Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum

1. LTA Conference 19 June 2013 Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum http://tinyurl.com/m52us36 Jeff Waldock Department of Engineering and Mathematics, Faculty of ACES

2. Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum Jeff Waldock Employability “… is more than about developing attributes, techniques or experience just to enable a student to get a job, or to progress within a current career. It is about learning and the emphasis is less on ‘employ’ and more on ‘ability’. In essence, the emphasis is on developing critical, reflective abilities, with a view to empowering and enhancing the learner" Harvey (2003)

3. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Socrative Student http://m.socrative.com Join room jw (lower case)

4. Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum Jeff Waldock Q1 What 'ability' of graduates from your discipline do you feel has the greatest impact on their employability? In your response, provide your subject area or the one you most closely identify with, e.g. IT skills (Maths)

5. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock QAA Subject benchmark - a 'National Curriculum' for HE http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/statements/Maths07.asp Maths Stats and Operational Research (MSOR) "MSOR graduates will possess general study skills, particularly including the ability to learn independently" "They will also be able to work independentlywith patience and persistence, pursuing the solution of a problem to its conclusion. They will have had the opportunity to develop general skills of time management and organisation." "They will also have general communication skills, typically including the ability to work in teams, to contribute to discussions, to write coherently and to communicate results clearly."

6. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Example of a skills list …. • Verbal communication • Written communication • Analysing and problem solving • Team working and interpersonal skills • Self awareness • Personal planning, time management and organisation • Initiative, enterprise • Adaptability • Numerical reasoning • Information literacy and ICT skills

7. Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum Jeff Waldock Q2 Should these generic 'employability' skills form a routine part of assessed work?

8. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Students may already havemany of these 'employability' skills • Make the tacit explicit • Show students how and where in their programme of study these skills are being developed. • Raise the profile; Use assessment; Help students see the big picture – and how each activity they engage with helps them towards their target. Get students to use a process of reflection and action planning to recognise what they can and can’t yet do, and to tackle the latter.

9. Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum Jeff Waldock Q3: on 'your' programme … Is it clear how students develop employability skills through engagement with course-embedded activities? Is this made explicit? Do you think students are aware of this?

10. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock "Almost half of all recent graduates believe their university education did not adequately equip them for the world of work” Guardian, 28 January 2011 Work experience matters!! "Whilst the total number of graduate vacancies is set to increase in 2013, recruiters expect that over a third of this year’s entry-level positions will be filled by graduates who have already worked for their organisations – either through internships, industrial placements or vacation work – and therefore are not open to other students from the class of 2013" http://www.highfliers.co.uk/, January 2013

11. Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum Jeff Waldock Q4 Does 'your' programme incorporate work-based learning?

12. Practical Strategies for Embedding Employability in the Curriculum Jeff Waldock Q5 Can your students articulate learning from work?

13. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Communication skills Oral - presentations, vivas, seminar discussion Written - essays, reports, posters, website, blogs .. Social networking? Reflection and action planning .. articulate, self-confident, self-motivated, self-aware

14. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Communication skills Team working skills Group work, Belbin etc Student support groups Leadership/facilitation skills .. PAL Interdisciplinary? …. be clear about what is being assessed

15. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Communication skills Team working skills IT skills Use of software tools .. Excel, Word, PPT etc Programming .. especially Excel WWW-related & 'Web 2.0' IT confidence .. ‘digital literacy’

16. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Communication skills Team working skills IT skills Career Management Skills Identification of career goals, opportunity awareness CV, job application, interview, assessment centre Outduction Employer connections, networking Role models, raising aspiration & self belief

17. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock "Developing Graduate Skills in Mathematics Programmes“ a mini-project commissioned by the National HE STEM Programme Mathematical Sciences Strand (April 2010 - March 2011) Further work developing graduate skills in HE Mathematics Programmes June 2012 April 2011

18. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Pedagogy for Employability Higher Education Academy, 2012 • Conclusions and implications for practice • P4E should inform the whole curriculum • bemade explicitto all participants • a ‘pathway’ • recognition via an award Action required in threeprincipal areas for success:

19. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Learning, Teaching and Assessment • experiential learning • ‘real world’, authentic problems • challenge existing methodologies • reward employability development • ‘parity of esteem’

20. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Learning, Teaching and Assessment Authentic work experience • contextualises learning • integrated into course curricula • reflection on, and articulation of, learning

21. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Learning, Teaching and Assessment Authentic work experience Institutional culture • employability enhancement core value • organisational practices and structures • course validation/approval processes • recognition of ‘what a degree is for’ – especially in 2013 Need to evaluateinitiatives and approaches

22. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Embedding employability in the curriculum Key elements for success: • Small changes can have a big impact • Make the tacit explicit – there may already be plenty happening • Use LTA practice - particularly assessment - to develop employability skills alongside technical skills • Engage students as partners, explaining rationale and the big picture. Highlight skill development in all activities. • Engage students in reflection and action planning – self-awareness • Incorporate work experience, and realistic work-related learning • Secure institutional support • Reinforce and re-emphasise regularly

23. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Discussion Question 1 What single curricular change will have the biggest effect on enhancing the employability of my students? • Content? • Teaching method(s)? • Assessment? • Do students recognise employability value they are getting already? • Other?

24. Practical Strategies for Developing Employability Jeff Waldock Discussion Question 2 What pedagogic tactics are successful in developing employability? • For each approach identified: • Do you have evidence to support this? • Why do you think it was successful? • Who should be involved in the delivery? • - academic staff, • - careers staff, • - employers, • - others?