Extracurricular Partnerships as a Tool for Enhancing Graduate Employability

Authors

  • David I Lewis School of Biomedical Sciences University of Leeds Biosciences Education Research Group (ULBERG) University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT Leeds United Kingdom

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3052

Keywords:

students as partners, scholarship of teaching and learning, intern, public engagement, employability

Abstract

The world of work is changing rapidly, with an increasing global demand for employees with higher-level skills. Employees need to have the right attitudes and aptitudes for work, possess work-relevant skills, and have relevant experience. Whilst universities are embedding employability into their curricula, partnerships outside of the taught curriculum provide additional, largely untapped, opportunities for students to develop these key skills and gain valuable work experience. Two extracurricular partnership opportunities were created for Bioscience undergraduates at the University of Leeds, UK: an educational research internships scheme, where students work in partnership with fellow students and academic staff on on-going educational projects, and Pop-Up Science, a unique, student-led public engagement volunteer scheme. Both schemes generate substantial benefits for all. They enhance student’s skills and employability, facilitate and enhance staff-student education practices and research, and engage the public with research in the Biosciences. Collectively, they demonstrate the extraordinary value and benefits accrued from developing extracurricular partnerships between students, staff, and the community.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

David I Lewis, School of Biomedical Sciences University of Leeds Biosciences Education Research Group (ULBERG) University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT Leeds United Kingdom

Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience & Scientific Ethics School of Biomedical Sciences

References

Budny, D., & Khanna, R. (2012). Designing a service learning project for freshman engineers. Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, IEE. doi:10.1109/ICL.2012.6402050

Castell, S., Charlton, A., Clemence, M., Pettigrew, N., Pope, S., Quigley, A., Shah, J.N., & Silman, T. (2014). Public attitudes to science 2014.

Ipsos Mori Social Research Institute Report. Retrieved from www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Polls/pas-2014-main-report.pdf

CBI & Pearson. (2015). Inspiring growth: The education and skills survey 2015. Retrieved from www.cbi.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/inspiring-growth-the-education-and-skills-survey-2015/

CBI & Pearson. (2016). The right combination: CBI/Pearson education and skills survey 2016. Retrieved from www.cbi.org.uk/cbi-prod/assets/File/pdf/cbi-education-and-skills-survey2016.pdf

CBI & Universities UK. (2009). Future fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work (Report). Retrieved from www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2009/future-fit-preparing-graduates-for-the-world-of-work.PDF

Cook-Sather, A. (2014). Student-faculty partnership in explorations of pedagogical practice: A threshold concept in academic development. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(3), 186-198.

Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in teaching and learning: A guide for faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Crawford, K., Horsley, R., Hagyard, A., & Derricot, D. (2015). Pedagogies of partnership: What works? (Report). Retrieved from www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/pedagogies-of-partnership_0.pdf

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Further Education Unit. Retrieved from http://gdn.glos.ac.uk/gibbs/index.htm

Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. York: Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teaching-higher-education

Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning enquiry, 4(2), 1-13. Retrieved from http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/view/105

Higher Education Academy. (2015). Framework for student engagement through partnership. Retrieved from www.heacademy.ac.uk/enhancement/frameworks/framework-student-engagement-through-partnership

High Fliers Research. (2017). The Graduate Market in 2017. Retrieved from www.highfliers.co.uk/download/2017/graduate_market/GMReport17.pdf
Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities. Retrieved from http://provost.tufts.edu/celt/files/High-Impact-Ed-Practices1.pdf

Lewis, D. I. (n.d.). Rethinking Final Year Projects and Dissertations: Creative Honours and Capstone Projects. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150305152342/http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/examples/Documents/David%20Lewis.docx

Lewis, D. I. (2014a). ETRIS: Facilitating research and training in in-vivo pharmacology. Pharmacology Matters, 7(3), 26. Retrieved from https://www.bps.ac.uk/BPSMemberPortal/media/BPSWebsite/Library/PM-December2014.pdf?ext=.pdf

Lewis, D. I. (2014b). Enhancing employability and building bridges: Evaluation of public engagement opportunities within undergraduate STEM curricula. Retrieved from http://www.srhe.ac.uk/downloads/Lewis.pdf

Lewis, D.I., Byrne, A., Choppin, C., Davies, D., Watkins, C., Chakrabarty, S., McBurney, S., Volz, V., & Wilshaw, S. (2015). Creating Xerte e-learning resources: An easy to use student guide. Retrieved from https://store.data.alpha.jisc.ac.uk/#/resource/8467.

Lewis, D. I., Gutoreva, A., Carlisle, L., Hughes, E., & Black, L. (2014). Enhancing employability and building bridges: Public engagement opportunities within STEM undergraduate degree programmes. Proceedings of the Physiological Society, 31, C75. Retrieved from http://www.physoc.org/proceedings/abstract/Proc%20Physiol%20Soc%2031C75

Marquis, E., Puri, V., Wan, S., Ahmad, A., Goff, L., & Knorr, K. (2015). Navigating the threshold of student-staff partnerships: A case study from an Ontario teaching and learning institute. International Journal for Academic Development, 21(1), 4-15. doi: 10.1080/1360144X.2015.1113538

Oden, M., Mirabal, Y., Epstein, M., & Richards-Kortum, R. (2010). Engaging undergraduates to solve global health challenges: A new approach based on bioengineering design. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 38(9), 3031-3041.

Pauli, R., Raymond-Barker, B., & Worrell, M. (2016). The impact of pedagogies of partnership on the student learning experience in UK higher education. York: Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/impact-pedagogies-partnership-student-learning-experience-uk-higher-education

Sanders, J., & Higham, L., (2012). The role of higher education students in widening access, retention and success: A literature synthesis of the Widening Access, Student Retention and Success National Programmes Archive. York: Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/wasrs_sanders.pdf

Spurring, E., Bacon, A., Garrod, F. L., & Lewis, D. I. (2014). Pop-Up Science: A student-led public engagement volunteer scheme. Proceedings of the Physiological Society, 31, C73. Retrieved from http://www.physoc.org/proceedings/abstract/Proc%20Physiol%20Soc%2031C73

Stone, B. (2015). Engaged Learning Sheffield: Co-production and community in education at the University of Sheffield. Sheffield: University of Sheffield. Retrieved from www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.521092!/file/EngagedLearningSheffield.pdf

Stone, B. (2016). Facing outwards: Engaged Learning at the University of Sheffield. Sheffield: University of Sheffield. Retrieved from www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.661883!/file/FacingOutwards.pdf

Downloads

Published

2017-05-08

How to Cite

Lewis, D. I. (2017). Extracurricular Partnerships as a Tool for Enhancing Graduate Employability. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1), 104–113. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3052

Issue

Section

Case Studies