Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.

This case study focuses on a work that developed from a Higher Education Academy (HEA) teaching development grant which investigated biomedical science undergraduate students experiences of engaging with health related volunteering opportunities and the link with maximising employability skills in...

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Autores principales:	Sheila Cunningham, Deeba Gallacher
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) 2013
Materias:	Skills development Volunteering Theory and practice of education LB5-3640
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2195623b348b4b549db7ea14c4419472
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2195623b348b4b549db7ea14c44194722021-11-29T14:03:53ZLearning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.10.47408/jldhe.v0i6.2171759-667Xhttps://doaj.org/article/2195623b348b4b549db7ea14c44194722013-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://repl.gianfj.com/index.php/jldhe/article/view/217https://doaj.org/toc/1759-667X This case study focuses on a work that developed from a Higher Education Academy (HEA) teaching development grant which investigated biomedical science undergraduate students experiences of engaging with health related volunteering opportunities and the link with maximising employability skills in a North London university. Biomedical students recognise theoretical knowledge and practical skills as essential to employability but have limited opportunity to apply these with sparse placement opportunities especially within hospital or laboratory environments. Graduate employability skills are generally accepted as the knowledge, skills and attributes to be effective in the workplace. Reports on graduate employability highlight communication skills, team-working, integrity, intellectual ability and self confidence as the five most important attributes sought by employers (Archer and Davidson, 2008). UCAS (2012) expands this (biomedicine profile) by including creativity, initiative and flexibility and with what could also be argued as important: wisdom, (Schwartz, 2012). This is a tall order for any curriculum and in reality embraces more than classroom or laboratory learning environments but the whole undergraduate experience. This particular work was a partnership endeavour with undergraduate students to seek science related volunteering opportunities and the potential for developing the skills for biomedical employability. The methodology in this case study was primarily action research with its iterative cycles. These were: identification and development of science or health volunteering opportunities, employers' perceptions of the use and value of such volunteering and articulation of the skills and qualities from such experiences. One key 'data' output was a record of students' reflections and narratives as they contributed and drove the volunteering activity. Students maintained diaries of their experiences, skill development, personal growth and achievements and of working in partnership with staff and independently. Students' reflective blogs revealed several benefits and challenges and their approaches to address these illustrate their creativity, endurance and flexibility. This is a 'snap-shot' but presents 'voices' or 'narratives' of partnerships which enhance the students' learning (and teaching) experience. It also presents students' attitudes to volunteering and how they feel this contributes to their employability potential. Insights gained are invaluable to academic staff in appreciating the social constriction of learning and the extension of formal academic provision into the third sector Sheila CunninghamDeeba GallacherAssociation for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)articleSkills developmentVolunteeringTheory and practice of educationLB5-3640ENJournal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Iss 6 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Skills development Volunteering Theory and practice of education LB5-3640
spellingShingle	Skills development Volunteering Theory and practice of education LB5-3640 Sheila Cunningham Deeba Gallacher Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.
description	This case study focuses on a work that developed from a Higher Education Academy (HEA) teaching development grant which investigated biomedical science undergraduate students experiences of engaging with health related volunteering opportunities and the link with maximising employability skills in a North London university. Biomedical students recognise theoretical knowledge and practical skills as essential to employability but have limited opportunity to apply these with sparse placement opportunities especially within hospital or laboratory environments. Graduate employability skills are generally accepted as the knowledge, skills and attributes to be effective in the workplace. Reports on graduate employability highlight communication skills, team-working, integrity, intellectual ability and self confidence as the five most important attributes sought by employers (Archer and Davidson, 2008). UCAS (2012) expands this (biomedicine profile) by including creativity, initiative and flexibility and with what could also be argued as important: wisdom, (Schwartz, 2012). This is a tall order for any curriculum and in reality embraces more than classroom or laboratory learning environments but the whole undergraduate experience. This particular work was a partnership endeavour with undergraduate students to seek science related volunteering opportunities and the potential for developing the skills for biomedical employability. The methodology in this case study was primarily action research with its iterative cycles. These were: identification and development of science or health volunteering opportunities, employers' perceptions of the use and value of such volunteering and articulation of the skills and qualities from such experiences. One key 'data' output was a record of students' reflections and narratives as they contributed and drove the volunteering activity. Students maintained diaries of their experiences, skill development, personal growth and achievements and of working in partnership with staff and independently. Students' reflective blogs revealed several benefits and challenges and their approaches to address these illustrate their creativity, endurance and flexibility. This is a 'snap-shot' but presents 'voices' or 'narratives' of partnerships which enhance the students' learning (and teaching) experience. It also presents students' attitudes to volunteering and how they feel this contributes to their employability potential. Insights gained are invaluable to academic staff in appreciating the social constriction of learning and the extension of formal academic provision into the third sector
format	article
author	Sheila Cunningham Deeba Gallacher
author_facet	Sheila Cunningham Deeba Gallacher
author_sort	Sheila Cunningham
title	Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.
title_short	Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.
title_full	Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.
title_fullStr	Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.
title_full_unstemmed	Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.
title_sort	learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.
publisher	Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/2195623b348b4b549db7ea14c4419472
work_keys_str_mv	AT sheilacunningham learningbeyondtheclassroombiomedicalsciencestudentsnarrativesofvolunteeringanddevelopingemployabilityskills AT deebagallacher learningbeyondtheclassroombiomedicalsciencestudentsnarrativesofvolunteeringanddevelopingemployabilityskills
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Learning beyond the classroom: biomedical science students' narratives of volunteering and developing employability skills.

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