrationwas for renovation, which would help approach moderneducational methods

In the globalized age, the world is more flat, leading tostronger collaboration and competition As such,international integration becomes a powerful principlefor the survival of a higher education system VNU-HCM is no exception

In order to integrate into the region and the world, HCM has taken strong steps

VNU-Previously, the University had few proposals forundergraduate and graduate education reform, such ascommon graduate admissions exam for all majors of the

increasingly high demands of the society.

Currently the University continue to play

the key role in Vietnamese higher education

system, who pioneers in implementation of

CDIO technology, standardization and

improvement of English language teaching

and learning quality, and pilot

implementation of comprehensive higher

education reform, and has got encouraging

results to be more confident for international

integration

VNU-HCM developed advanced training

programs at international standards such as

Excellent Engineer Training Program

(PFIEV), Honors Engineer and Bachelor's

Program, and Advanced Programs, etc These

programs nurtured future talents Besides,

the University focused on standardize and

improve the quality of English language

teaching and learning, as well as deliver

English speaking programs; thus, its students

became confident and proactive towards

regional and international integration trends

Initial achievements on it journey of

RENOVATION and INTEGRATION

were proved by internationally accredited

programs As of November 2015,

VNU-HCM had 36 programs passing institutional

external assessment in compliance with

AUN-QA, of which 21 passing official external

assessment in all majors, from engineering,

technology, and economics to social sciences

and humanities More significantly, the

Biomedical Engineering program of the

International University got 5.1/7 scores,

which was the second highest grade in

(Accreditation Board for EngineeringTechnology) accredited programs So far itwas the leader in the nation in terms of thenumber of accredited programs, and thenumber of highly recognized ones in the region.Research at VNU-HCM also obtained newachievements The number of publications oninternational journals was increasing over years

as it was 2.26 times higher in 2014 than in

2011 (i.e 245 articles in 2011 vs 566 in2014) Moreover, there was an increase inquantity and quality of international scientistsvisiting and working at VNU-HCM

International relations of VNU-HCMcontinuously expanded It closely worked withuniversities in ASEAN (SMU, Chulalongkorn,Mahidol ), East Asia (Seoul NationalUniversity - Korea, University of Tokyo -Japan ), North America (UC Berkeley, UCLos Angeles, Dukes University ), and Europe(Paris Orsay, Telecom Paristech) in order torenovate and improve the three importantareas: Natural Science, Management Science,and Educational Management In the pastyear, the University discussed with UC LosAngeles the proposal to establish the School ofEducation Administration and Management

at VNU-HCM in 2016 to provide advancedknowledge of education administration forrelevant leaders in Vietnam, the region andAsia It was also a member of many internationalorganizations like ASEA-Uninet, AUF,EURECOM, RESCIF, and AUN, etc Thedevelopment of strategic partner networkworldwide enabled VNU-HCM to graduallystandardize its activities, improve its resources,

affirm its position in the global academicsetting, and at the same time, to push it andVietnamese higher education in general tomake reforms in line with the world trends.

2016: Modern, articulated and integratedcurriculum

The year 2016 will be the first year toimplement VNU-HCM Strategy 2016-2020with plenty of plans, dreams and ambitions

of the faculty and the students It will be theyear of integration with the formation ofASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

In 2016, VNU-HCM has to make a greatstride to affirm its education quality, workingtowards the goal of building the leadinginstitution in Asia where learners' potentialcan be developed to the fullest

Completion and continuous update of thecurriculum will be the highlight of its reform

With that, the theme for the year 2016 will beCURRICULUM: MODERNITY,ARTICULATION, INTEGRATION withthe following core agenda:

1 Developing academic programs in anadvanced and systematic way, whereknowledge, skills and ethics convene in order

to provide high quality human resources forthe society, to train excellent individuals, andaffirm the position of VNU-HCM

2 Enhancing articulation among academicprograms within VNU-HCM based onoutcome standards, competency framework,foundation knowledge, and double / dual

4 Promoting evaluation and accreditation ofacademic programs against regional andinternational standards to assure trainingquality; involving in accreditation ofeducational institutions

5 Facilitating research and technologytransfer; strengthening research and traininglinkages; developing research orientedgraduate programs at certain departments,faculties and universities; promoting nationaland international connections in research toaddress big problems of economy, societyand science

6 Promoting the key role of VNU-HCM ineducation, research and community outreachfor the sake of socioeconomic development

of the nation, especially Ho Chi Minh City,Binh Duong, and other provinces

7 Guaranteeing finance for education andtraining by diversifying income sources fromsocial activities and services; effectively usingfinancial resources and saving costs

In 2016, VNU-HCM continues to be thepioneer in renovation, contributing tonational development and social progress Itwill be always the hub for outstandingstudents, and platform for future globalcitizens to reach intellectual heights, enablingVietnam to strongly rise in its developmentand integration

As Year of the Monkey 2016 is coming, Iwould like to wish you all health andhappiness

OVERVIEW

2 Assoc Prof Dr Huynh Thanh Dat

Standing Vice President

3 Dr Nguyen Duc Nghia

Assoc Prof Dr Vu Dinh Thanh

Rector, University

of Technology

Prof Dr Tran Linh Thuoc,

Rector, University of Science

Assoc Prof Dr Vo Van Sen,

Rector, University of Social

Sciences & Humanities

Assoc Prof Dr.

