The Eighth International Literacy & Education Research Network Conference on

SPETSES, GREECE
4-8 July 2001

Associate Professor Robyn Lines

Director of Teaching Quality, Educational Services Group,
RMIT Business Faculty, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia

Capabilities as a Framework for Program Design:
Reflections on the Design of a Bachelor of Commerce

Abstract

The quality of graduates from University business degree programs has been subject to criticism from employer groups for a considerable period of time. Radical changes in the business environment and the nature of work in the profession are seen to require new kinds of graduates who are better able to adapt to rapid change and position themselves for an unpredictable future.

One educational response to this demand for new workers has been to focus on the development of generic capabilities throughout the duration of a student's study. Such capabilities, it is argued, ensure that students can continue to learn in new, different and rapidly changing contexts.

This paper critically reviews the use of a graduate capability framework in the design of a Bachelor of Commerce degree at RMIT University. It highlights the underpinning assumptions about the desirable nature of new workers implicit in the graduate capability framework and considers these in relation to alternative pedagogical frameworks and the continuing dilemma of purpose within Universities.

Bionote

Robyn Lines is the Director of Teaching Quality in RMIT Business, a very large faculty with an orientation to the provision of professional and vocational education. Enduring educational interests include how changes in teaching and learning can be effected within universities and the relationship of pedagogy to the purpose, organisation and management of Universities.

Presentation Type
30 min. Paper

Presentation Equipment and Other Requests
Overhead Projector

Speaking Date/Time Restrictions

Country
Australia