ASSURING GRADUATE CAPABILITIES INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

Assessing and accrediting graduate capabilities in 21C: People, practices, places and public accountability

A six-week event in Melbourne, Australia (19 August - 27 September 2013)

• For more information on the event please visit http://boliver.ning.com/ 
• To read the ALTC Good Practice Report on Assuring Graduate Outcomes by Professor Beverley Oliver please visit the OLT website here.

Introduction:

With the establishment of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and a strengthened Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), higher education providers are required to demonstrate that their graduates have achieved capabilities at required standards. The National Teaching Fellowship, Assuring Graduate Capabilities, explores how educators, in partnership with industry, can:

1. Create and implement degree level descriptors of standards for generic capabilities (describing, for example, how and how well successful graduates can communicate, think critically, collaborate in diverse teams)
2. Embed new ways of assessing those achievements in degree programs
3. Encourage students to create, curate and present evidence of their achievements in a range of media using 21C technologies.

Key questions explored at this Symposium include:

1. Practices: How do we assess and accredit evidence of learning, particularly in generic skills and capabilities, for graduate success? What works well now, and how can we sustain and scale up such practices? What works less well, and how can we improve through sustainable new practices?
2. Places: How might we authenticate, warrant and accredit learning evidence in the digital economy? What are the challenges emerging from the wide-scale adoption of digital technologies in higher education, and how might these be addressed? What are the opportunities emerging from the wide-scale adoption of digital technologies in higher education, and how might innovations be trialled, evaluated and implemented in sustainable ways? In the wake of such innovations, what might be the best use of time for accreditation on campus and in the workplace?
3. People: What might be the role(s) of industry (including experts, professional bodies and alumni) in such processes? What is the potential for self and peer assessment and accreditation? What are the implications and possibilities for academic roles, industry partnerships and workloads?
4. Public accountability: How might we judge, measure, record and report authenticated and accredited learning—to students, the community, and regulatory authorities—drawing on emerging technologies, adaptive environments, massive open online courses, and open educational resources?

Who will be there?

The International Symposium is an opportunity to engage with experts such as:
Professor Mantz Yorke, University of Lancashire, UK
Dr Gary Brown, Portland State University, US
Professor Joy Higgs, Charles Sturt University
Dr Helen Chen, Stanford University, US
Rob Ward, Centre for Recording Achievement, UK
Professor David Nicol, University of Strathclyde, UK
Professor David Boud, University of Technology, Sydney
Mary Catherine Lennon, Leader AHELO, Canada
And more…

Where is it?

Deakin University’s City Centre, Level 3, 550 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Australia.

Who else is invited to attend the symposium?

Colleagues from any higher education institution are warmly invited to attend any event (all attendance must be booked at Assuring Graduate Capabilities and places will be limited—booking opens 1 July).

There is no charge to attend any event.

Professor Beverley Oliver, National Teaching Fellow
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Deakin University