Skills Transferability using e-portfolios

A study of first year economics skills applicationMuna Simatele & Nick Tsitsianis

Rationale and MotivationIncreased interest in acquisition of employable skills in graduates• UH strategic driver 3

“Our students will acquire the transferable skills necessary to prepare them to make an effective contribution as graduates in their chosen fields” UH strategic plan 2010-2015

• Employability as a curricula process (HEA)

Employability derives from the ways in which the student learns from his or her experiences. Yorke, 2006 ( learning and employability)

Describing the skills (1)• ‘a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal

attributes - that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy.’ Yorke ( 2006)– Employability skills therefore refer to a set of generic skills and

characteristics that allow an individual to both secure and sustain employment and make progress in the workplace (UK CES, 2010)

– Subject specific skills– Generic skills

Describing the skills (2)• CIHE/HEA mapped skills/competencies

i. Cognitive Skills/Brainpower: The ability to identify, analyse and solve problems

ii. Generic Competencies: High-level and transferable key skills such as the ability to work with others in a team, communicate, persuade and have interpersonal sensitivity.

iii. Personal Capabilities: The ability and desire to learn for oneself and improve one’s self-awareness and performance

iv. Technical Abilityv. Business and / or Organisation Awarenessvi. Practical Elements

Kubler and Forbes (2005)

Description of study• First year economics students on skills module• Map the desirable skills to what can actually be taught in class

( see attached list of class topics)• Encourage Reflection and self development• Focus group discussions (3), • Anonymous written feedback

Embedding the skills development Describe a set of skills à la Kubler and Forbes (2005)

i. Semester A, lecture in teamwork, presentation, peer assessment and actual presentations

ii. All semester B work using specific case studies to analyse and find solutions

iii. Personal Capabilities: Reflection logsiv. Technical Ability- computer skills both semester A and Bv. Research into actual topics (oil prices, the budget,

education)vi. Most of semester B work

skills academic year 2010/ 2011 Academic year 2011/2012

Semester A Semester B Semester A Semester B

Learning styles/what economists do

x application x

Basic data presentation X application X

Writing skills X application X

Working in teams X application X

Presentation skills X application X Application

Graphing skills X application X application

Critical reading and writing X application X

Analysis and evaluation application X X

Numeracy X X X

IT literacy X X X

Resource management/information handling

X X X X

Economic Modelling X X X

Interview preparation X

Research design X

Understanding the news X

Working in the global environment

X X

X=taught and some practice embedded application implies that the skill was not directly taught but used and reinforced in the context of some economic application.

Embedding the skills development cont’d • Lectorials on skills• Labs for hands on practice, downloading data form sources,

transforming data to convey a message and analysing it• Google sites for reflection and development

– Each skill to be reflected upon in terms of previous knowledge, acquired knowledge and possible application. After a month a follow up reflection

– Reflections were assessed, not heavily, Marks awarded for demonstration of application across modules, learning and social situations

• Essays for assessing writing skills• Group presentations to develop and asses communication and

presentation skills• Final module project to show case all skills learnt

Why e-portfolios?• The e-portfolio is the central and common point for the

student learning experience… It is a reflection of the student as a person undergoing continuous personal development, not just a store of evidence (JISC 2008)

• E portfolios promote active learning and reflection• They are learner centred and flexible • Allows the inclusion of social space in the learning sphere and

vice versa• Essentially encourages portability of skills and experience!!!

