Students’ perception on developing conceptual generic skills for business

Abstract

Purpose The classical approach of teaching and learning mostly based on knowledge transfer is questionable as knowledge life cycle is shortening and new type of jobs appear every day with new knowledge request. In this vein, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how to switch the focus from learning knowledge to learning generic skills liable to help future professionals to think and learn by doing. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a 30-item questionnaire that was addressed to over 500 students involved in management and business undergraduate and graduate programs from two well-reputed Romanian universities. Three hundred and forty questionnaires were filled in and processed using SPSS, version 19. Additionally, a factorial analysis was performed, with a view to extract the most important factors that are involved in developing generic skills in university programs. Findings Results demonstrate that most of the students from the undergraduate programs prefer the classical approach – less implication and responsibility in doing a harder conceptual work – while most students from the master programs are open to the new perspective of learning to learn, namely, to developing generic skills. Research limitations/implications In the new turbulent business landscape, universities face a significant change in teaching their students. Although the research adds to the value of the extant literature on generic skills (also known as core skills), it is mainly focused on a Romanian sample, thus reflecting a context-based perspective. Originality/value The current study provides a preliminary insight into the perception of Romanian students about developing generic skills and into their readiness to assume the role of main actors in the learning process.

Students’ Perspective on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in the Context of Sustainability: A PLS-SEM Approach

“…Bratianu and Vatamanescu [16] believe that, in order to develop students' thinking skills, it is necessary to develop a different approach, promoted by teachers and a greater involvement of students in the learning process. In their study, five generic thinking skills are analyzed [16]: (1) researching, collecting, and organizing data, information, and knowledge; (2) problem-solving; (3) creative thinking; (4) learning to learn; and (5) strategic thinking.…”

“…Therefore, it can be stated that the chances of employment in the labor market depend, to a significant extent, on the competencies acquired by the person wishing to integrate him/herself into the labor market. The permanent emergence of new types of jobs imposes a new demand for knowledge [16] and specialized competencies for integration into the labor market. Students' competencies can be improved by correlating the theoretical knowledge they acquire in universities and the competencies gained through practical activities, which help them to become acquainted with, develop themselves, and prepare for a job [47].…”

“…In addition, this new curriculum should be accompanied by new teaching and learning methods that allow students to develop as many competencies and skills as possible. In this way, the curricula will impact the skills and competencies of students relating to their employability and will improve their chances of professional development in a turbulent business environment [16].…”

The Theory of Knowledge Fields: A Thermodynamics Approach

“…However, there is no visible border between self-interest and greed, and in many practical situations, managers and shareholders completely ignore such a limitation for the sake of profit maximization. That is why economic education should also include, besides rational knowledge and economic principles, emotional and spiritual knowledge, and to switch the emphasis from learning knowledge to developing skills and learning to learn [51].…”

The University Role in Developing the Human Capital for a Sustainable Bioeconomy

“…The accuracy of the method was verified using the Bartlett and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin tests. The KMO test made it possible to determine the effectiveness of applying the factor analysis to the data collected (Bratianu & Vatamanescu, 2017). In order to perform factorial analysis, the main component extraction is the first step, followed by the rotation process, where we chose the Varimax variant (Arkkelin, 2014).…”