Embedding the Development & Grading of Generic Skills in the Business Curriculum
This project is one of the three proposed follow-on projects arising from the scoping study “Business as Usual?” conducted by the Australian Business Deans Council Teaching and Learning Network. One of the areas of need identified in the scoping study was the need to assure the learning of generic skills in a discipline-specific context. The four graduate skills chosen are: critical thinking, teamwork, ethical practice and sustainability.
Our vision is to transform the way that students engage with graduate skills by explicitly demonstrating the development and embedding of these skills in the business curriculum through appropriate assessment, learning tasks and feedback mechanisms that are formulated into a series of modules and resources. This initiative is one that allows for variation between different business courses and institutional positioning. Included will be the identification of standards for the chosen graduate skills as students improve the skills from first through to third year. This collaborative action research project addresses the issue of how to embed selected graduate skills within business faculties in a manner that is educationally meaningful and professionally relevant for students, academics and their future employers.
Team
The expertise, enthusiasm and leadership of the following project members have made this project a success:
- ASSOC. PROF. LEIGH WOOD (Project Leader) – Macquarie University
leigh.wood@mq.edu.au - ASSOC. PROF. ANNE DALY (Deputy Project Leader) - University of Canberra
anne.daly@canberra.edu.au - PROF. MARYLIN CLARK-MURPHY- Edith Cowan University
m.clarkmurphy@ecu.edu.au - PROF. MARIE KAVANAGH - University of Southern Queensland
kavanagh@usq.edu.au - DR. LYNNE LEVESON - La Trobe University
l.leveson@latrobe.edu.au - PETER DIXON - University of Tasmania
peter.dixon@utas.edu.au - ASSOC. PROF. PETER PETOCZ - Macquarie University
peter.petocz@mq.edu.au - ASSOC. PROF. THEDA THOMAS - Australian Catholic University
t.thomas@patrick.acu.edu.au - TORI VU (Project Manager)
tori.vu@gmail.com - BRENDAN RIGBY (Project Manager)
brendan.rigby@gmail.com
Presentations
- The project was featured as a practical example of embedding generic graduate skills at the 3rd National Graduates Attributes Project Symposia, 10 August 09 Melbourne
- A presentation to An Afternoon of Enhanced Sustainability at Macquarie University about the sustainability component of the project
- The project was also featured in the 3rd Annual Australian Higher Education Congress, Sydney, March 2010 through a presentation by the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, titled Graduate capabilities for the new business environment
- Dr Theda Thomas presented a paper at the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) Conference, held at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne on 19-20 November 2009
- A poster presentation was included in the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand conference, Adelaide July 5-7 2009