Journals (University of Staffordshire)
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The usefulness of adopting eCoach for teaching career development
Get PDFCareer development is an essential aspect for universitystudents which includes career planning (Stoeber et al.,2016).
eCoach is a popular web portal for career developmentwhich has latest career-related advice, tutorials, toolsand views from recruiters.
There are several technological tools available through eCoach (eCoach, 2014);
Career planning tool.
CV builder tool.
Interactive Elevator Pitch Builder tool.
Interview Simulator tool.
Limited research on career development and planningfor computing students; majority of literature representsthe career development in general or non-computingsectors (Jung, Y. & Takeuchi, N. 2016).
Therefore, this study aims at the effectiveness ofadopting eCoach for teaching career development forcomputing students
Can Online Technology Enhance Work Related Learning?
No full textEmployability is a set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to be effective in the workplace (CBI, 2007).
Technology may provide greater opportunities to gain work based skills outside of work for Higher Education students
Improving the student experience in higher education: An action research approach to implementing collaborative learning strategies
Get PDFAlthough higher education institutions (HEIs) tend to use traditional teaching formats, such as Lectures, this teaching strategy clashed with our commitment to a student-centred approach. Using an action research approach, we sought to promote greater student engagement via the implementation of collaborative learning activities. Previous literature has found largely positive effects of collaborative learning on student engagement and attainment, the present study therefore sought to extend on this prior research to examine whether there were positive effects of collaborative learning on the student experience. A qualitative and quantitative module evaluation was carried out using a questionnaire designed specifically for the study. The sample consisted of 30, second year, undergraduate students, enrolled on a particular psychology module. The module evaluation was administered during the last class of the module. Data were analysed through use of thematic analysis and t-tests. Results found collaborative learning to have a positive effect on the student experience, the details of this effect will be discussed further
Improving employability in Higher Education: Delivering and embedding employability modules within undergraduate courses
No full textEmployability is receiving increased attention from higher education providers, parents, government and statistical bodies, as well as staff and students (Graves & Maher, 2014; HEA, 2015) but this focus is nothing new, it can be traced back to the Robbins Report (1963) and the Dearing Report (1997).
The Higher Education Academy (HEA) (2015) stated that employability was an institutional wide responsibility and even developed an employability framework for embedding employability.
QAA subject benchmark statements make reference to the expectation that graduates will develop employability skills through their programme of study (HEA, 2012).
This short evaluative project will reflect on my experiences of embedding employability into the curriculum focusing on a module called Professional Development
Innovative Practice in Higher Education Special Edition
Get PDFInnovative Practice in Higher Education Special Editio
Clickers - Integrating technology into teaching and learning with interactive tools
No full textThe majority of students today are conversant with modern technology such as social media, the internet and emails – indeed, these are considered to be an integral part of daily life. Integrating these technologies into teaching and learning should assist and enhance the student learning experience providing flexibility, accessibility, and a student focused approach.
For learning to be an effective process there needs to be positive student engagement, constructive feedback and the focus of learning, as suggested by Biggs and Tang (2011), should be shifted from the lecturer to the student – the student ideally taking ownership of their learning. Many methods and styles of facilitating this type of learning have been explored over a number of years (Goldstein and Wallis 2015), however, one relatively easy yet effective means for engaging students in active learning appears to be the use of classroom response systems (clickers). When used appropriately the clicker can improve student learning outcomes in a number of ways (Goldstein 2013). They elicit discussion and enhance collaboration amongst students, they have proven to foster more honest responses to discussion forums, there is an increase in both student engagement and satisfaction within the classroom environment and they provide an instantaneous method of formative assessment (Briggs and Keyek-Franssen 2010). All of these positive factors are associated with best practices in learning.
A clicker is, simply, a student held handset for electronic feedback, voting, participation in class discussion, debate, and instant feedback. The benefits for the student include the maintaining of anonymity (if preferred), clarification as to whether they have understood the points being raised/discussed, and the opportunity to have a ‘voice’ without feeling intimidated or the fear of being ‘wrong’ (Bruff 2009)
The purposeful graduate: Why colleges must talk to students about vocation
Get PDFClydesdale, T. (2015). The purposeful graduate: Why colleges must talk to students about vocation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press
The Case of Screencast Feedback: Barriers to the Use of Learning Technology
Get PDFScreen capture tools are increasingly used to enhance learning in higher education, and the use of such tools to provide feedback to students has been enthusiastically supported by some, with early studies indicating its potential in terms of richness, in-depth explanation and its personal style for building tutor-student relationships. Despite this support, however, and the availability of increasingly user friendly software, to date there does not seem to have been a major take up of the screencast delivery mode of feedback in Higher Education. This article summarises earlier research and presents findings from a small-scale interview study of academic staff in a northern UK university. These findings relate to key barriers to technology uptake, principally the time to learn issue, along with institutional constraints, but they also point to factors relating to the nature of feedback itself within a dominant research-led university culture
The Increasing Importance of Employability Skills for University Graduates
No full textIn my role as a Study Skills tutor, I embed employability skills (ES) such as critical thinking, report writing and written communication into each skills session. This research poster focuses upon the growing importance of said skills for graduates. Such skills have been defined as personal attributes, understandings and skills that can allow graduates to attain positions in their chosen professions (Yorke, 1999).
The issue is a contemporary one; when taking office Jo Johnson, Minister of Universities and Sciences, stated that his priority is to ensure that students ‘get the teaching they deserve’ and ‘employers get graduates with the skills they need’ (The Guardian, 2015). Furthermore, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, when detailing aspects of the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework, stated that universities with ‘high-quality teaching’ will be allowed to raise tuition fees in line with inflation from 2017-18 (The Times, 2015). This reflects a larger trend in higher education (HE), with the European Commission inferring that HE institutions should have curriculums that contain relevant, contemporary information that is applicable in the labour market (European Commission, 2013).
As a consequence of my own practice of utilising ES and the increasing importance placed upon them throughout Europe, they were selected for investigation in this project