International approaches to the
development of graduate skills and
attributes: opportunities for the next
Learning and Teaching Strategy?
Michelle Blake, Nigel Dandy and Bruna Zappia
For discussion (5 minutes)

Do you have a clear concept of the development of
skills/attributes through the course of a programme in
your department?

How does this influence the design of individual
modules?
Motivation for the Project

An exploration of approaches to skill development would
help us to consider:

ways of structuring the progression of skills development;

programme level thinking;

understanding the ‘York Graduate’;

communications to students.
Key Findings from the Literature Review

A lot of the relevant research has been done in
Australian universities.

Two broad approaches to skill development emerge:
built-in and bolt-on.

The built-in approach appears to be more effective.

… but it’s more complex than this!
The Continuum
Bolt-on Approach: Example
The University of Nottingham

Extracurricular course to develop students’
employability skills and career awareness.

Investigation of a particular career area.

Student-centred and problem-based approach.

Successful in developing a number of skills.
Bolt-on Approach
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
1. Can be assessed through conventional
measures/techniques;
2. Skill development is clearly apparent
and well articulated to students;
3. Can easily be interpreted for CV
purpose/ job applications;
4. Students’ awareness of their skills
increases substantially;
5. Enhances student self-confidence in skill
development.
1. Failure to reach all students (if optional);
2. Overreliance on lengthy guidelines
which students find difficult to read and
apply in practice;
3. Divorce of skills from disciplinary
knowledge and content;
4. Encourages a fragmented curriculum
and a mechanistic approach to teaching
and learning;
5. Risk of marginalising skills, with no
organic linkages with the rest of a
student programme;
6. Adds more content and work to
crowded curriculum;
7. Restricts the number of subjectdiscipline options students can take.
The Continuum
Partial Built-in Approach: Example
The University of Sunshine Coast
Holistic approach to teaching
information and academic literacy.

The London School of Economics
Innovative module: LSE100.
Challenges students to think
like a social scientist.
Attempts to develop:
 Methodological skills;
 Information skills;
 Communication skills.
Source: Einfalt and Turley (2009)
Partial Built-in Approach
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
1. Teaching and learning the skills at a
1. Students’ confusion why different
deeper level because of the
teaching strategies (some skills
collaboration with academics;
embedded and some not);
2. Skills can be learned at increasingly
2. Students’ difficulty/resistance to switch
difficult levels;
between different learning approaches;
3. Skills can be taught at the point of need; 3. Reliance on academics’ availability to co4. Move towards a more holistic approach
teach skills in their lectures (possible
to course delivery;
resistance).
5. Encourages collaboration between
academic and support departments;
6. Increases students’ awareness of their
responsibility as learners;
7. Changes teaching methods to reflect a
greater concern for students’ skills;
8. Puts skill development at the centre of
changing assessment regimes.
The Continuum
Total Built-in Approach
Graduate Attributes
“the skills, knowledge and abilities of university graduates,
beyond disciplinary content knowledge, which are
applicable in a range of contexts and are acquired as a
result of completing any undergraduate degree. They
should represent the core achievements of a university
education” (Barrie, 2006: 217).
Total Built-in Approach: Example
The University of Sydney
Source: Barrie (2004)
Total Built-in Approach: Example
The University of Sydney
FACULTY OF SCIENCE: CONTEXTUALISED GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES
Research and Inquiry. Graduates of the Faculty of Science will be able to create new knowledge and understanding through the
process of research and inquiry.

A1. Apply scientific knowledge and critical thinking to identify, define and analyse problems, create solutions, evaluate opinions,
innovate and improve current practices.

A2. Gather, evaluate and deploy information relevant to a scientific problem.

A3. Design and conduct investigations, or the equivalent, and analyse and interpret the resulting data.

A4. Critically examine the truth and validity in scientific argument and discourse, and evaluate the relative importance of ideas.

A5. Disseminate new knowledge and engage in debate around scientific issues.

