ERIC Number: EJ1257398
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jul
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0007-1013
EISSN: N/A
The Role of Hybrid Learning Spaces in Enhancing Higher Education Students' Employability
Bennett, Dawn; Knight, Elizabeth; Rowley, Jennifer
British Journal of Educational Technology, v51 n4 p1188-1202 Jul 2020
Graduate employment rates and self-reported employability are increasingly a feature of higher education funding measures. However, graduate outcomes do not denote the whole learning experience of the student nor is the student experience reducible to a single statistic. This paper discusses a design-centric approach to employability development which was enacted within a "hybrid learning space." The study engaged 52 final-year speech pathology students, their lecturer, the lead researcher and a career practitioner (advisor) at an Australian university. Students first created personalized employability profiles using an established online self-reflection tool. The online tool produced a personalized report and enabled students to access developmental resources relating to employability and student success. The project team used anonymized student data to transform a previously generic "careers" workshop into a targeted workshop in which students explored individual and cohort findings and participated in developmental activities informed by the data. The initiative's contribution to learning space research is in its composition as a "hybrid learning space" in which educators and students engaged as learners and developers of their online learning spaces, and educators collaborated to analyze student data and inform learning and teaching enhancements within the same study period. It is anticipated that the data from subsequent years will inform the curricular review, particularly if subsequent student cohorts express similar concerns. Implications for higher education policy and practice are discussed.
Descriptors: Blended Learning, Higher Education, College Students, Employment Potential, Speech Language Pathology, Foreign Countries, Career Development, Self Evaluation (Individuals)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A