Search

Technology has altered the traditional academic library beyond recognition. These dramatic changes have impacted significantly on the knowledge and skills requirements for LIS professionals practising in this environment. While there have been studies in other parts of the world which have investigated the knowledge and skills requirements for the digital era academic library environment, to date no comprehensive study has ‘drilled’ down into this area in the South African context. This paper reports on a preliminary study which is part of a wider study aimed at developing a comprehensive skills statement which would provide an objective framework against which professional LIS practitioners in the modern academic library environment in South Africa may both measure their existing competencies and also identify the need for further skills acquisition. The research question guiding this preliminary investigation was: What key knowledge and skills are required for LIS professionals to effectively and efficiently practise in a digital era academic library in South Africa? The triangulated findings (using content analysis of job advertisements and semi-structured interviews) from this preliminary investigation are used to ascertain an initial picture of key knowledge and skills sets required for LIS professionals in this environment. These preliminary findings also proved useful in teasing out some of the parameters for the wider study targeting the development of a comprehensive skills statement for higher education libraries in South Africa. The study reported here has relevance for the academic library context in other parts of the world as well.

This study examines employers and instructors’ perspectives towards university graduates’ work attainment (readiness) as indicated by their generic skills. The specific objectives of the study are 1) to examine the perception of employers and instructors towards generic skills required and displayed by fresh graduates; 2) to examine the perception of instructors towards generic skills being taught (or inculcated) at universities; 3) to identify the mismatch between employers and students’ perceptions toward generic skills required in terms of level of priority; Stratified random sampling was used to obtain the data and samples comprised 66 employers (29 multinational companies and 37 local companies) and 58 instructors from Science and Social Science backgrounds from three public universities in the Klang Valley. The data was collected using a questionnaire which was analysed using descriptive and inferential analysis. The findings indicate that there are indeed several areas of dissonance in the perception differential between employers and instructors on the importance of generic skills in terms of their priority in the workplace and the higher education curriculum.

This study examined the students’ generic skills (communication, IT, numeracy, learning how to learn, problem solving, working with others, and subject-specific competencies) at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) and the National University of Indonesia (UI). Students’ self-reports demonstrated that UI students rated their generic skills higher than UKM students, and that among business management students, those at UKM rated their skills higher than those at UI, while in the economics department, UI students gave higher scores than UKM students. Multiple regression analysis showed that subject-specific competencies, learning how to learn, and numeracy were significantly associated with UI students’ academic achievement.

This conceptual paper reviews the underpinning theories and past literatures on generic skills in relation to industrial training attended by students in higher learning institutions. Subsequently, a number of hypotheses and a framework of generic skills development are proposed. Four generic skills discussed are communication skill, teamwork skill, critical thinking and problem solving and moral and professional ethics. The paper proposes that the development of these generic skills is influenced by or have some relationships with students’ demographic and motivation, as well as organizational characteristics and culture. The methodology of conducting this study is also illustrated.

Problem-based learning (PBL) as a teaching learning method has been implemented by the Department of Nursing Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) since 1996. The conceptual framework of conducting PBL uses systems approach involving input, process and output. The systems input of PBL is preparation stage which includes the determination of clear learning outcomes in the development of generic skills, introducing of PBL as a teaching learning method to students as well as teaching staff, training of the facilitators, and preparation of PBL package to ensure the success of PBL. The systems Process of PBL is its implementation involving the integration of medical sciences such as anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, nursing sciences, social sciences and clinical practice. The process also involves three stages of activities in PBL: i) encountering the problem, ii) self-directed learning and iii) back to the problem. The activities of each stage will produce the outcomes of the PBL. The systems output of PBL is the generic skills that students gain after completing the three stages of activities in PBL. The generic skills include i) application of knowledge, team work and communication skills, ii) professionalism skill iii) leadership skills and iv) critical thinking and problem solving skills. The study concludes that the systems approach can be applied in conducting PBL starting with preparation before the PBL sessions known as input , the three stages and activities of PBL is the process and the generic skills known as output .

