Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 32759
Integrating Generic Skills into Disciplinary Curricula

Authors: Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Fiona Wahr, Anthony de Souza-Daw, Samuel Kaspi

Abstract:

There is a growing emphasis on generic skills in higher education to match the changing skill-set requirements of the labour market. However, researchers and policy makers have not arrived at a consensus on the generic skills that actually contribute towards workplace employability and performance that complement and/or underpin discipline-specific graduate attributes. In order to strengthen the qualifications framework, a range of ‘generic’ learning outcomes have been considered for students undergoing higher education programs and among them it is necessary to have the fundamental generic skills such as literacy and numeracy at a level appropriate to the qualification type. This warrants for curriculum design approaches to contextualise the form and scope of these fundamental generic skills for supporting both students’ learning engagement in the course, as well as the graduate attributes required for employability and to progress within their chosen profession. Little research is reported in integrating such generic skills into discipline-specific learning outcomes. This paper explores the literature of the generic skills required for graduates from the discipline of Information Technology (IT) in relation to an Australian higher education institution. The paper presents the rationale of a proposed Bachelor of IT curriculum designed to contextualize the learning of these generic skills within the students’ discipline studies.

Keywords: Curriculum, employability, generic skills, graduate attributes, higher education, information technology.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1128243

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1655

References:


[1] H. Schomburg and U. Teichler, “Employability and Mobility of Bachelor Graduates in Europe”. Key Results of the Bologna Process. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam / Boston / Taipei. 2011.
[2] M.S. Velasco, “More than just good grades: candidates’ perceptions about the skills and attributes employers seek in new graduates”, Journal of Business Economics and Management, vol. 13, pp. 499–517, 2012.
[3] Australian Graduate Survey (AGS), “Graduate Careers Australia”, 2013.
[4] F. Suleman, “Employability skills of higher education graduates: Little consensus on a much-discussed subject”, 2nd International Conference on Higher Education Advances, HEAd´16, 21-23 June 2016, València, Spain, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 228, pp. 169 – 174, 2016.
[5] N. Detsimas, V. Coffey, Z. Sadiqi and L. Mei, “Workplace training and generic and technical skill development in the Australian construction industry”. Journal of Management Development, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 486-504. 2016.
[6] S. Barrie, C. Hughes, G. Crisp and A. Bennison, “Assessing and assuring Australian graduate learning outcomes: principles and practices within and across disciplines”. 2012.
[7] S. Arkoudis, “Integrating English Language communication Skills into Disciplinary Curricula: Options and Strategies”. Sydney: Office of Learning and Teaching, Department of Education. 2014.
[8] ACARA, “General Capabilities in the Australian Curriculum”, 2013.
[9] AQF Council, “Australian Qualifications Framework Second Edition January”, 2013.
[10] M. Humburg and R. van der Velden, “Skills and the graduate recruitment process: Evidence from two discrete choice experiments”. Economics of Education Review, vol. 49, pp. 24–41, 2015.
[11] DIICCSRTE and DEEWR, “Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework: The Framework”. 2013.
[12] A. Tymon, “The student perspective on employability”. Studies in Higher Education, vol. 38, pp. 841–856. 2013.
[13] Australian Learning and Teaching Council, “Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Progress Report”. 2010. Sydney: ALTC.
[14] L. Wheelahan, G. Moodie and J. Buchanan, “Revitalising the 'vocational' in flows of learning and labour”, Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education, 2012.
[15] DIISRTE, “Assessment of Generic Skills”, Discussion Paper. Canberra: DIISRTE. 2011.
[16] K.L. Krause, S. Barrie, and G. Scott, “Mapping Learning and Teaching Standards in Australian Higher Education: An Issues and Options Paper”. 2012.
[17] K. Bowman, "Background paper for the AQF Council on generic skills", Reviews of the AQF, Australian Qualifications Framework Resources, Australia. 2010.
[18] D. Bennett, S. Richardson and P. MacKinnon, “Enacting strategies for graduate employability: How universities can best support students to develop generic skill”, Part A Report. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government, Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education and Training, 2016.
[19] D. Kemp, and A. Norton, “Review of the demand driven system: final report”, Department of Education, 2014.
[20] ABS, “Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences”, Australia, 2011-12, Cat. 4228.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013.
[21] Precision Consulting, “Graduate employability skills: An examination of the development, teaching, assessment and reporting of graduate employability skills in the higher education sector”, Canberra, DEST, 2007.
[22] A. J. Harris and J. Ashton, “Embedding and integrating language and academic skills: An innovative approach”. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 73-87, 2011.
[23] F. Zhang, B. Lidbury, J. Schulte, A. Bridgeman, B. Yates and J. Rodger, “A cross disciplinary approach to language support for first year students in the science disciplines”. Final Report, Sydney: Office for Learning and Teaching, 2011.
[24] G. Anderson and S. Timbs, “Assessing and developing English Language Proficiency: A pilot project at Curtin University Sydney”. Proceedings of the 25th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, 28-29 January 2016. Perth: Curtin University.
[25] DEEWR, “Assessment of Generic Skills”. Canberra: DEEWR, 2011.
[26] K. Tremblay, D. Lalancette and D. Roseveare, “Assessment of higher education learning outcomes: Feasibility study report, volume 1 design and implementation”, OECD, 2012.
[27] Department of Education, “Students: Selected higher education statistics 2013”, Department of Education, 2014.
[28] Business Council of Australia (BCA), “Lifting the Quality of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education”. Melbourne: Business Council of Australia, 2011
[29] ACS, “Skilled Occupations List Submission”, Australian Computer Society, 2015.
[30] GCA, “2013 Graduate Outlook Survey”, Graduate Careers Australia, 2014.
[31] ACS, “Australia’s Digital Pulse”, Australian Computer Society, Deloitte Access Economics, 2015.
[32] M. Fullan and G. Scott, “Education plus, new pedagogies for deep learning”. Washington: Collaborative Impact SPC. 2014.
[33] Ithaca Group, “Employability Skills Framework Stage 1 Final Report”, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. 2012.
[34] H. Coates and D. Edwards, “The 2008 Graduate Pathways Survey: Graduate education and employment outcomes five years after completion of a bachelor degree at an Australian university”, Australian Council for Educational Research, 2009.
[35] E. Bexley, R. James and S. Arkoudis, “The Australian academic profession in transition”, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne, 2011.
[36] A. Radloff, H. Coates, R. Taylor, R. James and K.L. Krause, “University Experience Survey”, National Report. Canberra: DIISRTE, 2012.
[37] DEEWR, “Review of Australian Higher Education Final Report”, The Bradley Review Report, Canberra: DEEWR, 2008.