A6. Value the importance of continual growth in knowledge and skills, and recognise the rapid and sometimes major changes in
scientific knowledge and technology.
Information Literacy. Graduates of the Faculty of Science will be able to use information effectively in a range of contexts.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy. Graduates of the Faculty of Science will be able to work independently and sustainably, in a
way that is informed by openness, curiosity and a desire to meet new challenges.
Ethical, Social and Professional Understanding. Graduates of the Faculty of Science will hold personal values and beliefs
consistent with their role as responsible members of local, national, international and professional communities
Communication. Graduates of the Faculty of Science will recognise and value communication as a tool for negotiating and creating
new understanding, interacting with others, and furthering their own learning.
Source: The University of Sydney (2013a)
Total Built-in Approach: Example
The University of Sydney
Source: The University of Sydney (2013c)
Total Built-in Approach
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Enhanced student satisfaction with their academic
experience;
2. Application of knowledge and competence in the
workplace;
3. Greater quality student learning of disciplinary
content;
4. Greater student understanding of
importance/relevance of GA;
5. Helps getting GA statements through to students;
6. Better articulation of university learning for
CVs/interviews;
7. Helps students articulate how university has changed
them to employers;
8. Helps coordinate/ present efforts in a cohesive way;
9. Framework helping students interpret/structure
university experience;
10. Provides greater number of students with exposure
to key skills development.
5.
6.
7.
Skill development more difficult to assess;
Contrasting/different views on what GA are;
Conflict between multiple stakeholder groups;
Struggle to become a strategic priority (compete with
research);
Difficult to obtain buy-in/ ownership by academics;
Requires investment to develop appropriate teaching
resources;
Requires increased staff development to acquire
appropriate teaching skills.
For discussion (5 minutes)
Where does your department’s approach fit
on the continuum?
The Empirical Study

Focus: Total Built-In approach

Purpose: Investigate implementation of graduate
attributes

Participant institutions:

University of Hull

University of Sydney

Oxford Brookes University
The Empirical Study
Findings

Key issues/challenges:

Convincing academics of the value of skills;

Assessment methods for skills;

Engaging students;

Curriculum mapping – risk of seeing it as a revised documentation
process;

Co-ordinating integrated systematic approach;

Understanding underlying conception;

Interruptions and discontinuity of implementation;

Engaging HE institutions in a meaningful way;

Measuring impact.
Conclusions

No neat distinction/classification into two approaches as
the literature suggests.

Variation in universities’ approaches to skill development.

University of Sydney: most integrated and comprehensive
experience.

Despite the challenges: growing belief in the value of
graduate attributes.
References
Baker, G. and Henson, D. (2010). "Promoting employability skills development in a research-intensive
university." Education + Training 52(1): 62-75.
Barrie, S. C. (2004). "A research-based approach to generic graduate attributes policy " Higher
Education Research & Development 23(3): 261-275.
Barrie, S. C. (2006). "Understanding what we mean by the generic attributes of graduates." Higher
Education 51(2): 215-241.
Einfalt, J. and Turley, J. (2009). "Engaging first year students in skill development: A three-way
collaborative model in action." Journal of Academic Language & Learning 3(2): A105-A116.
LSE (2013), ‘LSE 100. The LSE Course’, available from:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/intranet/students/LSE100/LSE100Brochure.pdf
Accessed on 10/10/2013
The University of Sydney (2013a), ‘Faculty of Science: Contextualised Graduate Attributes’, available
from: http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/graduateAttributes/facultyGA.cfm?faculty=Science
Accessed on 10/10/2013
The University of Sydney (2013b), ‘Implementation’, available from:
http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/graduateAttributes/implementation.htm
Accessed on 10/10/2013
The University of Sydney (2013c), ‘Graduate Attributes Development in the Faculty of Science’,
available from:
http://assign3.chem.usyd.edu.au/uos_outlines/program_selection.cfm?faculty=science
Accessed on 10/10/2013
For discussion (20 minutes)

How far should we pursue this theme in the next
Learning and Teaching Strategy?

Could/should we try to articulate a set of
attributes/skills?

How could it help to realise the vision for a University
pedagogy?