Developing Graduate Attributes by Engaging Students with SoTL

Mair, C. (2023) Developing Graduate Attributes by Engaging Students with SoTL. 16th Annual University of Glasgow Learning & Teaching Conference, Glasgow, UK, 29 Mar and 13 Apr 2023.

Abstract

The University of Glasgow have identified key attributes that capture qualities students should develop throughout their studies to thrive after graduation. These align with the attributes specified by the Industrial Advisory Board within the School of Mathematics and Statistics which include key attributes such as critical thinking, effective communication, collaboration, adaptability, and ethical awareness which align with the Learning and Teaching Strategy focussing on students’ professional and skills development. During the 2021/22 and 2022/23 academic sessions, honour level statistics students were offered a handful of scholarship focused level 4 projects: Teaching Excellence - investigate the level 4 statistics student perspective of teaching excellence within the School of Mathematics and Statistics; Student Boredom - investigate factors associated with boredom among level 4 statistics students within the School of Mathematics and Statistics; and Graduate Employability - investigate the level 4 statistics student perception of employability after graduation within the School of Mathematics and Statistics. The projects provided students with a unique opportunity to engage with the ethical approval process within the College of Science and Engineering, communicate with students in order to engage them with the survey, and adapt to the responses received with respect to the statistical methodology. These are unique features, in comparison to other projects on offer to level 4 statistics students, where students typically would be presented with a known data set and asked to perform a statistical analyses. The results from the projects were interesting in themselves. The 2021/22 Teaching Excellence project found that only 59% of students identified critical thinking as useful, and 66% of students identified team projects as not useful. Interestingly, 60% of students rated challenging content as a good or the best property of a lecture, and 89% of students rated problem-based learning as either a good or the best property of a lecture. To the contrary, only 52% of students valued further reading into a topic. A key theme was how students defined teaching excellence, with ‘the best lecturers being the ones that best prepare students from the exam and not necessarily ones that inspire you in the subject’. Key results from the 2022/23 Graduate Employability survey include identifying future student career aspirations, with all students describing a career in industry with data science and finance the most commonly described fields. Students were asked what skills they thought would help them get employed and what skills they develop during their programme of study that they thought would help them. Students identified communication, awareness in the field, professional skills and the ability to learn new things as key skills they will need in future employment. Interestingly they identified statistical knowledge and programming as skills they have developed through their programme of study, posing the question if students view skills they believe are important and the skills they have learned during their studies to be different. During this presentation, I will discuss how scholarship activities can better prepare students for their future career ambitions and most importantly help students develop their graduate attributes.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mair, Dr Colette
• Authors: Mair, C.
• Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2361 Curriculum
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Statistics