Doctoral Degrees (School of Higher Education Studies)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (School of Higher Education Studies) by Author "Crous, M. J."
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Item Open Access Attributes for economic and management sciences graduates entering the world of work: a curriculum perspective(University of the Free State, 2014-12) Kruger, Susanna Aletta; Van Tonder, S. P.; Crous, M. J.English: The study has been undertaken against the contextual background of a changing higher education and labour market. Global and national labour market requirements, trends and challenges such as economic pressure, the knowledge economy and unemployment rates have a significant impact on the expectations placed on higher education. In the national and international higher education arena rapid expansion and access of a diverse student population further impact on higher education. Different stakeholders such as government, funding bodies, professional associations and students have growing expectations that universities should address the graduate attributes that will enhance the employability, social responsibility and lifelong learning of students. It is in the light of this movement toward equipping students with more than discipline-specific knowledge and skills that the study endeavoured to identify graduate attributes that will appropriately prepare Economic and Management Sciences students for the world of work and to subsequently design a framework that may ultimately assist in accommodating these attributes in undergraduate curriculum design and delivery in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), University of the Free State (UFS). The literature review focused on answering four research questions, namely (i) identifying contemporary perspectives pertaining to graduate attributes required for preparing students for the world of work; (ii) determining how curriculum design/mapping models can assist in addressing and embedding these graduate attributes that have been identified in EMS curricula, (iii) determining how graduate attributes can be taught and the evidence of their development and attainment collected and assessed; and (iv) identifying the educational considerations pertaining to the transferability of graduate attributes in higher education. The literature review informed the empirical investigation. The empirical investigation entailed a qualitative multi-method case study with limited quantitative enhancement. The first round of data collection involved an online questionnaire consisting mainly of open-ended questions. The views of purposefully selected university teachers, graduates and human resource practitioners were collected, pertaining to: the graduate attributes required to prepare undergraduate EMS students of the UFS for the world of work; the extent to which these attributes are adequately addressed in undergraduate curricula, as well as related curriculum design and delivery. An integrated interpretation of the findings from this stakeholder questionnaire survey and the extensive literature review subsequently led to the construction of a preliminary framework for accommodating graduate attributes in undergraduate curriculum design and delivery in the Faculty concerned. The preliminary framework was subjected to evaluation by a purposefully selected validation panel by making use of an online questionnaire allowing participants to rate each feature and make comments and suggestions. Based on the findings from this second round of data collection the necessary adaptations were made to the preliminary framework to arrive at a final proposed framework. The significance of this study is found in the development of a framework for accommodating graduate attributes in undergraduate curriculum design and delivery applicable to the current higher education environment. The framework is based on sound theoretical principles takes into account international and national trends, and directives from national governing bodies, the institution and professional associations, and was informed by participants with contextual and real-world experience in both the higher education environment and the world of work. Although the aim was not to generalise the findings, the generic nature of the features of the framework could serve as a vantage point for other interested parties wishing to explore the accommodation of graduate attributes in undergraduate curriculum design and delivery. The framework is grounded in an asset-based approach where the exploration of existing effective practices are encouraged and individuals can learn from one another by continually exploring the strengths and challenges pertaining to practices and find pro-active solutions to problems. It is non-static and allows for innovation and choice within the contextual realities of those tasked with such undertakings.