Nguyen Tien Dung,

Rector, University of Economics and Law

Prof Dr Nguyen Van Phuoc,

Director, Institute for Environment and Resources

Assoc Prof Dr Chau Ngoc An

University City Planning and

Development Advisor

Mr Dao Trung Giang

Materials Science and CorporateRelations Advisor

Mr Nguyen Quoc Luu

Higher Education Administration

Advisor

Prof Dr Ho Tan Nhut

Education Technology Advisor

Assoc Prof Dr Le Quang Minh

Higher Education Administration

Advisor

Prof Dr Dang Luong Mo

Circuit Design Advisor

BOARD OF REGENTS

GIAÁM ÀÖËC VAÂ CAÁC PHOÁ GIAÁM ÀÖËC

ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

PLANNING AND FINANCE DEPARTMENT

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

STUDENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT

UNIVERSITY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAWS

INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED CENTER FOR FRENCH UNIVERSITIES INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTE JOHN VON NEUMANN CENTER OF EXCELLENCE HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION INSTITUTE

IC DESIGN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CENTER WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE CENTER VIETNAM MANAR CENTER

CENTER FOR POLITICAL THEORY LABORATORY FOR NANO TECHNOLOGY CENTRAL LIBRARY

VNU-HCM PUBLISHING HOUSE JOURNAL FOR SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY PRE-DOCTORAL EDUCATION CENTER

NATIONAL DEFENSE EDUCATION AND STUDENT SECURITY CENTER CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL TESTING AND QUALITY ASSESSMENT ENGLISH TESTING CENTER

CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL ACCREDITATION OFFICE OF VIETNAM SOUTHWEST PROGRAMS VNU-HCM DEVELOPMENT FUND

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CENTER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PARK

CENTER FOR DORMITORY MANAGEMENT CENTER FOR SERVICE AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION CENTER FOR VNU-HCM CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

DORMITORY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

MEMBER INSTITUTIONS

VNUHCM's 20th anniversary "Construction Development - Integration" attended by PresidentTruong Tan Sang, Deputy Prime Minister Vu DucDam, and Minister of Science and Technology NguyenQuan

-Opening ceremony 2015 "Renovation and integration

of Vietnamese higher education" with Minister ofScience and Technology Nguyen Quan as guest speaker

The 15th anniversary of the University of Economicsand Law (6/11/2000 - 6/11/2015), and the SecondClass Labor Order conferment ceremony

The 4th Patriotic Emulation Movement (2015-2020)organized at VNU-HCM, which recognized 9outstanding teams and 21 excellent individuals, andlaunched the 2015-2020 Patriotic EmulationMovement

The 10th VNU-HCM Student Sports Competition

New majors: Control engineering and automation,Logistics and Supply Chain at International University;Master of Social Work, and Sociology Doctorate atUniversity of Social Sciences and Humanities

Signing ceremonies between VNU-HCM andprestigious universities around the world: University

of California Berkeley, USA; UNIMORE University,Italia; Auckland University of Technology, NewZealand

International speakers' talks to VNU-HCM staff andstudents: Mr Enrico Le tta, former Prime Minister,Italia; Prof Jerome Isaac Friedman, 1990 Nobellaureate in Physics

Opening ceremony of guest house for young staff atVNU-HCM

4 more programs assessed against AUN standards:Engineering Mechanics, Industrial Systems, Electrical andElectronic Engineering (University of Technology);Industrial Systems, Biomedical Engineering (InternationalUniversity) The Biomedical Engineering got 5.1 scores,the highest in the country and the second place in ASEAN.

Conference "VNU-HCM's 20 years of communityoutreach"

Seminar series for developing VNU-HCM Strategicplan 2016-2020

International conferences and seminar series: 2015CDIO Asian Regional Meeting; 2nd GIC " Innovations

in cancer research and regenerative medicine" 2015;

2015 U.S-Vietnam Science and Technology JointCommittee meeting (JCM9)

Conference jointly organized by VNU-HCM and theCentral Economic Committee on regional economicdevelopment and regional collaboration; seminar

"Improving learning and teaching quality of politicalcourses in universities and colleges'; seminar "Technologyrenovation for enterprises"; VNU-HCM participating

in the International Techmart Vietnam 2015

Security Engineering (FDSE) 2015; The 6thInternational Conference on integrated circuits, devicesand verification (ICDV 2015); Vietnam-JapanMicrowave (VJMW 2015); and 9th National Conference

on Solid State Physics and Materials Science (SPM2015)

4th VNU-HCM Conference on Education Quality

2 individuals at University of Science receiving theGolden Globe Award 2015: Dr Pham Van Phuc fromStem Cell Laboratory (biotechnology); and NguyenDinh Luan, student in Information Technology andCommunications

"Busmap - City bus" created by a group of seniorstudents at University of Science getting the 2nd Prize(no 1st Prize) in Information Technology (mobileapplications) of the 2015 Vietnamese Talent Award

Students at University of Information Technologygetting the 1st Prize of Cyber SEA Game 2016

QUALITY

IN RESPONSE TO RESOLUTION 29 OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THECOMMUNIST PARTY AT THE 8TH CONFERENCE (TERM XI) ONCOMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONAL REFORM, THE STRATEGIC PLAN 2016-

2020 OF VNU-HCM FOCUSED ON PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT OFADVANCED CURRICULUM, WHICH WOULD MEET OUTCOME STANDARDS,IMPROVE LEARNERS' KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, INDEPENDENCE ANDACCOUNTABILITY, AND PROVIDE HIGHLY QUALIFIED HUMAN RESOURCESFOR THE SOCIETY

RENOVATING CURRICULUM

MODERNITY - ARTICULATION - INTEGRATION

Stakeholders' satisfaction

Community outreach

Quality assurance and national and international comparisons

Mission Goals Objectives

Policy plan

Governance

Human resource Funding

Educational activities

Research

Figure1:

Institutional internal

quality assurance.

