Tuesday 09-03-2021 - 15:38

What are Graduate Attributes Modules
/ How were they created?

GEARS stands for Graduate Employability And Resilience Studies. They were created to support students through online modules focused on developing students to tackle new ways of working. You can find our more about the modules here: https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/news/press-releases/press-2020/reimagining-the-university-curriculum-.html

As the university said in its letters in early September:

“We have also taken on board the impact that new and emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, will have on future employment and careers. As a University with the wellbeing of its students at its heart, we believe strongly that we have to develop the resilience of all our students, to prepare you to the best of our ability for employment, the key to your future prosperity. We wish to provide you with the competencies to cope in an ever evolving, increasingly digitally enabled workplace, to have the flexibility to cope with significant change in career paths and most importantly, to prepare you for employment in your chosen subject area.”

A message from your officers

As your sabbatical officers, our priority is ensuring you feel heard. We hear your concerns and are working with the relevant teams to address them, but this is a process where we need your support. Please continue to reach out to us with your feedback as we continue to address student concerns with the GEARS modules. We are more than happy to meet on Teams, receive emails at tammy.bowie@uwtsd.ac.uk or messages through social media. Below you’ll find more information about GEARS generally and what we’re up to in order to champion your voice.

How the university communicated and consulted on GEARS

Last year the modules were proposed and agreed at University Senate (a university committee). 

Over the summer, the university built the GEARS modules with students across levels and campuses. Students gave feedback on what they would like to see from the content and what kinds of assessments would be beneficial. Students gave positive feedback on certain aspects and also gave areas for improvement. During the summer academics, employers, and former students were given the opportunity to feed into the content as well with ongoing development opportunities.

In early September the university communicated with students through letters sent from the institutes that the modules were being put into the curriculum.

 

What has the SU done?

Students have had a mixed reaction to the implementation of the employability and resilience modules. Some students really like them; other students have told us they’d like to see enhancements to the modules. To ensure the student voice was heard, the students’ union undertook several focus groups during semester 1.

These focus groups investigated student perception, looked to find good practice, and areas for enhancement. They included discussion as well as the opportunity for students to rate certain parts of their experience with the modules.

When the first set of focus groups had concluded, the students’ union reported the findings to the Programme Development Board (a university working group who are developing the modules) and also to University Senate (a university committee which looks at the student academic experience with representatives of students, academic departments (disciplines or centres), central university staff, and senior management of the university).

 

Consideration of the feedback has led to the following actions

• A focus on communicating the value of the modules in relation to graduate employability and creating resilient students. The university is currently considering its communication to students, and even changing the name to be more reflective of the ambition of the modules i.e. Graduate Attributes Modules. We look forward to working with the university on these changes.
• The university further supporting academics to help articulate the connection of the modules to the discipline, but also employability skills which took place in January to help provide suggestions and ideas based on staff and student experiences of how the content could be contextualised for the various discipline areas.
• Helping the university to articulate the requirements and expectations of the modules to students. The modules require the same amount of energy as other modules, but it can feel like more work, as this form of active learning will feel harder.

 

For Information

• Students have raised the concern that they are receiving notifications from forums. In order to stop these notifications, students can turn them off by heading into the forum settings
• Students have noted how much time the modules take; for clarity the modules should take around 200 hours of work. The university has included a task list with each module and explained how many hours ‘on average’ they should take.

 

What is the SU doing right now?

Georgia & Tammy met with senior university staff last week to raise your concerns directly to them. The union is providing the university time to work on these concerns, and gives them the opportunity to respond through our website. The officers are committed to making sure your feedback is heard and acted upon; however there may be things that can’t be done, but they’ll ask for answers as to why certain things can’t be achieved.

The modules provide a significant experience for students in developing employability and resilience. Taking on board student feedback will mean that these modules become even more relevant to your studies and your development.

The students’ union is here to listen to the student voice. We’d like to thank all of the Course Reps who have participated in the focus groups; keep working with the SU for us to champion enhancements to your student experience. 

We understand that there is still more work to do and encourage you to feedback to Tammy & Georgia, to your academics, to your course reps, and to the university through surveys and other mechanisms.

 

What if I have more feedback?

To make the routes clear on feedback:

• You should speak to Module Lecturer for questions about discipline-specific content and delivery.
• You should speak to Programme Leader for questions about timetabling and deadlines relating to the modules.
• You should speak to your Course Rep for general feedback that you would like discussed at Student Staff Committees.
• You should speak to Student Services for any questions and feedback relating to accessibility of the modules.
• You can speak to our Advisors if you wish to make a complaint about the modules.
• You can speak to Presidents for any other feedback or to understand more about what is happening with their conversations with the university.