Student employability enhancement through fieldwork: purposefully integrated or a beneficial side effect?

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to develop employability-enhancing transferable skills as well as technical, discipline-specific skills and disciplinary knowledge. However, the extent to which staff purposely plan transferable skills outcomes of field courses, and, therefore, whether they are communicated to students is unknown. We investigated whether staff intentionally plan transferable skills development opportunities into fieldwork by interviewing academic staff responsible for planning and leading residential field courses at a UK university. We also conducted a thematic analysis of associated module specifications and teaching materials to understand whether transferable skills were signposted to colleagues and students. Our findings show that although most staff recognise that their field courses help students to develop transferable skills, staff awareness of skills and professional development outcomes is narrowly focused on technical skills and discipline-related careers. Furthermore, those transferable skills outcomes that staff are aware of are not fully translated into module specifications and infrequently signposted to students via teaching materials. These findings suggest that transferable skills form a hidden curriculum of fieldwork. To maximise the employability benefits of fieldwork, we recommend that all skills should be signposted to students both during field course teaching and also via the associated teaching materials

Why do some students opt out of fieldwork? Using expectancy-value theory to explore the hidden voices of non-participants

Fieldwork is an important part of higher education programmes in geography, geology, environmental sciences and biosciences because it offers opportunities to enhance graduate employability alongside pedagogical and social benefits. However, not all students choose to participate in fieldwork and the reasons that some opt out are unknown. We used the expectancy-value theory of motivation to investigate why some students opt out of fieldwork. Data from six universities showed that students who opted out held lower fieldwork motivation than those who opted in. There was no effect of gender on fieldwork motivation but there was an effect of previous experience whereby students with previous fieldwork experience had higher motivation than those without. The reasons that students opted out related to pursuing alternative opportunities, barriers to their participation or a disinterest in fieldwork. Our findings suggest that alternative opportunities should offer similar pedagogical and professional and social development benefits to fieldwork and that further fieldwork opportunities are included in programmes to cater for students who have high fieldwork motivation but encounter barriers that prevent them from participating in field courses. Furthermore, programme design should eliminate structural barriers to fieldwork participation

How do readers at different career stages approach reading a scientific research paper? A case study in the biological sciences

Reading primary research literature is an essential skill for scientists. However, the high complexity of research papers may pose a barrier to the development of scientific literacy. In semi-structured interviews, we explore how 33 biologists including undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers approach reading an unfamiliar scientific paper. We find that some readers are data-centric, focusing on their own critical evaluation of the data presented, whereas others adopt a more narrative-centric approach, relying on the descriptions of authors to inform their understanding. There was a bias towards undergraduates adopting the narrative-centric approach and researchers adopting the data-centric approach. All postdoctoral researchers and academics prioritised critical interpretation of the data, indicating this is a characteristic of experienced scientific readers. The ability to demonstrate scientific reading skills was context-dependent, particularly with respect to time available and whether a paper aligns well with a reader’s specialist area of knowledge. Inexperienced readers often lacked sufficient prior knowledge on which to base their reading, which represented a barrier to their engagement. We make recommendations for how scientific literacy should be developed within undergraduate teaching and beyond, noting that ‘one-off’ teaching strategies are insufficient when the development of scientific reading skills is a career-long process

The influence of fieldwork design on student perceptions of skills development during field courses

Employability is a key issue for students and Higher Education Institutions and a key component of employability is possessing the skills a role requires. In the environmental sciences, fieldwork provides an opportunity for students to develop employability-enhancing technical and transferable skills. However, students can have difficulty identifying the transferable skills they develop both during fieldwork and throughout their degree programmes. We investigated whether different pedagogical approaches to fieldwork (staff-led and student-directed) influenced student’s perception of skill-development. Additionally, we explored whether students recognised that skills developed during fieldwork might enhance their employability. Overall, students recognised technical skills more frequently than transferable skills. However, when fieldwork investigations were staff-led, students recognised more technical skills, but when students designed their fieldwork investigations themselves they recognised more transferable skills. Upon reflection, students were readily able to link skill-development to employability. We suggest that to maximise the skills development benefits of fieldwork, field courses should include a variety of fieldwork teaching designs to allow students to develop the widest array of skills possible. Additionally, students should be encouraged to reflect on their experiences throughout a field course as reflection is thought to aid their ability to recognise how their skills have developed