Facilitating student self-direction in a blended learning environment

Business postgraduate education is rapidly adopting virtual learning environments to facilitate the needs of a time-poor stakeholder community, where part-time students find it difficult to attend face-to-face classes. Creating engaged, flexible learning opportunities in the virtual world is therefore the current challenge for many business academics. However, in the blended learning environment there is also the added pressure of encouraging these students to develop soft managerial or generic skills such as self-reflection. The current paper provides an overview of an action-research activity exploring the experiences of students who were required to acquire the skills of self-reflection within a blended learning unit dominated by on-line learning delivery. We present the responses of students and the changes made to our teaching and learning activities to improve the facilitation of both our face-to-face delivery as well as the on-line learning environment.

A conceptual model of capability learning for the 21st century knowledge economy

This chapter proposes a conceptual model for optimal development of needed capabilities for the contemporary knowledge economy. We commence by outlining key capability requirements of the 21st century knowledge economy, distinguishing these from those suited to the earlier stages of the knowledge economy. We then discuss the extent to which higher education currently caters to these requirements and then put forward a new model for effective knowledge economy capability learning. The core of this model is the development of an adaptive and adaptable career identity, which is created through a reflective process of career self-management, drawing upon data from the self and the world of work. In turn, career identity drives the individual’s process of skill and knowledge acquisition, including deep disciplinary knowledge. The professional capability learning thus acquired includes disciplinary skill and knowledge sets, generic skills, and also skills for the knowledge economy, including disciplinary agility, social network capability, and enterprise skills. In the final part of this chapter, we envision higher education systems that embrace the model, and suggest steps that could be taken toward making the development of knowledge economy capabilities an integral part of the university experience.

Teamwork in first year law units : can it work?

Since the 1980s, higher education in Australia has undergone significant change which has led to the belief that universities should cultivate students’ generic skills and attributes. For example, Achieving Quality states that generic skills ‘should represent the central achievements of higher education as a process’ (Higher Education Council, 1992, p 20). The CALD Standards for Australian Law Schools also recognise that tertiary curricula should ‘seek to develop knowledge, understanding, skills, and values’ (Council of Australian Law Deans, 2009, [2.3]. See also AQF Council, 2010, pp 32-5, 40-2; AQF Council, 2011, p 45-50). This more instrumentalist view of education is similarly exhibited by students (Saulwick and Muller, 2006, pp 7, 34). No longer does the modern graduate expect their university degree to equip them solely with the content knowledge of their discipline, but also with the skills and attributes relevant to their career and prospective employment.

Design: Our future

'Design: Our Future', was an important and exciting call to arms for Queensland Design and Technology teachers at the INTAD State Conference 2015 held at Harristown State High School Toowoomba on the 25 June. As the Australian Government increasingly recognises design thinking as “a ubiquitous capability for innovation” (Commonwealth of Australia, 2013:90) to support a viable manufacturing sector in the Asian century, this represents an opportunity for Design and Technology teachers to provide leadership in the cultivation of these generic skills, behaviours and mindsets through secondary school education in Australia. This article, based on the conference keynote speech, outlines the value of design in education for the creative knowledge economy, the implications for Australian design and technology teachers, and the challenges ahead to ensure our future workforce is not superseded by robots.

Co-evaluation as a strategy to improve working group dynamics: an experience in Sport Sciences

The aim of this study was to analyze if the perceptions of students before and after carrying out the work, that is, their perception of different aspects of the functioning of the group, the working skills acquired as well as those they think that need to be improved, varied depending on whether the contribution of the different members of the group was being co-evaluated or not. 144 students of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences participated in this study. In order to analyze the students' perception of group work the adapted questionnaire by Bourne et al. (2001) was used. Results showed that groups which implemented co-evaluation assessed more negatively the experience in general than those which did not. However, co-evaluation groups perceived their competence to work as a team had improved to a greater extent than the groups without co-evaluation, evaluating more positively both the performance and the result of work and increasing their knowledge of the other team members. Using a co-evaluation system seems to generate both a better assessment of the running of the team and the result of its work.

