Employers of chemistry graduates are seeking a range of transferable skills from prospective employees, and academics are increasingly seeking to build employability skill development opportunities into the undergraduate curriculum. However, research suggests that undergraduates do not recognise or value such skill development without prompting. This recognition is essential if graduates are to be able to articulate their skills in the employment process. This study involves research amongst almost 1000 undergraduates studying chemistry at two institutions, using open-ended questions to collect qualitative data. The extent to which students recognised course-related skills development and understood the skills that employers are looking for was investigated, as was their desire to develop additional skills. Similarities and differences in student views between institutions are discussed, as well as trends across year levels and by gender. Results indicate that undergraduates studying chemistry are most likely to value and recognise development of some key skills sought by employers (teamwork, communication, thinking/problem solving, organisation/time management and laboratory/practical skills), but are very unlikely to value or recognise others (numeracy, independent learning, commercial awareness, interpersonal, research, computer/IT, creativity/innovation, flexibility/adaptability and initiative). Opportunities to develop the latter skills and recognition of the value of doing so will require improved communication with students and/or provision of new experiences within the curriculum.

This ethnographic case study explored how children build and use working theories in play (Hill, 2015), specifically theories about existential matters of life, death and dying, human nature, and the social, physical and natural world. The concepts of funds of knowledge and interests are integrated to theorise children's agency and competence in how they collectively build working theories. This conceputalisation reflects contemporary socio-cultural theories in which peer cultures, relationships and interactions are central to play and learning, with interaction conceived as multimodal, encompassing artefacts, embodiment and affect. Data is presented from research conducted with children age 4-6 (Hill, 2015), using videotaped episodes of their 'Dead Forever' play, and post-video discussions with children and parents. Findings indicate that children's interests and working theories are sources of knowledge in peer-led learning, as evidenced in the social, cognitive, cultural and affective content 2 of their play. We propose a complex understanding of play and learning within childled Zones for Proximal Development. The extent to which children's interests and working theories are understood by teachers to connect with curriculum goals is problematized in the context of contemporary ECE frameworks.

Attaining transferable skills is increasingly important for undergraduates and, while such skill development may be embedded within the curriculum, it is often not well recognised by students. This mixed methods study explores the use of skills badges as icons displayed on curriculum materials in several disciplines at two universities. The badges are designed to draw students’ attention to skill development opportunities; an approach that is easily scalable in any discipline. Results indicated that more than half of students found the badges helpful and their recognition of the development of some skills increased. Other benefits included understanding the wider purpose of learning tasks, increased motivation and satisfaction and identification of examples for use in the job application process. The badges prompted some staff to communicate with students about skills and to re-evaluate their teaching approach to maximise skill development opportunities. Communication between staff and students is key to ensuring students understand the purpose of the badges and how to use them.

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