The quality of a higher education institution

is evaluated based on the results of 3 mainareas: education, research and communityoutreach Those areas are just effective whenmeeting the stakeholders' demands, fittingdevelopmental trends of the society, andbeing implemented based on appropriatemanagement strategies as well as particularpersonnel and resources of the organization

Academic quality - an urgent and term goal

long-The institutional quality assurance framework(Figure 1) clearly indicated relationships ofthose factors which affect the quality of aninstitution

In the current context, the most importantmission of a higher education institution in

Vietnam is to provide highly qualified human

resources for socio-economic development

Therefore, academic affairs should be

considered the core task, while research and

community outreach should be designed to

well support academic activities Such a trend

fits not only in Vietnam but also in ASEAN

region (or developing countries) The ASEAN

University Network - Quality Assurance

(AUN-QA) Manual reflects the trend through

15 criteria, starting from "expected outcomes"

to assess relevance of training objectives against

social needs, together with rationality and

suitability of these objectives against specific

conditions of an institution The second

criteria group is about evaluation of

curriculum development and delivery,

teaching and learning, student supports, and

student assessment The third criteria group

highlights conditions to assure the quality

such as faculty, students, facilities, feedback

collection, and quality assurance scheme

The final group evaluates achievements with

specific indicators such as graduation rates,

time-to-graduation, post-graduation

employment, and outcomes of training

process Those achievements are considered

from multiple perspectives of relevant

stakeholders, and compared to national and

international standards for continuous

improvements

From the implementation perspective, factors

affecting academic quality are divided into 3

groups: (i) External factors including politics,

economy, and society; (2) Internal quality

assurance factors including leadership,

governance, and resources (facilities, finance);

(3) Direct factors including faculty, students,

teaching and learning methods, and

supporting environment Those factors are

interlinked through curriculum (i.e in-class

and outside classroom activities) in order to

meet expected outcomes of the program

The above-mentioned interacted factors

would have an impact on academic quality,

indirectly or directly Therefore, an institution

should thoroughly analyze external factors to

develop internal ones so as to gain the

maximum interaction

In principle, all internal quality assurancefactors are equally important Therefore, anyadjustment to improve the quality should bedone as a whole with a systematic approach.With limited resources, fragmentedimplementation will lead to dispersedresources, resulting in weak impacts on systemchanges Subsequently, it is necessary tocombine one or more groups with strong anddirect impacts on academic quality; thereby,creating good conditions for other groups todevelop

In the current context of VNU-HCM, thefactor which needs improving is curriculum.The development of a curriculum withappropriate content and structure will enablefaculty and students to perform moreeffectively, and to well orient the investment

in environment, equipments and facilities.More importantly, consistency in philosophyand principles of curriculum developmentwill be a favorable condition for articulationamong VNU-HCM members and affiliates,opening up more opportunities for learnersand improving usage of common resourcessystemwide

Curriculum criteriaAccording to UNESCO, a curriculuminvolves a series of in-class and outsideclassroom activities, which are designed in asystematic way to enable learners to obtainvital capabilities (knowledge, skills, attitude)

A curriculum plays an important role instrengthening lifelong learning ability,attitude, social skills, critical thinking, andknowledge which learners must apply intotheir research, daily life and career It is alsovital to learners' personal developmentenhancing their self-respect, confidence,motivation and ambition

During the development of a curriculum,there are two major changes taking place inearly 21st century, which have been strongly

Second, the role of accrediting and assessmentorganizations has been increasingly affirmed;

thus, a curriculum must be developed based

on accreditation criteria The analysis of 3international accreditation programs whichare mostly popular in Vietnam now: AUN-

QA (programmatic level), ABET-EP(engineering major), and AACSB (businessadministration major) showed thatcurriculum-related criteria occupies thehighest portion and involves specificindicators as follows: clear outcomes related

to relevant stakeholders' demands; consistencywith institutional mission and objectives;

logical structure and high relatedness amongknowledge groups (foundation andspecialization); balanced ratio between theoryand practice; frequent updates; highconcentration on practical application; and

multi-culture and international integration

To satisfy the above requirements, it isnecessary to determine a logical model forcurriculum development Below is Totte'smodel with 11 factors for reference (Figure4)

1 Educational philosophy: purposes, visionand mission of an institution

2 Curriculum positioning: a curriculum'slevel (Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctoral) incomparison to a similar one at otherinstitutions

3 Programmatic level outcome standards: acombination of knowledge, skills, attitude,and professional capability for a graduate

4 Curriculum structure: contents and logicalsequences of courses, taking both horizontaland vertical integration into consideration

5 Teaching, learning and assessment

Stakeholders' Satisfaction

Program Specification

Program Content and Organization

Didatic Concept

Student Assessement

Staff Quality

Quality of the Support Staff

Quality of the Students

Student Advice Facilities

Quality Assurance Teaching / Learning

Staff Development Activities

Feedback of Stakeholders

Pass Rates Drop Out

Rates

Graduation Time

Employ ability Research

Quality Assurance and (Inter)national benchmarking

Figure 3:

Classification of

determinants of

curriculum quality

methods: relevance to course contents, and

consistency among courses, which successfully

reflect educational philosophy, and enable

learners to obtain expected outcomes

6 Relevant stakeholders: career opportunities,

and participation of research community and

employers in curriculum development

7 Institutional resources: facilities, faculty

quality and finance

8 Policies: schemes and regulations at

national, sectoral and institutional level

9 Students' characteristics: level, experience,

and features of individuals and the community

10 Learning resources: textbooks, open

Curriculum adjustment which is done byseparately affecting the above 11 factors willnot be effective Rather, it should be done byaffecting the core groups which are described

in 4 circles marked as A, B, C, and D in

SV: Students PP: Teaching and learning methods MT: Teaching and learning supporting environment

Laws

Family

Culture Society

-Economy

Science Technology

Training Objectives

Curriculum

Institutional Quality Assurance

External Factors

relationships, and any change of a group willimmediately lead to a change of the others.

