Secret to getting most out of college
I N the 1100s the English satirist Nigel de Longchamps described universities as places where you acquire “absolutely irrelevant knowledge” with which you are “incapable of doing anything useful”. Centuries later, the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum at the resort town Davos would seem to agree with de Longchamps, identifying a “skills gap” between graduates and the needs of the labour market. What are the missing skills and why do recent graduates lack them?
According to surveys of employers, new graduates lack skills relating to communication, both written and verbal, team work, problem solving, and other “soft skills”. It turns out universities are good at imparting knowledge specific to a discipline, but less able to produce well-rounded graduates.
In other words, universities produce accountants that know finances, but may struggle to write well, and Arts graduates that write well but may have never opened Excel — and evidently both will dread public speaking. It’s hard to find the time to teach these Critical Skills in a class that must get from point A to B in a semester. How can a history lecturer find time to teach writing and public speaking skills and still make sure that students know the intricacies of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Maynooth University’s solution to this problem is a programme for first-year undergraduates entitled Critical Skills. This programme, combined with other curricular innovations including access to a wider pool of subject choices, means that students can acquire Critical Skills and study a range of disciplines.
So, yes, it is possible to teach Critical Skills while at the same time giving students opportunities to develop a broader perspective. The trick is to combine small classes and innovative teaching with subject-specific knowledge. When we ask a law student to author a Wikipedia article on a significant court case, or a science student to expand the Wikipedia article on the English philosopher John Locke, they’re honing research, writing, and ICT skills — an additional benefit is the confidence and pride gained by creating something that can be read by more than three billion people with internet access.
Another example is the technique of problem-based learning. This takes the form of a policy White Paper that identifies a problem and proposes a solution. For example, put together students from four different programmes — business, sociology, history, and media studies — and have them write a policy document that assesses the impact of commuting on businesses and people’s quality of life and attempts to offer solutions. The White Paper models “real world” writing and builds team work, research, and, when combined with formal presentations, public speaking skills.
This approach requires small classes, dedicated instructors, and continuous assessment. In addition to the skills learned, this type of class has an added benefit too.
Research indicates that peer groups are important sources of support for students. A great way of building peer groups is to offer small classes where students work together, debate each other, and read each other’s work. Enjoying learning is a critical skill too, after all.