Opportunities for Achieving Competence in Personal Attributes for Personal & Professional Developments

This document lists descriptions of generic skills / personal attributes that are useful to consider in personal and professional development. It also describes some general competencies and offers some thoughts on how to create opportunities to achieve competence with a bias towards computer science & IT students. It is based on advice given by Career Destinations at the University of Southampton and other universities

Forensic students are getting their hands dirty

Final year research projects are an important part of undergraduate chemistry courses, allowing students to enhance transferable skills in teamworking, problem solving and presentations, at the same time as learning valuable practical skills. Several recent reports have highlighted the importance of research based studies as part of undergraduate courses. ‘We need to encourage universities to explore new models of curriculum. They should all incorporate research based study for undergraduates to cultivate awareness of research careers, to train students in research skills for employment, and to sustain the advantages of a research teaching connection,’ wrote Paul Ramsden from James Cook University, Australia, in a 2008 report for the UK’s Higher Education Academy.1 A 2010 report published by the Biopharma Skills Consortium – that promotes collaboration across the higher education sector in the area of biopharma – also stated that: ‘Companies seek recruits well placed to acclimatise quickly to the work environment. They are looking for recruits who can deploy a range of generic skills in the application of their knowledge.’2

University and employer expectations of new dietetic graduates

Objectives:  The first objective of this study was to identify the knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs) that employers seek in newly graduated dietitians. The second objective was to compare the KSAs that employers seek in newly graduated dietitians to the Deakin University Graduate Attributes and to the Dieticians Association of Australia (DAA) Competencies in order to determine if there is a mismatch.

Methods:   Views were gathered from a combination of group and individual in-depth, semistructured interviews with 19 employers from a range of employment settings and sorted into an existing framework using the DAA Competencies and the Deakin University Graduate Attributes. Data from taped interviews were transcribed and sorted into a table of generic skills and a KSAs matrix.

Results: Employers sought graduates who had practical knowledge of dietetics and the workplace, Key skills sought included communication, interpersonal, work management and information technology skills. Key attributes sought were the ability to be a team player, to demonstrate some insight into one's own limitations, to demonstrate an appropriate level of initiative, and to be flexible and adaptable. There was a large overlap between the KSAs identified by employers as being important and those that have been identified by the DAA and Deakin University. However, there were some areas of mismatch. The University and employers valued information technological skills, whereas the DAA did not state these as a competency. The University and the industry employers were concerned about the global perspective, but the DAA and the clinical employers were not.

Conclusions: The results of this study show a large overlap between the KSAs valued by the profession, the University and the employers.

Influences on undergraduate students` intentions to become qualified accountants : evidence from Australia

In this study, first year commerce students in Australia were surveyed about their perceptions of their accounting studies and their perceptions of the attributes required of professional accountants. The paper specifically addresses the factors important in determining whether first year students intend to become accountants. The study uses a logistic regression model incorporating demographic and academic factors, as well as students' perceptions of the work of accountants, to predict intention to become an accountant. The results show that the perception of importance of generic skills, intrinsic interest in the discipline area, and course satisfaction were significant in determining intention to pursue a career as an accountant. As many students formed their judgments about the work of accountants from their accounting studies, the findings have implications for accounting educators in terms of the enthusiasm and motivation required in teaching accounting, as well as curriculum development that reflects the skill set required for an increasingly sophisticated business environment.

Employer requirements of economics graduates and the implications for undergraduate economics programs

In recent years there has been considerable debate about the general decline in the number of students undertaking bachelor degrees and majors in economics. The discussion has stemmed mainly from a supply-side perspective of the economics education market. The goal of this paper is to add another dimension to the debate and report the results of a survey of employers of economics graduates. Drawing on the extensive customer services literature it is argued that a market oriented, or demand-side analysis is also an important component in redressing low student enrolments and retention. A first step in adopting a market oriented approach is to determine the skills required of the economics graduates entering the jobs market. With the support of The Economics Society of Au~tralia, twenty-nine public and private sector employers were surveyed in 2002. The aim of the survey was to establish the demand for economics graduates with bachelor and honours degrees, the skills and knowledge required of these graduates, and the performance of such graduates. The study found that economic knowledge and skill were important to employers. However, the skills rated most important by employers were the more general or 'generic' skills of clear writing, data analysis, interpersonal skills and a practical problem-solving orientation. While graduates generally performed satisfactorily in relation to the economic skills required by employers, this was not the case for generic skills. The result of the survey findings have some significant implications for the content and teaching of undergraduate economics programs. This paper outlines these implications and also discusses areas for future research It is argued that such research should aim to utilize both the demand and supplyside perspectives with the development of more precise definitions and measurement of the economic skills required by the various stakeholders in the economics education market.