Review of these groups means consideringviewpoints and to-do list of stakeholders tofind out the best solution

Circle (A) - In order to revise or develop acurriculum, it is necessary to find outstakeholders' requirements, refer to updatedknowledge and skills in areas related to thecurriculum Furthermore, to verify theinterrelationship between a curriculum andanother within and outside an institution, it

is important to compare their outcomestandards The educational philosophyapplied in the curriculum should be in linewith new research results of teaching andlearning process

Circle (B) - Determining necessary revisions;

connections between tentative curriculum(new) and current one (old); and experience

of students, alumni, staff and employers withthe curriculum A useful tool to have Circle

(B) done is outcome matrix of courses, whichhelps explore existing or potential limitations

of the curriculum through stakeholders'feedback

Circle (C) - Revising curriculum: Coursesare arranged based on knowledge categories(foundation and specialization) and skilldevelopment sequences They will be thentaught in every semester to guarantee students'knowledge, skills and attitude in ascendingorder of importance There should be abalance of teaching-learning-assessing, so thatstudents could successfully gain expectedoutcomes of the curriculum

Circle (D) - Revising course: Revisions aremade to suit overall structure of thecurriculum For a good curriculum, thereshould be consistency and interrelationshipamong course objectives, necessary learningactivities, entry requirements for students,assessment methods, and learningenvironment

Teaching, learning and assessment methods

A strategy to improve academic quality at

VNU-HCM

The strategy to improve academic quality at

VNU-HCM was based on the following

viewpoints:

1 Training is the main activity in a university,

in which curriculum is the most important

component

2 VNU-HCM thoroughly understands and

follows viewpoints of the Communist Party

and the government

3 The curriculum at VNU-HCM is aimed

at developing whole students, who have

unique capabilities and qualifications of the

University, to meet social demands, and

Specific measurements for the strategy are as

follows:

Improving curriculum to combine

knowledge and skills with depth reduction

and flexibility increase

Building outcome frameworks for different

levels and majors based on the following

principle: compliance with ASEAN and Asian

frameworks; reference to accreditation

guidelines in relevant majors; 4 main

categories including knowledge, skills,

personal and professional qualifications; team

work and communication skill; and

employability skills

Developing curriculum with balanced ratio

between knowledge and skills: common

knowledge within VNU-HCM (foundation,

methodology, viewpoints, and world view);

major related knowledge and skills; specialized

knowledge and skills; and typical knowledge

and skills of a major

Promoting articulation within VNU-HCMbased on outcome frameworks andfoundation knowledge and skills

Developing curriculum developmentsupport units; improving lecturers' capability

to implement academic programs effectively,which satisfies outcome standards

Promoting evaluation and accreditation ofacademic programs against regional andinternational standards to assure trainingquality

Assuring finance to develop and improvecurriculum, as well as necessary conditions todeliver it

In summary, VNU-HCM is mobilizing allresources to review, adjust and improveacademic quality It will put curriculumdevelopment in a high priority, which will lay

a foundation to improve the quality of thesystem At the same time, the University willimprove its staff capability, renovate teachingand learning methods, and enhanceenvironment quality to guarantee consistency

of curriculum, implementing ones and actualones which are appreciated by learners

VNU-HCM PUT EDUCATION QUALITY IN THE TOP PRIORITY; THUS, CONSISTENT DEVELOPMENT ANDAPPLICATION OF A QUALITY MANAGEMENT MODEL WITHIN THE SYSTEM WOULD BE VERY IMPORTANT.

MODEL AT VNU-HCM

Following quality management

models in the world and analyzing

its current situation, VNU-HCM

selected Higher education quality

management model (HEQM) to

be used systemwide The model is

comprised of 3 basic components:

(1) institutional quality

management model; (2) internal

quality assurance for the system;

and (3) programmatic quality

management model

In the first 2 years (2016-2017),

VNU-HCM focused on

implementing the institutional

quality management model

As such, quality assurance at a

university contains the following

steps:

Strategy development: mission,goals and object (1st column)based on 2 main factors (i.e

stakeholders' requirements andinternational and nationalcomparisons)

Governance (2nd column):

policy, governance and resources

Mission must be specified byindicators; policy objectives must

be feasible, and effectivemonitored; highly qualifiedhuman resource and finance must

be available to fulfilled theobjectives

Governance is the cornerstonefor main activities of a university:

education, research andcommunity outreach (3rdcolumn)

Finally, all these factors areaimed at obtaining institutionaloutcomes (achievements)

It can be seen that HEQM modelinvolves inputs, process andoutputs, which highlights coreactivities of an educationalinstitution: education, researchand community outreach

Therefore, applying the modelwill have positive impacts oncurriculum improvements, andstrengthen effective

administration and socialresponsibilities The VNU-HCMmember colleges will build upmodels appropriate to their ownvision, mission and objectivesbased on HEQM model and theircharacteristics

Stakeholders' satisfaction

Community outreach

Quality assurance and national and international comparisons

Educational activities

Research

APPLICATION OF E-LEARNING IN TEACHING AND LEARNING BECOMESINCREASINGLY POPULAR AT MANY UNIVERSITIES IN VIETNAM E-LEARNING SYSTEM(BKEL) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (HUT) IS ONE OF A FEW EFFECTIVESUPPORT SYSTEMS.

