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Programme evaluation on employability skills : a case study of a diploma course designed for marketing research industry practices
Author
Tio, Wee Leng
Supervisor
Lim-Ratnam, Christina
Abstract
In the 21st century, the definition of employability skills has evolved to include skills beyond ‘technical know-how’. Previously, employers would hire employees based on good academic results. However, in the new era, employability requirements are evolving, introducing new complexity into the definition of ‘employability’. This phenomenon is critically significant to institutions of post-secondary education which are set up mainly to prepare students to be work-ready upon graduation. This study adopted the Content-Input-Product-Process (CIPP) curriculum evaluation model by Stufflebeam (2003), focusing on the Product and Input evaluation aspects in the curriculum of a local Polytechnic Diploma course which was launched four years ago and had graduated two cohorts of students. The product evaluation employed a survey approach to gather feedback from potential employers to understand if the graduates had met the potential employers’ expectations as entry level executives and the results were tabulated to identify any employability skill gaps that require attention. The survey showed that graduates met the potential employers’ expectations in 18 out of 28 sub-dimensions across the 3 Core Employability Skills (CES). Students did best in Personal Attributes and Business Skills and performed worst in Professional Competencies category. At the end, there were 7 employability skill gaps identified. Thereafter, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with the course facilitators and graduates were conducted to evaluate the input factors which contributed to the employability skill gaps. The input evaluation unveiled several course elements that were mainly environmental (e.g. readiness of assessment struture, readiness of students and facilitators in the problem-based learning environment) and a strong emphasis on technical skills, resulting in negligence in the training of students in 21CC skills.
Finally, from this study, recommendations are proposed for future refinement of the diploma course.
Finally, from this study, recommendations are proposed for future refinement of the diploma course.
Date Issued
2016
Call Number
LB2822.75 Tio
Date Submitted
2016