The National Graduate Attributes Project - Institute for Teaching and ...

Final Report – The National GAPAUSTRALIAN LEARNING AND TEACHING COUNCIL2. Stakeholders: various groups (e.g. policy makers, students, curriculumdevelopers, marketers, professional associations, industry groups) havedifferent stakes in the articulation and development of graduate attributes;3. Implementation: the way a university coordinates and approaches theimplementation of its graduate attributes policy is often neglected;4. Curriculum: curriculum planning for graduate attributes development,general curriculum structure (e.g. modular, postgraduate entry) andpedagogical features (e.g. PBL, WIL) influence the development ofgraduate attributes;5. Assessment: the explicit embedding of graduate attributes in assessmentis essential for policy implementation;6. Quality Assurance: the way a higher education system, university ordiscipline monitors and assures the development of graduate attributes isone of the most influential drivers of effective implementation;7. Staff Development: the way a university enables and engages staff inefforts to foster graduate attributes contributes to implementationeffectiveness; and8. Student-Centred: no matter how much effort universities put into teachinggraduate attributes, the strategy has not worked unless it is perceived bystudents to have actively engaged them in developing worthwhileattributes.In fostering and developing a scholarly community, the project brought together300 members of university communities over the course of the three rounds ofsymposia. The first of these focussed on assembling the key graduate attributescontacts, typically from teaching and learning or careers units to support thedevelopment for the framework. The second round of symposia focussed onconnecting the members of 24 ALTC project teams — either those working onaspects of curriculum renewal relevant to graduate attributes or working ongraduate attributes initiatives in different disciplines — to develop some commonunderstandings, share ideas and forge collaborations. The final round ofsymposia brought together interested local networks in five states into a NationalGAP network and linked this network to a network of Scottish institutions, to shareresources and developments as a precursor to developing new collaborations.Ninety such collaborative expressions of intent were generated at these eventsalone. The international network linkages continue to develop even though theGAP project is now completed. Student participation was a highlight of both thefirst and third symposia and served to focus conversations between and amongstudents and academics and to suggest directions for further GA-relatedinvestigations and collaborations.ResourcesA key to fostering sustainable scholarly engagement in curriculum renewal toachieve graduate attributes within universities, and across the sector, is astrategy for developing a shared, complex understanding of the issues involved.The National Graduate Attributes Project: Integration and assessment of graduate attributes in curriculum 2