A co-curricular inquiry based approach to developing technical and transferable laboratory skills in science graduates

Thursday 4 July: Conference day two, 11:00am – 11:30am parallel session

Venue

Room 9 – 3030-G23 MLT1

Presenters

Dr Dana Burfeind
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
d.burfeind@qut.edu.au

Dr Christine Devine
Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Dr Sarah Dart
Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Background

Laboratory-based learning experiences provide rich opportunities for students to practice science in an authentic context, developing and evidencing core discipline-specific graduate capabilities. Despite their inherent value, laboratory-based practicals are expensive to resource (materials, staff time, laboratory space, etc), and therefore are typically constrained and assessment focused. Laboratory practicals are often ‘cookbook’ or predetermined in their outcomes and students are typically not allowed to explore outside of the very narrow context of the prescribed activity. Given this current model of laboratory training, it is a concern that universities are producing graduates who may not have well developed technical or transferable skills to work effectively in a laboratory environment. The Kitchen Chemistry program at Queensland University of Technology aims to address this training deficit in undergraduate sciences. Kitchen Chemistry is a series of inquiry based co-curricular workshops for science, health science, and education students. They differ from traditional laboratory environments because they are not assessment driven and are designed as a ‘safe place to fail’, where failure is an opportunity to learn. The curriculum for Kitchen Chemistry was developed in partnership with academics, student support services, technical staff, and students. The workshops in the Kitchen Chemistry curriculum are inquiry based and focus on teaching technical skills relevant to the participants’ study areas as well as transferable skills around resilience, problem solving, and working collaboratively. This initiative is being evaluated by examining the effectiveness of teaching students technical and transferable skills using weekly self-reported surveys and end of program semi-structured interviews. Preliminary results suggest that the benefits for students participating in these workshops is greater than simply providing students more time to practice skills. Furthermore, it is expected that the results from this study will help to develop a best practice for using inquiry-based learning to develop technical and transferable skills in science graduates.

This showcase focuses on the conference sub theme of students – future graduates and working in partnership. The initiative discussed in this presentation focuses on a novel approach to developing technical and transferable skills in science, health science, and education graduates. We will first outline the deficit in the current training model and discuss how this inquiry based co-curricular approach offers a way to teach students critical employability skills. Preliminary results suggest that students in this program will not only be more technically proficient, but also have better developed transferable skills (e.g. problem solving, collaborative working, and resilience). This program has been developed to align with the Queensland University of Technology careers and employability framework, and therefore, explicitly maps to graduate capabilities. Additionally, this presentation addresses the sub theme of working in partnership. This initiative was developed in partnership with academics, student support services, technical staff, and students. The presentation will provide details of how these partnerships played key roles in the successful development of this program.

Presentation topic

Students – Future Graduates