Graduate capabilities

Graduate Capabilities are developed in every Victoria University (VU) course in the context of the knowledge and skills of that field of study. They ensure our students and graduates are work, career and future ready.

Graduate capabilities

Graduate capabilities are generic skills developed alongside technical and specific course knowledge. VU has identified six key capabilities which are the ability to:

• problem solve in a range of settings
• locate, critically evaluate, manage and use written, numerical and electronic information
• communicate in a variety of contexts and modes
• work both autonomously and collaboratively
• work in an environmentally, socially and culturally responsible manner
  
• manage learning and career development opportunities

The VU graduate capabilities policy
Provides a framework to embed the capabilities in courses offered by the University

Employability skills

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) has identified eight employability skills desired by industry. The Employability Skills are:

• communication
  
• team work
  
• problem solving
  
• initiative and enterprise
  
• planning and organising
  
• self-management
  
• learning
  
• technology

VU's Graduate Capabilities have been mapped to the DEEWR Employability Skills, as contextualised and embedded within Training Packages and accredited curricula. The Employability Skills can be deemed equivalent to VU Graduate Capabilities 1-4.

VE and FE staff following the principles underpinning the Training Packages and accredited curricula will be complying with the VU Graduate Capabilities policy for Graduate Capabilities 1-4. The University expects Graduate Capabilities 5 and 6 will be explicitly addressed in all courses. It is noted that some Training Package qualifications and accredited curricula may already include these capabilities.

A range of career development worksheets have been developed for staff to support the integration of graduate capability 6: "managing learning and career development opportunities".  These materials can be found on the Student Career Development website.

VU graduate capabilities level matrix
The Level Matrix appendix of the Graduate Capabilities policy

Employability skills framework

Research and Resources

The following resources represent possible approaches to the Graduate Capabilities. They do not form part of VU's policy. They may be used or adapted at the discretion of course teams to assist in the implementation of graduate capabilities.

Frequently asked questions around graduate capabilities
These FAQs are based on the many questions that have been raised in faculty and school meetings and professional development workshops.

Frequently asked questions around graduate capabilities (Word doc template version)
These FAQs are the Word, fully-editable version of the above pdf template.

Employability skills at at glance 2011. This publication builds on previous NCVER papers - Fostering Generic Skills in VET programs and Defining Generic Skills

Background paper for the AQF Council on generic skills

Graduate employment

Graduate employment ACNielsen Research Services 2000
Employer Satisfaction with Graduate Skills Executive Summary

Graduate employment ACNielsen Research Services 2000
Employer Satisfaction with Graduate Skills Full report

Learning & employability series 1 - Employability in higher education: what it is - what it is not, by Mantz Yorke.
An international peer-reviewed publication series by the UK-based Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) and the Enhancing Student Employability Co-ordination Team (ESECT).

Learning & employability series 2– Career development learning and employability, by
A G Watts.
An international peer-reviewed publication series by the UK-based Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) and the Enhancing Student Employability Co-ordination Team (ESECT).

Graduate capabilities at other Australian universities

University of South Australia
Graduate Qualities

Curtin University
Graduate Attributes Overview and Resources

University of Western Sydney
Graduate Attributes

Griffith University
Graduate Attributes defined and contextualised with resources

The University of New England
Graduate attributes resource guide

ALTC Project: Facilitating Staff and Student Engagement with Graduate Attribute Development, Assessment and Standards in Business Faculties
Authors: Tracy Taylor, Darrall Thompson, Lucille Clements, Lynette Simpson, Andrew Paltridge, Marty Fletcher, Mark Freeman, Lesley Treleaven, Romy Lawson, Fiona Rohde
Lead Institution: University of Technology, Sydney. Published: 2009

The national graduate attributes project
Discussion papers on graduate skills and student outcomes
University of Sydney Institute for Teaching and Learning

Assessment in Higher Education - general

Offline publications

• Cross, M. and T. Angelo (1996). Classroom Assessment Techniques, Jossey-Bass.
• Nightingale, P. et al (1996). Assessing Learning in Universities. Sydney, University of New South Wales Press.
• Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for Quality Learning at University, Buckingham, UK, Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.

In Teaching for Quality Learning at University, Biggs provides a useful way of conceptualising links between learning objectives, learning activities and assessment tasks, from the perspective of the learner. He calls this Constructive Alignment.

Online resources

Summary of Biggs's SOLO Taxonomy
A framework for setting increasingly complex learning objectives

Assessment project by the Australian Universities Teaching Committee
Conducted by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, Melbourne University

Assuring Graduate Capabilities
NING website and resources

Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability
Online academic journal of immediate relevance

Teaching Fellowship Report: Benchmarking Partnerships for Graduate Employability
Professor Beverley Oliver, Curtin University, December 2010

The National Graduate Attributes Project: Integration and Assessment of Graduate Attributes in Curriculum Report
ALTC Project, 2009

Assuring graduate outcomes
Professor Beverley Oliver, Curtin University, ALTC Project, 2011

Assessing Non-English Speaking Background (NESB) students

Assessing Students Unfamiliar with Australian Assessment Practices
Centre for the Study of Higher Education, Melbourne University

Other resources

Offline resources

• Chanock, K. (2003). Graduate Capabilities: The challenges for curricula in Arts degrees. Paper presented at the 7th Pacific Rim, First Year in Higher Education Conference, QUT 9-11July.

Online resources

Enhancing the Learning and Employability of Graduates: The Role of Generic Skills
Business/Higher Education Round Table 

University of New England Graduate Capabilities Resource Guide:
Integrating Graduate Capabilities into Undergraduate Curricula

A Web Environment Linking University Teaching Strategies with Graduate Capabilities Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 10-9

Generic Capabilities of Australian Technology Network (ATN) University Graduates Teaching and Learning Committee, ATN

Online introduction to Information Literacy: Ticking that box or embedding that attribute? 20th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (Vol. 1, pp. 126-133)

Graduates for a changing world, Dr Simon Barrie (University of Sydney)
Keynote address Teaching for Learning Showcase University of Canberra (Feb 2005)

 

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