Considering a Teaching Framework to Support the Development of Transferable Skills in Engineering Undergraduate Students.

The work in this thesis focuses upon research conducted in four departments of chemical engineering within Higher Education, in the UK. The work was carried out on the back of identified concerns which arose whilst working on a HEFCE-funded project which aimed to disseminate good practice for enhancing transferable skills teaching within engineering curricula. Evaluation data from the HEFCE-funded project suggested discrepancies between students' perceptions of skills development and those of academic practitioners. The purpose of this research was to establish exactly how students developed their transferable skills and addressed the question: what is the pattern through which undergraduate chemical engineering students in Higher Education effectively develop their transferable skills? Case study and grounded theory approaches were used in this research. In addition to understanding students' perceptions of developing skills, it was necessary to use that understanding to generate a framework which could adequately support the development of these skills. Research findings suggest that students learn differently at different levels of their undergraduate studies and that mode of assessment and student motivation in learning are recognised factors which influence student perceptions. It was possible to propose a theoretical model of curriculum development which could be used by academic practitioners in Higher Education to enhance skills development in undergraduates. It is recommended that the model be tested in other vocationally-orientated disciplines, for its impact value in light of recent Government initiated changes. The thesis contributes to the skills debate by: identifying contributory factors which support students' development of skills, highlighting issues for both students and academic practitioners involved with skills development, and proposing a framework of teaching which supports students' perceptions of learning

Educational development between faculty and administration

This essay employs Identity Theory to explore the professional identities of educational developers, arguing that it is important to pay attention to the different saliences, or weights, that developers attach to the faculty and administrative sides of their identities

Focusing in on employability:using content analysis to explore the employability discourse in UK and USA universities

Abstract In this paper, we have taken initial steps towards highlighting the employability discourse in higher education by using content analysis to explore website data at 40 higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK and 40 HEIs in the USA by searching for ‘employability’ in respective web engines. The findings from our preliminary data analysis were inserted into a MIT SIMILE software package to create a bespoke, interactive webpage that could be disseminated for discussion by higher education managers. The initial findings suggest that, in the UK, the broad discourse is centred upon government policies and targeted preparation for employment while in the USA it is centred upon the institutional vision and social inclusion agenda. Recent graduates’ views were sought on these initial findings to validate whether their experiences corroborated with our suggested employability discourse claims. These insights are a useful first step for HEIs to question and re-evaluate employability at an institutional level

Considering a teaching framework to support the development of transferable skills in engineering undergraduate students

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Small Group Teaching

These resources make up one of the seminars in the Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (GCAP) programme and was designed for those who have, or anticipate that they will run small group teaching sessions. The main aims were to: to explore issues related to small-group teaching; to develop a critical understanding of the role of the tutor as a facilitator and recognise the implications for small-group teaching; to offer a critical evaluation of methodologies for achieving learning outcomes in seminar and tutorial situations. The main learning outcomes for the seminar was to enable participants to: demonstrate the ability to lead a small group session which meets the intended learning outcomes; appreciate the range of delivery techniques available and be able to adapt practice accordingly; recognise the role of the tutor in small group teaching and reflect on their experiences. All the resources from the GCAP programme can be found here: http://keats.kcl.ac.uk/course/category.php?id=11