Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on research findings from a teaching and learning intervention that explored whether undergraduate university students can be taught to articulate their employability skills effectively to prospective employers and to retain this ability post-course. Design/methodology/approach The study included 3,400 students in 44 courses at a large Canadian university. Stage 1 involved a course-level teaching and learning intervention with the experimental student group, which received employability skills articulation instruction. Stage 2 involved an online survey administered six months post-course to the experimental group and the control group. Both groups responded to two randomly generated questions using the Situation/Task, Actions, Result (STAR) format, a format that employers commonly rely on to assess job candidates’ employability skills. The researchers compared the survey responses from the experimental and control groups. Findings Survey results demonstrate that previous exposure to the STAR format was the only significant factor affecting students’ skills articulation ability. Year of study and program (co-operative or non-co-operative) did not influence articulation. Practical implications The findings suggest that universities should integrate institution-wide, course-level employability skills articulation assignments for students in all years of study and programs (co-op and non-co-op). Originality/value This research is novel because its study design combines practical, instructional design with empirical research of significant scope (institution-wide) and participant size (3,400 students), contributing quantitative evidence to the employability skills articulation discussion. By surveying students six months post-course, the study captures whether articulation instruction can be recalled, an ability of particular relevance for career preparedness.
We provide evidence to substantiate the learning potential of eportfolios by focusing on instructor variables that influence eportfolio learning experiences. We conducted a mixed-methods study of over 800 students across 30 courses. Using survey, interview, and focus group data, we argue that instructors’ approaches to eportfolio activities play a critical but underappreciated role in whether the eportfolio will be a valued student learning experience. By adapting categorizations of deep, surface, and strategic learning, we argue that an instructor’s approach to eportfolios can be classified in a similar manner. We analyze how the instructor adheres to eportfolio best practices, and how the instructor manages student expectations and relays the importance of the eportfolio. As a result, we propose that instructors too can adopt a deep, surface, or strategic approach to eportfolios. Our data show that students generally benefit most when instructors adopt a deep, intentional approach to eportfolios, such as having a long-term investment in the course (e.g., teaching it more than one time), taking a hands-on approach with the administration of the eportfolio, and collaboratively designing the eportfolio activity. Nous présentons des preuves afin de justifier le potentiel d’apprentissage des ePortfolios en nous concentrant sur les variables des instructeurs qui influencent les expériences d’apprentissage présentées par les ePortfolios. Nous avons mené une étude à méthodologie mixte auprès de plus de 800 étudiants dans 30 cours différents. Nous avons recueilli des données suite à des sondages, des entrevues et des groupes de discussion et nous en avons déduit que les activités préparées pour les ePortfolios par les instructeurs jouent un rôle primordial mais toutefois non apprécié à sa juste valeur pour déterminer si le ePortfolio va être une expérience d’apprentissage enrichissante. En adaptant des catégorisations d’apprentissage profond, de surface et stratégique, nous pensons que l’approche d’un instructeur vis-à-vis du ePortfolio peut être classifiée de la même manière. Nous analysons la manière dont l’instructeur adhère aux meilleures pratiques du ePortfolio ainsi que la manière dont l’instructeur gère les attentes des étudiants et transmet l’importance du ePortfolio. En conséquence, nous proposons que les instructeurs eux aussi peuvent adopter une approche profonde, en surface et stratégique vis-à-vis des ePortfolios. Nos données indiquent qu’en général, les étudiants bénéficient le plus quand les instructeurs adoptent une approche profonde et intentionnelle vis-à-vis des ePortfolios, comme par exemple le fait de consacrer un investissement à long-terme dans le cours (par exemple, le fait de l’enseigner davantage qu’une seule fois), d’adopter une approche pratique vis-à-vis de l’administration du ePortfolio, et en assurant la conception en collaboration des activités du ePortfolio.
At Waterloo Engineering, we have great student leaders who go far beyond the average of 120 hours needed for a course credit in leadership roles, but currently receive no academic credit for this work. The SLICC (Student-Led, Individually-Created Course) model, developed by professors at the University of Edinburgh, is a great way to help the student leaders reflect on their own leadership experiences in a personalized format, producing a product that is of value to them. That is the motivation for a new course, offered in the winter 2022 term for the first time, GENE 415: Practical Analysis of Student Leadership Experience. As instructors, we were completely new to the SLICC model. After some basic training in the mechanics of the SLICC process with folks at Waterloo who are implementing it in their courses and support from folks at the University of Edinburgh, we put ourselves through a SLICC project with our students. This was done with lots of support from a senior educational developer from the Centre for Teaching Excellence. This is the story of SLICCs being implemented by two seasoned instructors and their educational journey to guide ten senior engineering student leaders through a new course designed to acknowledge, through course credit, their substantial leadership experiences throughout their undergraduate studies in engineering. This SLICC experience was completed at the height of the Omicron wave of COVID-19 in Ontario, revealing both the benefits and challenges of this self-directed learning model being implemented in an online environment and then shifting to in-person.
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