Analysis2 main approaches• Student survey on excel skills and their transferability. • Review of activity on e-sitesResults presented as• Frequencies• Probit models

Empirical analysis- transferability of skills(survey results)

• PRELIMINARY FINDINGS:• 51 LEVEL 4 STUDENT SURVEYED, 25% FEMALES 75% MALES• AGE RANGE: 19-21 (ONLY 3 STUDENTS WERE 22 AND ABOVE)• 61% OF THE STUDENTS DESCRIBED THEMSELVES AS “WHITE” AND 39%

OF THE STUDENTS SORTED THEMSELVES INTO A PARTICULAR “NON-WHITE” GROUP

• 80% OF THE STUDENTS WERE BORN IN THE UK, 20% WERE BORN ABROAD

• BUT, 88% OF THE STUDENTS STUDIED IN THE UK FOR THEIR A-LEVELS• 92% OF THE STUDENTS SAY THAT THEY ACTIVELY USE THE SKILL MODULE

INTO OTHER MODULES• 84% OF THE STUDENTS SAY THAT THEY ACTIVELY USE WHAT THEY HAVE

LEARNT IN OTHER MODULES INTO THE SKILL MODULE

Empirical analysis- factors influencing engagement and transferability of skills• DEPENDENT VARIABLE: HOW INTENSE ARE YOU APPLYING

THE SKILL MODULE TO OTHER MODULES?• 1: Very Little, 2: Little, 3: Average: 4: High, 4: Very High• ORDERED PROBIT ESTIMATES

EXPLANATORY VARIABLES COEF. T-RATIO

MALE -0.304 -0.79WHITE -0.460 -1.25AGE 0.041 0.56BORN IN BRITAIN 0.746 1.10A-LEVELS IN BRITAIN 0.293 0.36ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF EXCEL 0.946 3.81***ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNET -0.259 -1.19

Empirical analysis- factors influencing engagement and transferability of skills

• IT APPEARS THAT THE ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF EXCEL IS THE DECISIVE FACTOR THAT PROMOTES TRANSFERABILITY OF SKILLS.

• THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THE FEMALES AND THE NON-WHITES TEND TO ENGAGE MORE HEAVILY WITH THE TRANSFERABILITY OF SKILLS. HOWEVER, THIS EVIDENCE IS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

• BORN OR EDUCATED IN BRITAIN APPEARS TO BOOST THE TRANSFERABILITY OF SKILLS, BUT AGAIN THE EVIDENCE IS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT

• ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNET (ACCESSING AND PROCESSING DATA) TENDS TO SUPPRESS THE TRANSFERABILITY

Empirical analysis- transferability of skills• DEPENDENT VARIABLE: HOW INTENSE ARE YOU APPLYING

THE OTHER MODULES TO SKILL MODULE?• 1: Very Little, 2: Little, 3: Average: 4: High, 4: Very High• ORDERED PROBIT ESTIMATES

EXPLANATORY VARIABLES COEF. T-RATIO

MALE -0.067 -0.18WHITE -0.122 -0.33AGE 0.058 0.81BORN IN BRITAIN 1.062 1.53A-LEVELS IN BRITAIN -0.164 -0.20ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF EXCEL 0.754 3.23***ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNET -0.313 -1.46

Empirical analysis- factors influencing engagement and transferability of skills

• IT APPEARS THAT THE ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF EXCEL IS THE DECISIVE FACTOR THAT PROMOTES TRANSFERABILITY OF SKILLS-AGAIN

• THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THE FEMALES AND THE NON-WHITES TEND TO ENGAGE MORE HEAVILY WITH THE TRANSFERABILITY OF SKILLS. HOWEVER, THIS EVIDENCE IS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT-AGAIN

• BORN BRITAIN APPEARS TO BOOST THE TRANSFERABILITY OF SKILLS, BUT EDUCATED IN BRITAIN HAS THE OPPOSITE EFFECT. HOWEVER, THE EVIDENCE IS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT

• ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNET (ACCESSING AND PROCESSING DATA) TENDS TO SUPPRESS THE TRANSFERABILITY -AGAIN

Survey of the e sites(prelim)• Engagement

–Number of words 65%(A) 83(B)–Quality of work 77%(A) 58%(B)–Transferability to other modules (42%)–Transferability to/from other modules

Where to from here?• Students will continue with sites as level 5- further review?• Complete the econometric analysis to show links between engagement

and other factors• Develop wider application to other UH modules

– Assessment– Skills portability– engagement