Connecting experiences to employability through a meaning-making approach to learning

A key part of the student experience in the higher education context is employability. There is an expectation that universities will contribute to their students’ employability and indeed they are measured on this contribution and are allocated funding based on it. Despite the importance of employability in higher education, it remains a complex and contested concept, often conflated with employment – graduates in jobs and the roles they occupy – and seen as a quantifiable outcome of the student experience. Where employability is understood as an individual’s knowledge, capabilities, and personal attributes that make them more likely to gain employment and be successful in their professional lives, it is often framed by the discourse of skills. There are some employability models, however, that champion a more holistic view of employability and highlight the role that experiences play in individual employability development. This paper reports on the development of an institutional employability framework and reflective process in an Australian research-intensive university. The paper discusses the experiential learning theories that underpin the reflective process that supports students to understand and articulate employability learning, for framing narratives around the potential to contribute to an organisation for employment, and for the transfer of this potential to professional contexts. The framework and reflective process represent employability as a learning process through which students make meaning from their experiences and learning opportunities. This involves understanding the value of their experiences, how to articulate that value, and how to transfer it to workplace performanc

Learning from the pandemic: the impacts of moving student-staff partnerships online

While numerous studies on the impacts of COVID-19 on university learning and teaching are now emerging, there has been less critical attention focused on the impact of the shift to online engagement on student-staff partnership (SSP) practices. This article analyses the experiences and perceptions of students and staff from an Australian university as they shifted their partnership practices online during the pandemic. It provides valuable insights into the specific positive and negative impacts of online SSP for students and staff, foregrounding both groups’ perceptions of the accessibility and communication aspects of online SSP. The study’s findings lead to the recommendation of a blended approach and will be of use as SSP programs recalibrate for a post-COVID context

Measuring intangible outcomes can be problematic: The challenge of assessing learning during international short-term study experiences

Short-term international study experiences, or study tours, aim to increase students’ global awareness, educate and empower them to be productive global citizens, and contribute to their future employability. Learning outcomes from study tours often include intangible personal characteristics or soft skills, as opposed to specific disciplinary skills and knowledge, and yet, these are not easily identified. Using an iterative Delphi process, this study aimed to understand the pedagogical experience of tour leaders (experts) and assist in future development of effective assessment. Findings include four key areas of agreement among the experts: (1) both discipline-based knowledge and the acquisition of intangible personal characteristics are important learning outcomes and are considered to be almost equally important; (2) assessment almost always occurs on tour; (3) formative assessment for learning is predominantly used (rather than learning for summative assessment to test the learning), and; (4) facilitated reflection is an important way to encourage learning during a study tour. Yet, the findings also reveal uncertainty about assessing outcomes that include intangible personal characteristics and soft skills. The article concludes with pedagogical implications and recommendations for future research