Graduate Attributes

University education in Nigeria has been re
cognized for its role in pertinent workforce
training for the benefit of learners and the
community. However, the role of university
education in stimulating national economic growth and transformation exacerbates the need
to ensure quality within the universities system
. The quality and focus of the training offered
by the Nigerian universities are not in tune wi
th the needs of society which leads to high
unemployment. Soludo (2012) stresses that the
problem of unemployment in Nigeria is not
because there are no jobs but because there ar
e no competent graduates to do the jobs. This
study examines the influence of f
aculty of education cu
rriculum on the attributes of graduates
produced. 12 public and private secondary school
s in Kwara State were selected for this
study. A total of 100 graduates of educa
tion teaching in secondary schools and 100
management members including heads of departme
nts, vice principals and principals were
selected for the study. The findings of the
study show that the curriculum has a great
influence on the quality of teachers produced in
faculties of education in Nigerian higher
education. Frequent review of teacher
s training curriculum was recommended.

2009 UniServe Science Proceedings Motivating Science Undergraduates: Ideas and Interventions 105 Motivate students by having them publish in new media: An invitation to science lecturers to share and test Will Rifkin, Science Communication Program, The University of New ...

Student academic literacy and learning support at Victoria University is an integral part of the educational experience offered to students by Student Learning Unit (SLU) lecturers. Good practice in student language and learning support includes a shift from prevailing 'remedial' approaches that imply service provision from outside the curriculum towards systemic approaches involving embedding support material in curriculum through collaboration

Authentic assessment activities are those that afford learners opportunities to practice finding solutions to real world issues and challenges, so that upon graduation they are able to apply skills developed from these learning experiences to issues and challenges they are likely to face in their workplace. When learners are able to do this successfully, they are judged as "job-ready". However, ascertaining the impacts of authentic assessment activities upon the achievement of learning outcomes and the development of desirable graduate attributes is challenging. How can we know with any certainty that our assessment activities have had the desired impact? A possible pathway is to examine the impacts of authentic assessment activities on the development of generic graduate attributes. Our study offers insights on how and in which ways the design of authentic assessment influences the development of generic graduate attributes in an online professional development programme for practitioners around Open Educational Resources and Open Educational Practices.

While there appears to be broad acceptance that university graduates must have the capacity to think critically in an increasingly complex, information‐rich world, there remains a gap between aspiration and teaching practice in many faculties. We examine this issue through our experience of designing assessment to develop critical thinking in a first year management unit. This case highlighted three important pedagogical considerations. First, there is the need to articulate a conceptualisation of critical thinking that is both discipline‐ and unit‐specific. Second, there is a need to consider the crucial link between critical thinking and academic literacy. Third, there is a need to consider the relationship between the capacity for critical thinking, student learning progression and the development of disciplinary knowledge. These factors will all assist higher education teachers in meeting the challenge of designing developmentally appropriate assessment of critical thinking at e...

This paper introduces the concept of creative dexterity within the choreographic process and explores how contemporary dance conservatories are seeking to foster performers’ skills in choreographic collaboration. Through investigating the institutional strategies of the London Contemporary Dance School, the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, the Danish National School of Contemporary Dance and the New Zealand School of Dance, we examine how and why a dancer’s ability to flexibly adapt to different choreographic contexts is being sustained as a pedagogic goal within these conservatories. This has involved reviewing the curricula of these institutes and interviewing key institutional decision makers. In acknowledging the highly competitive market for dance graduates and the ever‐shifting demands of a career in dance, it would appear these institutes are seeking to design their curricula to support the creative dexterity of their graduates. Through the identification of creative dexterity as a valued graduate attribute, and the locating of it within each curriculum, this paper provides a theoretical platform from which future research might examine the efficacy of such curricula designs.

... Editor(s), Atkinson, R. McBeath, C. Jonas-Dwyer, D. Phillips, R. Publisher, ASCILITE. Place of publication, Perth, WA. Start page, 1. ... The design of the unit builds on the development and use of digital media and online technologies in teaching first and second year units. ...

This article examines student responses to a technique for summarizing electronically available information based on word frequency. Students used this technique to create word clouds, using those word clouds to enhance personal and small group study. This is a qualitative study. Small focus groups were used to obtain student feedback. Feedback indicated that students adapted their use of word clouds in ways consistent with their learning style preferences. Kolb’s learning styles inventory was used. Student response also indicated that word clouds have potential in the workplace.

Student writing proficiency is considered to be a hallmark of educational excellence. This study reports on an iterated writing skills development program, incorporating elements of content, form and context, for science undergraduates. The program, which was initiated in first year biology and then iterated through a second year science unit, investigated student confidence about their writing and writing-related skills, and the correlation with actual writing ability in terms of an annotated bibliography and a literature review. Other things being equal, commencing second year students who had completed two first year essays had significantly higher confidence regarding five of the seven skills examined in this study, compared to students who had not. Further, upon completion of the unit, the level of confidence was still significantly higher with regard to four of these seven skills. However, there was no significant difference in marks for both second year writing tasks  between students who had or had not completed the first year subject. This study demonstrates the considerable value that iterated writing cycles, including feedback and opportunities for revision, have on student perceptions of their writing and writing-related skills. However, students may be overestimating their actual ability to write in a scientific domain, given an apparent disconnect between their self-perceived ability and their actual marks for the assignments. Different explanations of this disconnect suggest different remedies. If it occurred because students are not aware that markers’ expectations increase each year, then clearer instruction about increasing task difficulty, together with assessment and writing guidelines from unit coordinators and ALL staff, are required to better inform students so that their perceptions and actual writing abilities are more strongly aligned. If it occurred because skills developed in writing one type of assignment do not necessarily transfer to writing a different type, both students and teaching staff need to treat each different type as a new writing challenge, to some extent. Either way, the results cast doubt on a common assumption that training in academic skills in first year is sufficient to carry students through their work in subsequent years.