A research-based approach to generic graduate attributes policy

Abstract

For many years universities around the world have sought to articulate the nature of the education they offer to their students through a description of the generic qualities and skills their graduates possess. Despite the lengthy history of the rhetoric of such policy claims, universities' endeavours to describe generic attributes of graduates continue to lack a clear theoretical or conceptual base and are characterized by a plurality of view-points. Furthermore, despite extensive funding in some quarters, overall, efforts to foster the development of generic attributes appear to have met with limited success. Recent research has shed some light on this apparent variability in policy and practice. It is apparent that Australian university teachers charged with responsibility for developing students' generic graduate attributes do not share a common understanding of either the nature of these outcomes, or the teaching and learning processes that might facilitate the development of these outcomes. Instead academics hold qualitatively different conceptions of the phenomenon of graduate attributes. This paper considers how the qualitatively different conceptions of graduate attributes identified in this research have been applied to the challenge of revising a university's policy statement specifying the generic attributes of its graduates. The paper outlines the key findings of the research and then describes how the university's revision of its policy statement has built upon this research, adopting a research-led approach to academic development. The resultant twotiered policy is presented and the key academic development processes associated with the disciplinary contextualization of this framework are considered. The discussion explores some of the implications of this novel approach to structuring a university's policy, in particular, the variation in the relationship between discipline knowledge and generic attributes which was a key feature of the qualitative variation in understandings identified in the research.

Ability of students to recognize the relationship between using mobile apps for learning during fieldwork and the development of graduate attributes

“…The first activity was to draw up a full list of the mobile apps that were used during teaching and learning activities on the field course and to encourage the students into a reflective mindset. The facilitator then explained the concept of graduate attributes based on the model of Barrie (2004) and described four relevant attributes as characterised by…”

“…For the purposes of this research, the graduate attributes defined by Oxford Brookes University (2008) were selected as they are few in number and abide by the features suggested by Barrie (2004) and Bowden et al (2000). All four of these attributes (set out below) can be developed via fieldwork activities.…”

“…This hierarchy of graduate development is an essential step toward understanding how individual skills can be integrated to create academically successful students, who in turn become highly employable graduates. Barrie (2004) suggested four over-arching features of GAs; (1) GAs should be achievable by all graduating students regardless of their discipline; (2) GAs relate to skills and knowledge sets achievable by graduates, not entry-level students; (3) GAs are more than just individual skills, but embrace a range of different skills sets illustrating a graduate's higher capabilities and knowledge; and (4) the development of GAs is the result of their progression through Higher Education. Many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have defined policies relating to GAs, for example University of Glasgow (Scotland), Oxford Brookes University (England), University of New South Wales (Australia), University of Otago (New Zealand) and University of Western Cape (South Africa), which all have well-defined GAs ranging from three to eighteen statements.…”

“…All of these terms focus on the drive to improve the employability of students, to present them as well-developed and highly desirable graduates, which universities are coming under increasing pressure to evidence (Bath et al, 2004). Barrie (2004) concisely described graduate attributes (GAs) as "the skills, knowledge and abilities of University graduates, beyond disciplinary content knowledge, which are applicable to a range of contexts".…”

Using the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy to foster teaching and learning partnerships

“…Lecturers are encouraged to develop graduates that are "inquiry focused", "critically and relevantly literate", "autonomous and independent" thinkers capable of working collaboratively and "communicating across difference", with ethical and "social consciousness" (UWC 2010). Information literacy provides the bedrock for independent, critical thinking and is referenced directly or indirectly within several clusters of graduate attributes (De Jager & Nassimbeni 2005, Barrie 2012, Salisbury et al 2012. Despite this important relationship, librarians can find it difficult to engage academics on the precise ways in which ongoing exposure to and assessment of information literacy is crucial for attaining these core institutional values, whether viewed as attributes or learning literacies.…”