This is the first in a blog series on HEQCO’s key research priorities, in which we share the what, the why and the where-to next. Focussing on quality, particularly through the lens of learning outcomes, is a game changer in higher education because it influences the way we design, deliver, evaluate and improve academic programs; […]
Tag: Skills
Skills
Traditionally the bailiwick of our colleges, designing and measuring learning against a set of established competencies is gaining momentum in less familiar places. There is growing recognition that the fruits of a liberal arts education are unrecognized by graduates and unarticulated to potential employers and the broader society. Students completing a degree in history, as […]
Academics, policy-makers and pundits have long been using the term “soft skills” – a lot longer than they’ve been using that other labour market favourite: skills gap. But if various panels at HEQCO’s recent conference: Rethinking higher ed: Beyond {the buzzwords}, couldn’t agree on whether there is a skills gap, there was wide and vocal […]
I have been reading and hearing a lot about the “skills gap” in Canada, particularly the suggestion of significant shortages of people with the skill set to fulfill the jobs available in today’s labour markets. This discussion is often accompanied by commentary about the misalignment between what students learn in postsecondary programs and the requirements […]
After two years of work on a series of projects to investigate the feasibility and value of a learning outcomes perspective in higher education, we have learned some important lessons about this game-changing approach. First, the most promising aspect is the identification and measurement of general learning and cognitive skills such as critical thinking, problem […]
At HEQCO’s November Learning to Earning Conference, UBC labour economist Craig Riddell presented the results of his research with David Green on literacy skills, recently published as “Ageing and Literacy Skills: Evidence from Canada, US and Norway.” The findings are alarming and support the concern that David Trick, Richard Van Loon and I expressed in […]
One of the most ubiquitous and powerful arguments made by advocates of greater investment in higher education is that a postsecondary education is instrumental to economic success, for both the individual and the public. The public and governments appear to have accepted that 70-80 per cent of future jobs will require some postsecondary credential and […]