BK LEARNING: studying effectively with

University of Technology students

It is a system to provide course materials,exchange ideas, submit assignment, doquizzes, check attendance, and collectstudents' feedback about the course, etc

From non-formal to openDeveloped since 2008 with the initial aim

to support part-time education delivered inother provinces, enabling students tocontinue contacting their teacher after acourse finished

It was then aimed at full-time students

right at the University, so that they couldreceive lecture notes and discuss with theteachers It was expected that the systemwould enhance communication betweenteachers and students, and encourageteachers to conduct on-going studentassessment

At the beginning (2008), there were 14courses using BkeL to upload syllabus andmaterials, create a forum for discussion,and turn in assignments The number oflecturers who were voluntary to use thesystem was very low as technology wasquite new

The University then decided to grant afund for any teacher who registered to useBKeL, and encouraged them to reformtheir teaching methods by promotingonline discussions, uploading lecture notesand syllabus online, having major

assignments submitted online, andchecking attendance via BKeL Therefore,the number of users considerably

increased

Teachers have currently been using it,although funding was not available at all

teaching activities at the University Up tosemester 1 of the academic year 2014-

2015, there were 2,669 courses available

on BKeL

Users' positive feedback

Up till now BkeL has had hundreds ofclasses and thousands of courses withdifferent types: with materials, withoutmaterials, basic courses, practicum,internship, experiments, and dissertation,etc 50% of the lecturers at two faculties:

Mechanical Engineering and IndustrialManagement have used the system for on-going student assessment

The statistics showed that the number ofpeople logging in the system was stable

This number was especially high at thebeginning of a week, and decreasing onweekend On average there were 64 facultymembers and nearly 4,000 studentssigning in the system every day, equivalent

to 20% students of the University

"Online learning enabled me to studymore actively I could discuss more withthe lecturers, and easily get materials /exam result / announcement from them.However, sometimes there were problems

in receiving the information, perhaps due

to connection errors", said Tran Duc Anh,4th year student of the University ofTechnology

BKeL was highly evaluated by AUNaccreditors because of its support towardseducational activities at the institution.Such a development and achievementshowed that the usage of a teaching andlearning support system was a rightdirection of the University of Technology.This model should be maintained andsystem-wide multiplied in order toheighten teaching activities up tointernational standards, and expand thescope over the whole system

Chart for the number of AUN-QA accredited programs

Upon implemented, such an activity gained

considerable achievements

Assessment in compliance with regional standards

With 21 AUN-QA accredited programs, as of

October 2015, VNU-HCM was in the first place in

the nation and the second place in ASEAN in terms

of number of externally assessed programs (just

behind Gajah Mada University, Indonesia)1

In addition to the increased number of assessed

programs, VNU-HCM strongly focused on their

quality, which was reflected by the scores gained in

each assessment Currently, the average score of

accredited programs at VNU-HCM was equal to

that of those in the region (4.6/7 scores) In 2015,

the Industrial Systems program at the International

University got 5/7 scores, and the Biomedical

Engineering program got 5.1/7 It was the second

high score in ASEAN (behind a program of the

Philippines with 5.5 scores), and the highest score in

Vietnam

International accreditationBesides programmatic assessment against regionalstandards, VNU-HCM was approaching

international ones, especially ABET (AccreditationBoard for Engineering and Technology) since 2007

In 2014, the Computer Science and ComputerEngineering programs at the University ofTechnology were accredited by ABET for 6 years(2014-2019) It was the only institution in thecountry awarded such a prestigious accreditation InASEAN, there are now 4 countries having ABETaccredited programs: Singapore, Philippines,Indonesia and Vietnam

Such achievements in external assessments andprogrammatic accreditation contributed to affirm thequality of VNU-HCM in its regional and

international integration In coming years, theUniversity will continue to simultaneously conductprogrammatic assessment and accreditation activities,

in which all programs are expected to be recognized

by prestigious organizations in the country andbeyond

PROGRAMMATIC QUALITY

ASSESSMENT AT VNU-HCM

University of Technology

University of Social Sciences

& Humanarities

International University

University of Science

University of Economics and Law

IN ORDER TO HAVE THE CURRCULUM QUALITY COMPLY WITH REGIONL ANDINTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, IN THE PAST YEARS, VNU-HCM STRONGLY FOCUSED ONQUALITY ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION AT PROGRAM LEVEL

effective implementation

and impacts

University of Technology

"The CDIO program helped

develop students' employability

skills through enhancing

on-going assessment, innovative

thinking, communication with

lecturers via E-learning system,

and big assignments "

Alumnus Vo Tran Vy Khanh,

Mechanical Engineering Faculty,

2014.

