University Subject Teaching + Competencies Requested by 21st Century Employers = A Perfect Match?

• Main Authors: Manderstedt, Lena, Rodriguez, Adrian, Palo, Annbritt
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: Luleå tekniska universitet, Pedagogik, språk och Ämnesdidaktik 2017
• Subjects: Higher Education Core Competencies; Pedagogy; Pedagogik; Luleå; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-62068

In recent years, reports and public debate have depicted a crisis in higher education with students demonstrating difficulties in reading, writing, analyzing and problem solving and university teaching not helping students develop these skills. This situation does not appear to be limited only to Sweden (Enefalk, Andersson & Aronsson et al., 2013). In higher education, the importance of university teachers has not always been emphasized with regards to student learning and student success (cf. Mourshed et al, 2010). There is a cognitive gap between what is taught and the students’ ability to develop the requested competencies (Lisberg Jensen, 2013). Luleå University of Technology, in Northern Sweden, is attempting to implement and develop a learning environment based on core competencies (Wikberg Nilsson & Gedda, 2013; Alverno College, (n.d.) and the general exam objectives in the Higher Education Act (SFS 1993: 100). In doing this, the university is faced with a number of challenges. In a pilot research and development project, we have been working with one possible way to support the implementation of a competence-based pedagogical concept by creating educational materials for university teachers and students. The research questions were: To what degree are core competencies integrated and developed within current university programs? What problems do university teachers face when attempting to implement the competence-based pedagogical concept of the university? How can university teachers ensure that their teaching and assessment promotes the development of core generic competencies without sacrificing acquisition of subject-specific knowledge? Methodologically, the first step was to map core competencies via qualitative interviews with both experienced and inexperienced university teachers as well as undergraduate students. Three key challenges were identified, the first being that some university teachers had difficulties understanding how the core competencies could be taught within their ...