Review of first-year engineering and technology units based on student unit evaluations

There is recognition that the first-year of university study is a critical phase in the preparation, motivation and retention of science, mathematics,  engineering and technology (SMET) students. First-year provides the foundation/generic skills upon which students will base their undergraduate studies and professional practice; first-year is where many poorly prepared/at risk students will drop out and contribute to the poor student retention rate observed in the SMET disciplines; and first-year is when students may lose the motivation to pursue their chosen career direction if they find the studies at the commencement of their undergraduate program appear to bear no relationship to their intended career. In 2003, the Learning Resources Advisory Group of the Deakin University School of Engineering and Technology was requested to undertake a review of first-year units in the School’s programs. The information contained in anonymous unit evaluation questionnaires from the years 2000-2002 was used as the basis for analysing student perceptions of first-year units. In unit evaluations, students reported a wide range of issues that impacted negatively on their perception of the content and conduct of first-year units. It was noted that units service taught by other Schools form a significant element of the first-year of all of the Engineering and Technology undergraduate programs – typically 25 to 50 percent of the content. The significant influence of these units on the perceptions of the first-year of the School’s commencing students means that the School should exercise some control over the content and delivery of these units.

Peer mentoring in an accounting setting : a case study of mentor skill development

This paper provides the background to the adoption of a peer mentoring program including the preparation of mentors and the classroom role of mentors. The paper also includes a discussion of alternative models of peer mentoring and an examination of factors to be considered in adopting mentoring as a teaching and learning resource. Using a case study of third-year undergraduate accounting students who were employed to mentor fellow students in a second-year accounting unit at an Australian university, the paper examines peer mentoring as a classroom resource in the teaching of accounting concepts. The study includes an evaluation of the perceptions of generic skill development by peer mentors illustrating how mentoring can be a reciprocal process, in that the mentor's skills can be enhanced while fulfilling a supporting role to junior students. The programme evaluation also demonstrated that accounting educators could contribute to the development of students' generic skills outside the traditional classroom setting.

Assessing group work

When effective group management processes are employed, clear assessment guidelines developed and communicated and valid and fair grading processes employed, the likelihood of positive learning outcomes and student satisfaction with group activities is significantly increased. Alternatively, if students cannot see the objective of group work, are unsure of what is expected of them, or believe the assessment methods are invalid or simply unfair, the educational benefits are reduced and tensions can emerge. The conditions under which group work is conducted are crucial to its success:

Group work, under proper conditions, encourages peer learning and peer support and many studies validate the efficacy of peer learning. Under less than ideal conditions, group work can become the vehicle for acrimony, conflict and freeloading. It may also impose a host of unexpected stresses on, for example, students with overcrowded schedules living long distances from the University.
(University of Wollongong assessment policy, 2002).

The educational benefits of students working cooperatively in groups are well recognised. Among other things,
• studying collaboratively has been shown to directly enhance learning;
• employers value the teamwork and other generic skills that group work may help develop; and
• group activities may help academic staff to effectively utilise their own time.

The design of assessment is central to capturing the benefits of group work and avoiding its pitfalls. Assessment defines the character and quality of group work. In fact, the way in which students approach group work is largely determined by the way in which they are to be assessed.

To maximise student learning in group activities, this section offers advice on how academic staff can:
• establish explicit guidelines for group work to ensure that learning objectives are met and to ensure that they are transparent and equitable; and
• manage the planning, development and implementation of processes and procedures for learning through group work and group assessment.

Integrating sociological concepts into the study of accounting : yielding the benefits of team teaching

In response to recent criticisms of business and accounting education, a team of educators introduced a new course in social and critical perspectives on accounting. The course sought to integrate sociological concepts into the study of accounting, with key themes of social construction and social power forming a core of the course. The express intention was to raise student awareness of the nature and functions of accounting in contemporary society. The core teaching strategy involved team teaching, which was used to enhance learning and develop higher order generic skills. Feedback from two diverse cohorts of students vindicated the approach undertaken and reinforced the importance of linking teaching and research in accounting programs. Change in accounting education can be directed towards regaining and rebuilding social relevance for a discipline too often associated with a narrow economic imperative rather than the broader public interest.

Academic writing : a handbook for international students

Book review of a resource to improve the academic writing of international students who have English as a second language.