" From the Mechanical

Engineering program using

knowledge, skills and attitude to

meet stakeholders' expectations

Its academic programs were

highly evaluated by prestigious

accrediting organizations in the

region and the world"

Assoc Prof Dr Le Ngoc

Furthermore, the programprovided students with betterliving skills "

Alumnus Nguyen Thi Ngoc

Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen ThiThanh Mai,

Thanh Mai, Dean

and Dr Nguyen Tuyet Phuong,Dr Nguyen Tuyet Phuong,

University of InformationTechnology

"The CIDO helped theUniversity of InformationTechnology to redesign thecurriculum to better satisfy labormarket demand through

developing knowledge, skills,qualifications and employabilityskills for students It alsoequipped the faculty with activelearning skills, learning by doing,and outcome based assessment.Most faculty agreed that theCDIO was helpful for them tomanage their teaching andstudent assessment Studentshighly evaluated CDIO courses,and expected such a model to beexpanded for all courses "

Dr Vo Duc Lung,

MEMBER COLLEGES, ENABLING CURRICULUM TO BECOMPREHENSIVELY IMPROVED TO MEET RENOVATION DEMANDS

OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE CONTEXT OFREGIONAL AND GLOBAL INTEGRATION

University of Economics

and Law

"The implementation of CIDO

at the University of Economics

and Law enabled quality

assurance activities to have closer

and more systematic approaches

It was a modern tool for outcome

based curriculum design"

Nguyen Thanh Trong, M.A

Head, Office of Quality Assurance,

2015.

"Principles of the CIDO could be

completely applied for

non-engineering majors The

application of the model in

international business courses

showed that real experiences in

learning process helped students

develop knowledge and skills in a

stronger and more practical

manner in order to enter the

labor market It also helped

curriculum being well assessed in

compliance with AUN-QA

standards "

Dr Huynh Thi Thuy Giang,

Dean, External Economic Relations

University of Social Sciences and Humanities

"Students of journalism and communications had good entry level, sothey had high expectation for the programs The previous curriculum,however, was designed mainly based on experience without a theoreticalframework and a procedure to identify social needs, build objectives,construct outcome standards, and develop outcome based curriculum.Although the Faculty made continuous improvements includingmodular curriculum design with KSA integration This, however, wasstill fragmented and lacked specific and clear description and analysis.The CDIO helped the Faculty approach such requirements and have aprocedure to redesign the curriculum in order to sustainably meetpractical employment demands "

TS Huynh Van Thong,

Journalism and Communications Faculty, 2015.

"The CIDO is based on a systematic approach to fully develop students'knowledge, skills, attitude, employment capability and social

accountability Therefore, non-engineering majors can apply this model.When applying in the education administration major taking settingsand employability skills into consideration, C-D-I-O was revised tobecome C-P-O-E: Conceiving - Planning - Operating - Evaluating "

Dr Hoang Mai Khanh,

ONE OF THE MOST ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC VALUE OF RESEARCHES IS THEPUBLICATIONS IN RELIABLE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS, ESPECIALLY ISI INSTITUTEFOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION - THOMSON REUTERS) ONES.

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

OF VNU-HCM

The below statistics indicated publications

of VNU-HCM in general and those ininternational journals in particular,especially ISI ones, in the past time

As of August 2015, VNU-HCM published1,756 articles / conference reports in allfields The number of publications onnational and international journals was 700(40%), of which 382 (21.8%) were

published on international journals

Among 236 articles in ISI journals, 189(80%) were written by an author fromVNU-HCM, whereas 114 (48%) had allauthors from VNU-HCM It proved thatVNU-HCM has strongly enhanced itscapability in scientific research

Last year, VNU-HCM had good news asfollows: the Biomedical Research andTherapy journal specialized in BiomedicalScience edited by Dr Pham Van Phuc(from Stem Cell Laboratory, University ofScience) was enlisted in the Master JournalList of Thomson Reuters (http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&ISSN=2198-4093) It was the first time a journaldeveloped by a Vietnamese person wasincluded in the list It again verified thequality of research of VNU-HCM andVietnam, which gradually kept pace withother countries in the region

In August 2015, according to the Asian

ISI articles/ international articles (%) 77% 60% 65% 60% 62%

International publications/PhD degree holder 0.29 0.34 0.38 0.54

3 International conference proceedings 541 612 768 965 567

University Rankings released byQuacquarelli Symonds (QS-Asia), the twonational universities of Vietnam continued

to be placed in Top 300 (http://

rankings/asian-university-rankings/

www.topuniversities.com/university-2015#sorting=rank+region=+country=138+faculty=+stars=false+search=), whereVNU Hanoi was ranked in the group 191-

200, and VNU Ho Chi Minh City was inthe group 201-250

Published annually since 2009, QSUniversity Rankings selects 300 leadinguniversities in Asia, and calculates therankings based on the following indicators:

Academic reputation - 30%; Employerreputation - 10%; Faculty / Student ratio -20%; Citations per paper - 15%; Paper perfaculty - 15%; and Internationalization -10%

Moreover, according to the Webometrics(Ranking Web of Universities) in August

2015, VNU-HCM ranked 5th amongVietnam's 121 listed universities (http://www.webometrics.info/en/Asia/Vietnam)Webometrics was created in 2004 as aninitiative of the Cybermetrics, ConsejoSuperior de Investigaciones Científicas(CSIC) - the largest public research center

in Spain Its objective is to "encourage andfacilitate the uploading of online

information" Therefore, the ranking doesnot involve webpage design and users'login, but other criteria such as Presence -10%; Visibility (Impact) - 50%; Openness

VNU-of a multidisciplinary university whichplayed a very important role in socio-economic growth of Vietnam

STEM CELL LABORATORY: RESEAR RESEAR RESEARCH CH

AND EFFECTIVE APPLICA

Established in 2007, after 8 years ofoperation and development, the Stem CellLaboratory had a lot of achievements andmade positive contributions to appliedscience

