RAPPORT
Providing opportunities for students As has been pointed out above , it is generally accepted that assessment can be a driver of behaviour for students and staff . If this is going to make a difference to employability , then it will need to inform action at all levels of the institution .
Institutions will need to do more than look at student employment statistics after course completion , which may be acceptably high or unacceptably low for a number of historical reasons . It could be that teaching and nursing courses appear favourable on such measures after a six month milestone but the numbers remaining in these professions drop after one or two years . If we are concerned about employability rather than just employment , then we would need to be reassured that these students remain confident in their skills , knowledge and ability to effectively compete for other graduate-level jobs .
The authors argue that employability cannot be additional to other course content but should be an integral part of the study of a student and that assessment should reinforce the value of this content . This position is no longer seen as radical , being supported by the work of ESECT a decade ago ( Yorke and Knight , 2004 ). Employability should not necessarily be part of all assessment in the same way numeracy should not be part of all assessment , even in a mathematics degree . What is argued is that there is proportionality , and that employability needs a significant presence .
The authors acknowledge that a student will continue to make choices throughout their course of study . A critical factor is engagement , both with the expected course knowledge and the additional opportunities offered . They can choose to be engaged and benefit from a more active , independent form of learning , or choose to be more instrumental in their learning . Assessment may be an important driver of behaviour but it is only one of the many complex factors that can make a difference . At best , assessment can develop the subject insight required and enable the development of skills valued in the workplace . At worst , assessment can be a ritual to show that the lecturer and the students have done their job . Given that assessment does make a difference , the challenge is to design and deliver assessment that meets subject requirements , is supportive of the course as a community and does enhance employability .
Assessment may be a driver of student behaviour but will also make a difference to staff . For example , within the module Creative
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Problem Solving discussed above the assessment of a digital story was an artefact created by the student . We ask the reader to reflect on their own reaction when assessing a five-minute reflective video in comparison to the feeling that many of us experience when faced with a mountain of near-identical three thousandword essays .
Addressing the issues of employability within an assessment regime which might be set by university policy is a challenge , but making a course worthwhile for all concerned has always been a challenge . An engagement with employability should mean that students are required to complete assessments that are more meaningful for them and provide ways that demonstrate qualities like a ‘ can do ’ attitude . For academic staff , the challenge and opportunity is to produce an assessment task which has subject relevance , offers consistency and fairness , and can be motivational for all concerned .
Conclusion If graduate employment is a major reason for students investing in higher education ( Tomlinson , 2008 ), then courses will have to consider how the skills and knowledge to be achieved make a difference to employability – a view supported by the Association of Graduate Recruiters ( Hawkins and Gilleard , 2004 ). The qualification remains important even if only as a confirmation of course completion . The challenge is to leave the student better prepared for the future . Graduates can be expected to be asked to evidence that they can do the job on offer . Assessment is key . It should confirm learning but it should also highlight individual excellence and uniqueness . Assessment over the course provides students with outcomes and artefacts that they can take forward to employers as evidence of what they can do and that they have a ‘ can do ’ attitude . Individual modules such as the Creative Problem Solving example above can make a difference but it is the view of the authors that employability needs to be embedded throughout a course . This does not mean that employability begins to dominate all we do but rather that the awareness is there and a proportionate amount of time and effort allocated to it .
The process of becoming more employable as a graduate is an important one and should in itself be motivational to the student . It will give a relevance to the course if it is known that others will value it . Assessment provides a signal to the student of what is valued and the outcomes of assessment are the record of achievement . It is argued here that you need a constructive alignment of assessment with the challenges of
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