Students’ Skills, Employability and the Teaching of European Studies: Challenges and Opportunities

Maurer, Heidi; Mawdsley, Jocelyn

doi:10.1057/eps.2013.34

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Approximately half (54% and 43% of respondents respectively) of respondents stated that their perceived norm of being involved in clubs and societies and making use of support services was lower than the reported norm. This is of relevance as engagement with the educational experience has been to found to be a predictor of academic performance (Lee 2014), and the type of skills gained through participation in clubs and skills are relevant to the employability, a topic which is of increasing relevance to university and college students (Maurer and Mawdsley 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived social norms of health behaviours and college engagement in British students

McAlaney

Jenkins²

2015

Journal of Further and Higher Education

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Community Engagement ManagerTech Stories * Corresponding author 2 Perceived social norms of health behaviours and college engagement in British students Abstract AimsThe social norms approach is an increasingly widely used strategy of behaviour and attitude change that is based on challenging misperceptions individuals hold about their peers. Research to date has been carried out predominately in the American college system, with a focus on substance use behaviours. The aim of the current study was to explore peer perceptions of both substance use and other behaviours in a British student sample, as the first step of determining whether the social norms approach may be applicable within Europe. MethodsStudents at eight Further Education colleges in the UK were surveyed on their personal and perceived peer health and college engagement behaviours and attitudes by means of a printed and online survey. ResultsRespondents reported a perceived norm of frequency of substance use that was higher than the reported norm. Results relating to the injunctive norms of substance use were mixed but demonstrated that the majority of respondents do not actively approve of tobacco, cannabis or other drug use. Respondents also reported a norm of academic engagement that was more positive than the perceived norm of their peers. ConclusionsThe results around substance use are consistent with work conducted in the American college system, despite the differences in culture and legislation. In addition there results indicate that there 3 may be similar misperceptions around other areas of health and college engagement. This suggests that the social norms approach may be a viable method of behaviour change in UK students.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived social norms of health behaviours and college engagement in British students

McAlaney

Jenkins²

2015

Journal of Further and Higher Education

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“…There is therefore a need to more explicitly link student and employer expectations along with governance pressures in this field to respond to this agenda without damaging academic standards. One solution is to ensure that the employability agenda is 'embedded into the curriculum' (Maurer and Mawdsley 2013).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Policy Briefs as Assessment to Integrating Research-Led Employability in Foreign Policy Courses

Lightfoot¹

2020

JCER

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The aims of this paper are to highlight the way policy briefs were employed as an assessment tool on a final year foreign policy orientated Politics/IR module in a UK university. It explores the skill/employability rationale behind the use of the tool alongside wider concerns about diversity of assessment before moving onto some practical aspects of its introduction within the module and the evolution of the task. Finally, it reflects on student opinion of the assessment, it highlights some of the expected and unexpected challenges in using policy briefs as an assessment tool and proposes some future modifications. Overall, this paper argues that policy briefs can be utilised on more "traditional" modules and that they have a range of benefits for both students and staff, confirming the general findings of Chagas-Bastos and Burges (2018) and others, whilst making a more explicit case for their use in relation to the fact that the tool allows students to demonstrate research-based employability skills.

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“…In Maastricht University's BA ES, some skills are explicitly made part of the curriculum -either as part of content courses or as part of the 'skills track' that runs alongside content courses. These include skills mentioned in the European Studies literature, such as foreign language skills (Smith 2003) and the ability to understand and analyse the practice of politics and policy-making (Maurer and Mawdsley 2014). They also include academic research and writing skills, skills in qualitative and quantitative methods, and negotiation skills.…”

Section: The Skills Portfolio In Maastricht's Ba European Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, broadly speaking there are very few programmes in European Studies and similar programmes in International Relations and Politics that are (partly) taught in line with the principles of PBL (Craig and Hale 2008). One consequence of this reliance on PBL is the training of generic skills (Maurer and Mawdsley 2014).…”

Section: The Skills Portfolio In Maastricht's Ba European Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring Generic Skills Development in a Bachelor European Studies

Adriaensen¹,

Bijsmans²,

Groen

2019

JCER

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To ensure a smooth transition from studies to professional careers, students' skills and attitudes are often considered of greater value than theoretical knowledge and understanding. Yet, whereas typical academic skills such as research and writing are commonly monitored and trained, generic skills such as teamwork and communication receive scant attention. At Maastricht University, we developed a portfolio to raise awareness about skills required to take full advantage of the Problem-Based Learning environment, and to initiate self-reflection by students. As such, the portfolio also provides an opportunity to engage in a more in-depth assessment of students' skills acquisition. Students assessed their skills at the start of the bachelor programme through a survey that was administered again at two later stages during the first year. Comparing data of 414 students, we provide a unique insight into skills progression in an active learning environment. Repeated measures can thus provide a first impression of the impact of an active learning environment on generic skills acquisition. While we argue that the current portfolio achieves its educational objectives, as an instrument for measurement of skills acquisition it has its limitations.

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Students’ Skills, Employability and the Teaching of European Studies: Challenges and Opportunities

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

Perceived social norms of health behaviours and college engagement in British students

Perceived social norms of health behaviours and college engagement in British students

Using Policy Briefs as Assessment to Integrating Research-Led Employability in Foreign Policy Courses

Monitoring Generic Skills Development in a Bachelor European Studies

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