The Stem Cell Laboratory invested byVNU-HCM with total capital of VND 40billion was fully equipped with specializedfacilities for research and education

Healthcare productsThe Lab is specialized in studying anddeveloping stem cell technologies inmedicine, pharmacy, cosmetics andagriculture

In medical field, the Lab successfullyinvented ADSC Extraction Kit and NewPRP Pro Kit These products were licensed

by the Ministry of Health for osteoarthritisand chronic obstructive pulmonary diseasetreatment

It also succeeded in culture of stem cellsfrom human umbilical cords, cord blood,fatty tissue and bone marrow

transplantation In the past time, it studiedstem cell therapy for diabetes, cirrhosis,

vascular congestion, ischemic heart disease,and femoral head avascular necrosis.Furthermore, it was successful with thestudy on breast cancer treatment usingdendritic cell on animals Such resultswould be the foundation for humantreatment

In pharmacy, the Lab worked withUniversity of California Los Angeles(USA) to develop antimitotic compoundsfor cancer treatment (3D model) Besides,

it studied stem cell model for drugscreening

For cosmetics, the Lab successfully created

5 advanced products for skin care andanti-aging, which were licensed by the HoChi Minh City Department of Health.Such products were commercialized byGen World Company, High Tech Park

In addition to medicine, pharmacy andcosmetics, the Lab achieved a lot inagriculture, such as standardization ofanimal reproduction, development ofanimal reproduction support system, andtransgenic animals

Meeting room and library with integrated utilities Research area with state-of-the-art specialized equipments

Staff workstations

Focusing on academic activitiesParallel to research, human resourcesdevelopment and staff training were paidstrong attention in the Lab in order toguarantee good approach to advancedtechnology and engineering Each year,undergrads, Master's students and PhDcandidates were recruited to work indifferent positions at the Lab as anopportunity for themto do researches Italso actively trained technicians for manyinstitutions in the country

Up to 2015, the Lab had 18 Master'sdegree holders and 4 PhD degree holders,who were trained in the country under thegovernment's sponsorship There were also

4 Master's and 12 PhD degree holders whowere trained abroad using funding fromdifferent programs / projects and selffinancing Moreover, it trained 297

Bachelor's, 34 Master's, 4 PhD degreeholders and 5 PhD candidates

It can be seen that the quantity and quality

of its researches increased continuouslyover the last 5 years There were 13 articlespublished in national journals and

reference books At the international level,there were 52 articles, among which 29published in ISI journals Furthermore,there were many publications, amongwhich 17 books were dedicated forstudents' learning and research

Vietnam and flagship institution of stemcell science - a humanitarian researchdirection, the Lab positively contributed toscience and technology development inVietnam, as well as published the results atthe international level After 8 years, it gavebirth to various practical products andprojects, which were considerablysignificant to research and life

The article Three-Dimensional Metal-Catecholate Frameworks and theirUltrahigh Proton Conductivity was co-written by Nguyen Thi TuyetNhung, Hiroyasu Furukawa, Felipe Gándara, Christopher AndrewTrickett, Hyung Mo Jeong, Kyle E Cordova, and Omar M Yaghi

It was highly evaluated by the international science panel because itsuccessfully synthesized 3 new MOFs from H6THO (in which THO6-

= triphenylene-2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis [olate]) and Fe, Ti and V salts Thecompound created was named as Fe-CAT-5, Ti-CAT-5 and V-CAT-5,which had cubic crystal structure and high porosity Among the threematerials, Fe-CAT-5 had the unique structure with sulfate ion anddimethylammonium inside porous media, resulting in high protonconductivity of the material

Tuyet Nhung said that at MANAR Center, students were oriented,discussed and exchanged research results with the world's leadingresearchers in the field of materials chemistry like Prof Yaghi, Dr.Hiroyasu Furukawa, and Kyle Cordova; therefore, scientific quality wasassured Besides, students could actively and directly use equipments andchemical substances, so their knowledge and analysis techniques wereenhance, facilitating the research progress The research orientation atMANAAR Center was to address challenges and concerns in

environment and energy

It was known that in 2014, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nhung used to

successfully have an article published on the journal Angewandte Chemie

International Edition with IF 11.26.

MANAR CENTER PUBLISHED

AN ARTICLE WITH IF (IMPACT

FACTOR) 12.11 IN AN

AMERICAN JOURNAL

(JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN

CHEMISTRY SOCIETY)

15 y

15 years of Science D ears of Science D ears of Science Dev ev evelopment elopment

&

& T T Technology J echnology J echnology Journal ournal

FOUNDED SINCE JANUARY 1998, THE SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

JOURNAL HAS BECOME A FORUM CONTRIBUTING TO IMPROVE RESEARCH AND

EDUCATION QUALITY OF FACULTY AT VNU-HCM IN PARTICULAR AND SCIENTISTS

IN THE SOUTHERN REGION IN GENERAL

From its journal No 2/2006, the ScienceDevelopment & Technology Journal ofVNU-HCM registered for ISSN

Subsequently, in December 2006, viaVietnam Academy of Social Sciences, itreceived the support from the

International Network for the Availability

of Scientific Publications (INASP),International Council for Science (ICSU)

to join the network of internationalscientific publications Since January 2007,the Journal has participated in INNASP,and according to INNASP update on thenumber of readers of the Vietnam JournalsOnline, the Science Development &

Technology Journal of VNU-HCM wasthe one which had the biggest number ofreaders to read and download it

Fully aware of the importance of ascientific journal in improving teachingand learning quality at a university, the

