NEWS
A Classification System for Universities Based on Computer Science and AI Techniques A Study at UoB Recommends Taking Environmental Factors into Account in The Classification of Higher Education Institutions
Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Khadijah Abdusalem)
9 July 2023
A scientific study conducted at the University of Bahrain (UoB) recommended the adoption of a new classification system for higher education institutions that considers environmental factors and the climatic classification of countries in evaluating higher education institutions.
The study – which was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and presented in two scientific conferences – aimed at using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to evaluate the performance of university evaluation systems in systematic ways, and to study their compatibility with the indicators of the sustainable development goals, in addition to proving that the current evaluation systems do not take into account the country’s temperature, and its negative impact on the result of the higher education institution’s environmental evaluation, especially regarding carbon dioxide emissions and energy use.
The PhD student in the Environment and Sustainable Development Program at the College of Science at the University, Anwar Abdulla Bu Zaboon, was able to design a dynamic evaluation system for higher education institutions, using computer science and AI techniques, in addition to mathematical optimization systems, which aim to consider environmental factors and the climate classification of countries into the evaluation process.
The design is her PhD thesis in Environment and Sustainable Development, titled “Developing environmental sustainability performance index for higher education institutions.”
The thesis presented a new classification system for higher education institutions called (UoBESHEIRS) – University of Bahrain Environmental Sustainability Higher Education Institutions Ranking System.
UoBESHEARS is a dynamic system that uses AI and machine learning techniques to propose different weightings for each indicator annually, based on the institution’s data from the previous year, using an objective multi-criteria programming method. As the new system removes subjective interference and human biases in determining the index weighting.
An examination committee discussed the researcher in her thesis recently, and the committee consisted of: Associate Professor in the Department of Life Sciences, Dr. Humood Abdullah Nasser, as an internal examiner, and Professor at Yarmouk University, Professor Dr. Sultan Abu Orabi, as an external examiner. Also, the study was supervised by the former professor of applied physics in the College of Science at UoB Prof. Dr. Wahib Issa Al-Nasser, and Professor of Renewable Energy in the Department of Physics at the College of Science, Dr. Hanan Mubarak Buflasa, as Assistant Supervisor.
