Where am I now and where do I want to be? Developing awareness of graduate attributes in pre-honours students

Swingler, M. V., Armour, S., Bohan, J., Cleland Woods, H. , Curry, G. B. and Roy, A. W.N. (2016) Where am I now and where do I want to be? Developing awareness of graduate attributes in pre-honours students. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 11(1),

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Abstract

There is increasing emphasis on the importance of making Graduate Attributes (GAs) explicit to students as part of their degree programme and the role of students themselves in proactively developing GAs. The aim of the present project was to encourage students to actively develop and reflect upon curricular and extra-curricular attributes at an earlier stage in their degree programme. To this end we developed and evaluated short-self-reflection exercises in second year (pre-honours) psychology practical classes which asked students to reflect on their curricular and extra-curricular activities and how the practical skills gained from these activities are linked to graduate attributes. Activities were followed by careers workshops focused on gaining confidence in communicating graduate attributes in an interview context, and the benefits of engaging with professional networking sites. We evaluated the impact of these activities on: 1) students’ levels of self-efficacy in specific GAs before and after the in class exercises; 2) students' confidence in presenting their GAs in an interview situation; 3) student awareness of professional networking sites. The activities resulted in increased self- efficacy ratings after the GAS reflection, increased confidence in presenting their GAs after the careers workshops, and an increased awareness of professional networking sites. The effectiveness of these activities as a method to increase student engagement in developing their GAs will be discussed in the wider context of embedding GAs and employability in pre-honours programmes across STEM disciplines.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:Graduate attributes, careers, self efficacy.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bohan, Dr Jason and Roy, Dr Archie and Armour, Mrs Sarah and Swingler, Dr Maxine and Cleland Woods, Heather and Curry, Professor Gordon
Authors: Swingler, M. V., Armour, S., Bohan, J., Cleland Woods, H., Curry, G. B., and Roy, A. W.N.
Subjects:H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Q Science > Q Science (General)
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
University Services > Student and Academic Services > Student Services
Journal Name:New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences
Publisher:University of Leicester
ISSN:1740-9888
ISSN (Online):2051-3615
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2016
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
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