Editorial Council made

improvements inmanuscript

development procedure In other words, itbuilt up a rigid procedure from articlereceipt, review, editing, technical revision,printing, and distribution, to increase innumber of reviewers, recruitment offoreign editors, information update, andcloser linkage among editorial board,authors and readers

From 2010, there were 5 specializededitorial boards, and the Journal wasdivided into 5 sub journals: Engineering &Technology, Natural Sciences, SocialSciences & Humanities, Economics - Law,Management Science, and Earth Science &Environment Currently the offices ofthose 5 sub journals are located at 5member universities of VNU-HCM

So far the Science Development &

Technology Journal published 221volumes with over 2,092 articles ofscientists, researchers, and faculty withinand outside VNU-HCM in 5 relevantfields Among such a number, there were

229 articles (11%) in social sciences andhumanities, 189 (9%) in economics-lawand management science, 648 (31%) innatural sciences, 809 (39%) in engineeringand technology, and 221 (10%) in earthscience and environment

To fulfill its mission, the ScienceDevelopment & Technology Journal willcontinue improving its quality in terms ofcontent and design, so that it will become

a prestigious scientific publication, whereresearch results are released, and local and

In 2008, the ICDREC designed

and successfully developed the

processing chip SigmaK3, the first

Made-in-Vietnam microchip It was

considered a milestone of Vietnam

in the world IC map, and ranked as

"one of the top 10 science and

technology activities in Vietnam in

2008"

More than that, from 2010-2015,

ICDREC continued launching

other Made-in-Vietnam chips with

highly competitive and applicable

functions

Continuous launches of new chips

In 2010, ICDREC designed and

successfully produced the power

control chip TH7150 It was the

first analog chip in Vietnam, which

got the 3rd prize of VIFOTEC 2010

In the same year, ICDREC designed

and launched the 32-bit processing

ICDREC CONFIRMED IT

ICDREC CONFIRMED ITSELF SELF

BY Q

BY QU U UALIT ALIT ALITY PR Y PR Y PRODUCT ODUCT ODUCTS SS

chip VN16-32, the first 32-bit chip

in Vietnam, which got the highestprize in the "Ho Chi Minh CityScience & Technology InnovationContest 2010" and was consideredone of the top 10 science andtechnology activities in Vietnam

In addition, in 2014, it continueddesigning and producing the chipRFID HF under the biggest scienceand technology project of Vietnamnamely "Design and invention ofRFID chip and reader, andconstruction of its applicationsystem" It is a wireless radiofrequency identification (RFID)card, a trendy product andtechnology in Vietnam and aroundthe world

Specifically, the Center designed andlaunched the first commercializedprocessing chip of Vietnam: SG8V1

With that, ICDREC produced

150,000 commercialized chips,which were applicable in its nearly

30 products and 5 integratedsystems The processing chipSG8V1 has been used in almostelectrical and electronic equipmentswith better technical qualificationsand performance and half price ofsimilar imported chips Moreover,

it can be customized and integratedinto national defense and nationalinformation security technologies The SG8V1 got the highest prizefor information technology in theVietnamese Talent Awards.ICDREC also developed andproduced multi-functional KIT forresearch and teaching such as ARMKIT, PIC KIT, and Dec5x KIT.Life products

Beyond chip production, ICDREChas studied applicability of chips in

KIT ARM KIT PIC KIT Dec5x

various products In 2012, it

successfully launched 2 product lines

in transportation, including the

vehicle journey recorder X200, the

motorbike black box XM100, and

vehicle tracking device Xtracking

Those product lines have met users'

demands in journey record and

tracking with over 10,000

commercialized products

In 2014, ICDREC introduced

product lines in electricity such as

the single-phase electronic electricity

meter, the three-phase electronic

electricity meter, and the GSM based

energy meter, etc They were

complying the standards of the

Vietnam Electricity EVN, and using

the processing microchip SG8V1

(ICDREC) Simultaneously,

ICDREC developed a distance data

collection system including a GSM

based collector, a process server and

data storage device, data collectionsoftware, and other soft wares usedfor administration, operation anddistance electricity metering

In order to satisfy transporters' needsfor journey tracking and distancecontrol of containers, especially themonitoring of cargo containers tocomply with standards andprocedures of Vietnam Customs,ICDREC successfully launched thedistance control system of containersCTS-01 using the processing chipSG8V1 and RFID HF TheXtracking system allowed thetracking of location, coordinate,journey, startup or shutdown status

of containers, and unlockeridentification using RFID cards

All database were synchronized inthe server system which controlled,monitored and stored data

Under the project "Design andinvention of RFID chip and reader,and construction of its applicationsystem", ICDREC successfullydeveloped the RFID card and readerusing the processing microchipSG8V1 and HF RFID, and UHFRFID Based on that, it alsodeveloped 5 integrated systems ofdevices and services in weaponstorage, national defense, studentcards, production control, businessplanning, baggage checking inairports and stations, and distancecontrol of containers

With those achievements whichwere highly recognized by thesociety, ICDREC is expected to havemore breakthroughs and successes

in the future

IN THE GLOBALIZED AGE, VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION HAS ACTIVELYPARTICIPATED IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DURING THIS PROCESS,EXTERNAL FACTORS WERE VERY IMPORTANT INTERNAL FACTORS SUCH AS STATEGOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY, HOWEVER, WERE DECISIVE TO

A COMPREHENSIVE CHANGE IN THE EDUCATION OF A NATION

VNU-HCM:

VNU-HCM: THE LEADING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM IN VIETNAM