From we ask to iASK: a self-reflection strategy that enables students to connect assessment and employability

Dino  Spagnoli; Shelley Kinash; Trina Jorre De St Jorre; Sally Male; Clare M Mouat; Kevin  McDougall

doi:10.21153/jtlge2023vol14no1art1654

Authors

Dino Spagnoli University of Western Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6367-4748
Shelley Kinash The University of New England https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9858-1506
Trina Jorre De St Jorre University of New England https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7848-0305
Sally Male The University of Melbourne https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9852-3077
Clare M. Mouat Massey University and The University of Western Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3789-8494
Kevin McDougall The University of Southern Queensland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6088-1004

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2023vol14no1art1654

Abstract

Most students acknowledge shared responsibility, with the university, for their employability development. Many academics use assessments as the main driver for motivating students to learn. At the intersection between employability, assessment and learning, the emergent research question is - what are the mechanisms by which course-based employability is fostered? Prior research reveals that although academics identified course-based assessment as the key employability mechanism, neither students nor employers registered this conceptualisation, and thus purpose of assessment. The aim of this research was to stimulate and communicate the direct connection between assessment and employability to students and interpret their response. Over 100 first-year students, across a metropolitan and regional Australian university, participated. Students were directed to use a simple reflective tool, dubbed iASK by the researchers, that probed employability elements of identity, Attributes, Skills, and Knowledge. The research revealed the resulting student view that regular course-based assessment can develop their employability skills in communication and independence, but not in critical thinking and global citizenship.

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Author Biographies

Dino Spagnoli, University of Western Australia

Dino Spagnoli graduated from the University of Bath in the UK with a Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry in 2007. Dino is interested in the affective domain of learning and develops pre-laboratory activities to increase student self-efficacy in the laboratory. Dino also has an interest in student employability, where he leads a community of practice at the UWA. Dino is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE.
Shelley Kinash, The University of New England

Professor Shelley Kinash (Principal Fellow Higher Education Academy - PFHEA) is the Executive Principal Student Experience at the University of New England in New South Wales Australia. Her FoR is Education (39) with a specialisation in higher education, researching: student experience, graduate employability, student voice, accessibility and inclusion and education technology.

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