Principles of Teaching, Learning and the Student Experience
Staff
Our student experience will provide graduates with generic and discipline-specific attributes and knowledge that equip them for employment, further study, life-long learning, research and life in the community.
While the experience of university study, in its own right, should be a powerful transformative experience in the personal development of the student as a person, their studies should also equip a graduate in practical and tangible ways to be a productive member of society, to be able to contribute effectively in a range of career roles associated with their chosen discipline of study, and, to engage with on-going personal and professional development opportunities.
At Deakin, and indeed many other universities internationally, the learning outcomes that we seek for students are expressed in terms of 'graduate attributes' (Clanchy & Ballard, 1995). Currently, Deakin has structured its statement of graduate attributes using the categories of 'knowledge and understanding', and, 'skills'. Deakin's graduate attributes respond to the aims of Principle 1, and, the complete list of Deakin's graduate attributes can be found in the Higher Education Courses operational policy (Deakin University, 2008).
Some graduate attributes can be considered as 'generic' and relevant for all graduates (Hager, Holland & Beckett, 2002), while the exact requirements for others will be uniquely dependent on the discipline area and level of study undertaken by the student. In addition to Deakin's graduate attributes, for courses that are accredited by a professional body, there will generally be additional graduate attributes that must be incorporated into courses. While the details of implementing learning outcomes through embedding graduate attributes into a course curriculum are entirely dependent on the context of the course, a generic model for this process is described in Figure 1.
Figure 1 (Jolly, 2001)
Clanchy, J. & Ballard, B. (1995). Generic Skills in the Context of Higher Education. Higher Education Research & Development, 14(2), 155 - 166.
Deakin University. (2008). Higher Education Courses - Operational Policy. Deakin University. Retrieved 30 May, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://theguide.deakin.edu.au/TheDeakinGuide.nsf/e1d4531a98f1364aca256e44001a0613/d675c4939d755566ca2573b00000a7dd
Hager, P., Holland, S. & Beckett, D. (2002). Enhancing the Learning and Employability of Graduates: The Role of Generic Skills (B-HERT Position Paper). Melbourne, Australia: Business/Higher Education Round Table.
Jolly, L. (2001). Graduate Attributes Fact Sheet 1.10 Implementing Graduate Attributes. Brisbane, Australia: University of Queensland, The Value Added Career Start Program.
