EMBEDDING EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS INTO FIRST YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO ENHANCE GRADUATE CAPABILITIES

Abstract

Taylor’s University Taylor’s Graduate Capabilities (TGC) was created in 2007 to enhance university-level education to meet the ever-changing demands of industry, community and globalization. It is important to universities to produce graduates who can demonstrate their employability. In line with the TGC, a undergraduate chemistry course was selected and this study described how the course was designed to develop employability skills among students. The skills that aimed to be inculcated into students including the ability to retrieve and apply knowledge in practice, problem-solving, communication, team work and presentation. The delivery of this course was conducted through experiential learning. As part of the course assessment, the students were required to complete a chemistry project. The project was assessed according to three parts: chemistry product, poster presentation and final report. In details, the product was assessed based on creative design and functionality. The poster presentation was assessed based on the structure, creative design and communication of the chemistry idea. Finally, the final report was based on the student’s area of research within the project such as an overview of the idea of the project, recommendation, improvement and reflection of the process. A questionnaire was conducted at the end of the course to gather students’ feedback and perception on employability skills that aimed to develop in this course. Results from the questionnaire showed that students demonstrated that the class and laboratory activities greatly helped them in acquiring employability skills such as problem-solving, team-working, time management, presentation and analytical skills. In conclusion, the design of the chemistry module has achieved the aim of embedding employability skills in student learning. The skills developed here are ones which they will use through their working life.