Industrial training is a compulsory element that needs to be completed by students registering at the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, UKM. Industrial training is also a must component imparted in the engineering curriculum required by Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC). Apart from matching industrial suitability to student major field, other factors such as allowance and distances from home are the components emphasized by students in the selection criteria of industrial training placement. Students are also venturing overseas for their training including China and Indonesia. This paper reported on type of industries (example: oil and gas, chemical, manufacturing and consultancy) as well as nature of the industries (small and medium industries-SME, national or multinational) that offer placement for students for the last 3 years.

Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (JKKP), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia has taken an initiative to implement an Integrated Project (IP) for Year II and III since the 2006/2007 session. This project combines three or four department offered compulsory courses each semester. Integrated project delivered to students is chemical/biochemical engineering problems with open solutions. This approach allows the application of generic skills of students such as leadership, work in teams, communicate orally and in writing and learn to find the current information through a process of lifelong learning. Student achievement in completing the Integrated Project has been measured and assessed through presentations and reports. This study was performed to measure the effectiveness of the Integrated Project implemented after four years in JKKP. Therefore, a questionnaire was distributed to the first batch of students who have been through fully integrated project while studying at JKKP, in a graduate friendly event at the end of their study. Analysis results of the effectiveness of the Integrated Project show that it has improved the confidence level in generic skills such as oral and written communication, teamwork, lifelong learning and the identification of current issues in students since it was firstly introduced in session 2006/2007. Positive feedback is also obtained from the students and they felt that Integrated Project should be continued in the future because it really helps them in completing design projects in the final year of their studies.

Integrated Project (IP) has become a synonym for students and lecturers in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (JKKP), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FKAB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) since it was first introduced in the first semester of Session 2006/2007. Now it has already reached five years of implementation with three batches of JKKP graduates who has completely undergone the process of learning and teaching through IP in the department. Since its implementation, JKKP has distributed questionnaires to prospective graduates during annual Graduate Event which is held at the end of the second semester of each academic session to celebrate the fourth-year students that will be graduated. The findings of the questionnaire from the three groups of students are analyzed and compared to see the effectiveness of its implementation from the student perspective. The results obtained show that all the three batches of students have reflected that IP is very valuable to them in their learning process and suggested that this implementation need to be continued in the future. The agreement level from the three batches of student on each statement asked in the questionnaire about the benefits obtained through IP regarding to the application of basic knowledge, such as soft skills (lifelong learning, communication, identification of current issues), knowledge of software design is about 70 -90%.

The implementation of cooperative learning (CL) as an alternative technique is to enhance learning in Engineering Mathematics courses at University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). It can promotes and develop engineering student's generics skills and help lecturers to have a better understanding of students’ perceptions of their experience gained from the learning activities. The objective of this paper is to highlight the responses of the benefits they gained from the experiences of CL activities, which are based on three areas, individual involvement, team dynamics and skills development. A Likert scale questionnaires was given to Year I and Year I students; and the data were analyzed, ranked and compared. Analysis revealed that Year I students tends to prefer working individually and less likely to work in group, meanwhile Year II students shows their interest in teamwork. Hence, this study revealed that the maturity of the students formed as a result of cooperative learning experiences, specifically, the formation of positive social skills, such as, improvement in student's behavior and interpersonal relationship.

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of teaching compulsory courses namely Malaysian Citizenship, Ethnic Relations and TITAS among students in the Public Institutions of Higher Education (IPTA) in Malaysia. This study involved 2320 respondents selected from 20 different IPTA. Data were collected through questionnaires which were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages are used to explain the background of the respondents and to assess the effectiveness of teaching these courses. Results showed that respondents choose unity and racial cultures as the topics which should be incorporated in course content. For methods of teaching, the respondents preferred the marks to be given based on 60% of class related, 20% projects and 20% of group activities. Respondents prefer tasks related to ethnic relations and unity whilst RT and off-campus activities being the preferred choice in completing assignments.

The Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC-BarcelonaTech) has a list of generic skills included in its degrees, which are the focus of the Materials Science and Engineering Community of Practice GidMAT, related to RIMA (http://www.upc.edu/rima) project. GidMAT focus on teaching innovation and developing new learning methodologies. A learning methodology for the generic skill Working in teams has been developed, based on a structured rotation of roles within working teams and between teams. Results are compared to the evaluation of the generic skill Autonomous learning . The new methodology provides students with benefits in knowledge and skills acquisition, and the docent with an improved assessment of results at a relative low cost in time dedication.

This pioneer study is rooted in a constructivist paradigm and undertakes an empirical research based on a content analysis of 400 digital job vacancies to find out the employability skills required by the job market. The study is focused on introducing innovations in an English language subject in an engineering degree to enhance the development not only of linguistic skills but also of generic skills, a challenge aimed at professional competitiveness and employability. The methodology used and outcomes are discussed in this paper. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Learning based on community service is one of the approaches which is carried out to ensure the learning experience that a student go through generates maximum learning impact in not only enriching generic skills like communication and teamwork skills, but students’ leaning experience as a whole. In the context of implementing Science Education curriculum in the National University of Malaysia, learning based on community service was first introduced during the second semester of 2009/2010, through an action research approach. This paper will share the experience of learning based on community service as experienced by some 36 third year students by analysing their reflection after completing the learning experience for one semester.

The world around us is constantly changing, evolving, and most belief that it is changing in an unprecedented speed caused by globalization. As part of this ever changing society, we must also be able to adapt and learn new skills to keep up with these changes. Therefore, modern universities can no longer be contented in imparting well established and current knowledge and skills to their students, but must be able to equip students with the generic skills and ability to guide their own learning as throughout their lives and in the wide variety of situations they will encounter after leaving formal education. This paper described effective life-long learners as having the ability to 1) set goals, 2) apply appropriate knowledge and skills, 3) engage in self-direction, 4) locate required information, and 5) adapt their learning strategies to different conditions. However, measuring life-long learning is as difficult as defining life-long learning. There are not many instrument able to measure life-long learning in the construct mentioned earlier, although there are instruments measuring parts of the constructs, for example self-directed learning and need for cognition. This paper aims to explore the validity and reliability of this questionnaire in the Malaysian context.

Microcontrollers as a component are usually exposed to second or third year engineering students. In addition, the development of mentors and high school students’ generic skills are also highly emphasized through workshops and field work. Several workshops on the basic of microcontroller were held for mentors among the students of the Department of Electrical, Electronics and Systems Engineering (EESE) and the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (MME) from the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FEBE) and students from the Faculty of Information Science and Technology (FIST). The same workshop was also given to secondary school students from SMK Taman Nusa Jaya and SMK Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar, Gelang Patah, Johor under the guidance of mentors. Hands-on approach has been deployed in the workshop. Students were willing to try it out before the process and the theory behind the small projects that were explained later. Mentors and secondary school students have demonstrated in personality traits in terms of communication, working in groups and some skills that have been identified. Each group consists of mentors and school students have produced some very thoughtful ideas. Mentors were providing assistance in the implementation of projects such as the selection of appropriate electrical and electronic equipment. Students also have to master the C language-based programming and being able to write their own algorithms with minimal assistance from the mentors. Some positive comments from the lecturers and teachers involved also proved the increase in generic skills of students and mentors.

This study aimed to identify the development of generic skills among technical students in Malaysia. A total of 145 engineering students participated in this study. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Among the variables studied were the skills to collect and analyze information, working in team skills, problem-solving skills, long-life learning skills, skills in using technology, entrepreneurial skills, creative and critical thinking skills, leadership and personal qualities. Results of the study shows the mean of the generic skills variables are from 3.73 to 4.17 with personal qualities scored the highest mean (mean = 4.17) and leadership skills and entrepreneurial skills scored the lowest mean i.e. 3.73 and 3.81 respectively. The results indicate the need to address issues to improve students’ generic skills especially their leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

For many years universities around the world have placed students’ development of generic skills high on the agenda. However, limited empirical studies can be found on how these generic learning outcomes are achieved within the curriculum. This paper reports some initial qualitative findings of interview data on students’ understanding of generic skills and their experiences of such development in university. The findings will inform the development a survey instrument for use in a subsequent part of the present study and for further research in the local and international higher education arena.