Project collaboration login

Back to all projects

Development and implementation of a programme of employability skills for Science undergraduates

Lead Institution: University of Bath

This is a sub-project of Strengthening, extending and embedding employer engagement

Update reports

Progress was reported throughout the project. For the complete final report of the project see here.

Project Progress - October 2011

The project started in August 2011 and started delivery of the student employbility skills course in Semester 1 2011 with the following achievements to date:

  1. Employability Skills Development Programme has been developed, consisting of: 1 preparation session and 8 development sessions (2 hour-long), timetabled over the academic year (see below for more information).
  2. We have engaged with industry and secured industrial representatives for 6 sessions. 
  3. Over 150 students engaged in the (compulsory) programme, which started Semester 1 2011/12 (all 1st year Physics, Physics with Maths, Computer Science and Computer Science with Maths undergraduates).
  4. We have worked in collaboration with the Bath Innovation Centre, the Careers Service, and Students’ Union, including JobLink, Student Enterprise, Student Trainers, Student Volunteers, and the Bath Award to ensure that the programme links into every possible skills training opportunity available at the University to provide sustainability for the programme in future years.
  5. We have secured student mentors for the Programme and now have over 20 graduates signed up to our Mentoring Programme.  Students can access information on each Graduates employment history and can get in touch with the graduate directly to find out more.
  6. We have written self-assessment for each development session and with innovative use of Turning Point technology students can give feedback on their session performance efficiently.  We have also developed an automated system to provide support, guidance and advice for each student within each feedback area, so that students are able to continue their development throughout the year.
  7. We are currently implementing the new e-portfolio system Mahara for students to build a skills profile (with different ways information can be viewed).  Mahara will also link into each student’s session feedback and support; and can be used throughout their degree programme to further develop their skills profile, including the facility to record specific personal objectives and outcomes.

Project Progress - December 2011

This project started in August 2011, and will continue through until May 2012.  This is the second progress report:

  1. The first four Employability Skills sessions for Semester 1 have been completed successfully.  Feedback from Employers has been positive, and the response to the sessions has been largely positive so far 67% of the students have found the programme beneficial.
  2. Mahara has been rolled out to students, with groups set up and news feeds added.  We will assess student’s interaction with this e-portfolio tool over the year.
  3. Turning Point has been used within each development session, and has been largely successful in gathering student feedback.  The use of this technology has allowed us to collate responses to specific questions, ensuring that each student in attendance is able to provide feedback.
  4. We have implemented an automated system that uses the data collated through Turning Point to allow automated feedback to be given to each student. This automated system has allowed efficient and effective feedback provision, and has ensured that each student is provided with clear guidance on how to continue their development based on their current self-assessed skill level.  It also provides clear and comprehensive reports on the feedback provided.
  5. The Networking Event with local employers was cancelled due to lack of engagement from local businesses.
  6. To enable evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme so far, students were asked to complete an on-line questionnaire.  Students were asked to comment on what they found good about the programme, what they haven’t enjoyed, what sessions they would recommend and why, how they have found the length of the sessions and any suggestions they may have for improvements. Through looking at the feedback provided it is clear that further development is needed within the programme.  To ensure that student requirements are met, a student working party will be formed to help the future development of the programme, and to help engage the student body more fully with the programme.

Project Progress - March 2012

The programme now has one session left, with all others being delivered successfully.

  1. The employers involved in the programme have already indicated interest in future involvement.
  2. The student working party has been activated and has been very instrumental in the development of the sessions run in the second semester.  A questionnaire was designed in liaison with the working party to gain detailed student feedback on the sessions held in semester one, and this was then taken into account to develop a specific template for future sessions.

Questionnaire for students in the working group

3. This template has been sent to the employer representatives involved in the programme to ensure that sessions meet the specific requirements of the students, allowing both students and employers to get the most value from the programme.

4. From the feedback received, it was clear that students didn’t value individual feedback, but wanted a summary of the points learnt during each session and then signposting to other opportunities available to allow them to continue their development.  This summarised feedback is now provided through the e-learning course, which also produces an automated e-mail to students University e-mail account.

5. Students also indicated a preference for anonymous feedback via paper questionnaires/surveys at the end of each session.  This has been implemented.  However, this does put a large administrative burden on the programme.

6. There has been a noticeable downturn in attendance during the second semester, despite the sessions being a mandatory timetabled activity and requests for attendance being sent.

The feedback received from students attending the sessions in Semester 2 has been very positive, with comments including “the best and most informative/useful session we have had so far”, “the right balance of activity and talking”, “those that didn’t attend missed out!”.

Staff involved

Louise Oliver
Project lead, University of Bath

Dawn Hallett
University of Bath