Building Transferable Skills into the Curriculum

1. Building Transferable Skills into the Curriculum

2. Methods / Assessment • Use peer assessment (EBL)(CL) • Link teaching with real world examples • Enquiry-based learning • 1 group stakeholders • 1 group developers • Design assessments to evaluate and demonstrate key and transitional skills • Expect professional attitude from students • time management • Reflection • Build such exercises into modules

3. Methods / Assessment • Exams • Get students to evaluate their own and others contributions to the practical critically and find where they can improve • Students given multi-functionary practical scheme and have to improve on it. • Introduce real problem in the world related to the module to stimulate interest • Relate every principle/theory to real problems • Role playing of good and bad professional behaviour to assess and then problem solve the situations raised

4. Methods / Assessment • Do practicals on real life chemical disasters • Inclusion of more example questions based on the application of the subject in real life • Show them how to apply the principles to solve questions • Self-paced learning • Distance learning and collaboration • Formative assessment • Simulations that are research based and lead to creation/ reform of an existing organisation

5. Methods / Assessment • Role playing of good and bad professional behaviour to assess and then problem solve the situations raised • Peer reviewed short assignments to learn to criticise and improve on criticisms • Have unseen exam papers • Oral examinations by student panels • Illustrate good and bad practices of professionalism from real situations and problem solve • Ask students expectations at the beginning of the courses and reassess their expectations at the end

6. Methods / Assessment • Find out what students are interested in and relate the module material to this • Discuss how an aspect of the module could be used in a job and how they would go about showing it • Promote Self evaluation • Do a formative assessment where students evaluate each others work • Giving assignment that needs to be completed before setting their expectations • Give the students a problem and allow them to develop a solution

7. Methods / Assessment • Peer-evaluation among students themselves • Digital story-telling • Let us fail students who deserve it • Give students more responsibility for their progress • Link performance to fees – (it becomes paid work) • Education to mimic workplace. Get students competing against each other • Include industrially relevant skills in practical work • More flexible assessment (lecturer discretion) • Student panel to discuss a topic • Presentations for assessment

8. Research & Information • PDP • Understand students’ expectations of degree vi-sà-vis career • Acquire awareness of possible professions relevant to degree • Build relations with the careers office • Introduce something like PDP sessions • Relevance to real-world problem • Student expectations and its relevance to different career paths • Resume building • Create portfolio based on bi-weekly article critique • Acceptance of constructive criticism • State their professional goals explicitly

9. Research & Information • PDP Cont. • Encourage professional behaviour from the students, deliver the same • Be on time • Importance of integrity • Include aspects to module requiring planning skills

10. Research & Information • Detailed lecture notes (hard copies) along with PowerPoint slides • Detailed list of resources available (books, internet material, etc) • Formative on-line quizzes using U-Learn (leading to exams) • Introduce something like PDP sessions • Relevance to real-world problem • Student expectations and its relevance to different career paths • Teach them to develop interpersonal skills • Teach them the importance of life balance

11. Research & Information • Learning to understand the difference between various sources of data • Attend conferences together with students • Set problems where the students will have to use the library, computers etc • Get students to research and do a short presentation on an aspect of the module • Discuss university research activities • Access relevant working experiences (e.g. placement) • Importance of accuracy in sampling/reporting

12. Encouragement & Recognition • Encourage students to maintain a life balance • Encourage students to become they person they want to be through work • Encourage independent learning processes • Encourage students to self-evaluate • Make students aware of how they can acquisition transferable skills • Recognise transferability of skills & inform the students about this

13. Encouragement & Recognition • Recognising and accommodating different personalities and life styles • Encourage students to research what it means to act and behave professionally in our industry • Encourage students to write their reflection from placement or part-time work experience • Emphasis how elements of the module can be used in other modules on the course

14. Encouragement & Recognition • Encourage students to find a ‘champion’ in their subject and promote the course • Develop interest and passion about the subject • Engage students on actuality matter • Bring lab materials to classroom

15. Identification • Identify transferable skills • Organisational skills • Problem-solving skills • Presentation skills • Communication skills • Critical thinking • Time management • Group Work – development of interpersonal skills • Team Work • Encouraging students to do background reading before their lectures • Teach them reliability

16. How to write/research • Training on professional writing • Training on professional presentation • Change their communication style (especially in writing) • Podcasts (used a further material) • Prepare a booklet with slides • Ask students to summarise questions from each lecture

17. Real Experience/Guest Lecturers • Visits to real companies • Invite industry professionals to share their experiences from real examples • Guest lecturers from industry • Invite former students to present • Visits to relevant government agencies/organisations • Integrate visits to organisations and assess students professionalism • Visit other industries and compare different professional aspects

18. Real Experience/Guest Lecturers • Get a practical/visual experience of topic (movies /documentaries/YouTube?) • Bring in professionals to talk to students • Providing insight into the role of professionals in industry • Links to industry • Introduce industry partner (outside eye) • Relevance to industry • Incorporate site visits to lab settings as learning experience • Ask students to attend guest talks from outside of the university

19. Real Experience/Guest Lecturers • Industrial applications • Illustrate and discuss methods with concrete real world examples • Assignments that leads students to explore the real world rather than being directly taught • Sharing interview findings with students • Interview and networking with retail professional • Include industrially relevant skills in practical work • Field trips and reflection • Have industrial experts come in and tell students what is important

20. Team Work • Group project • Long-term group research project to increase commitment • Groups working on each domain (I/O & responsibility) • Group discussion on real world cases – sharing knowledge • Different groups undertake different practicals and then write-up an industrial style report for others to see • Cooperative practicals – one group works with the results of another groups research • Give them a small project to do in a group so they learn how to work as a team • Mix workshops up so they don’t know the people they are working with

21. Team Work • Work as a volunteer for a project in that field • Group discussions on current topics • Promote self-activities in group projects • Teaching and learning collaboration • Promote team working exercises • Develop team working to demonstrate the benefits • Set problems where the students have to work in teams • Use exercises in class that promote team work • How to work as part of a team – set small projects involving team work

22. Lecturers • Knowing what you teach • Humility • Listening • Fairness • Intention to help • Positive attitude • Open mind • Knowing the rules and working within them • Update notes year on year out; don’t keep material from 90s • Drink coffee with colleagues • Discuss with module organiser from other university • Ask for peer review assessment of materials

23. Lecturers • Encourage participation, take students ideas and answers seriously & with respect • View students timing as part of the assessment • Stress process not final product of learning and include in the assessment • Feedback forms • Better work/life balance • T A Support • More timetable time • Teaching only modules related to experience • Higher admission standards • Prompt feedback