Beyond mapping and embedding graduate attributes: bringing together quality assurance and action learning to create a validated and living curriculum

Abstract

With increasing importance being placed on the development of generic skills in higher education, institutions are espousing, as part of their mission and objectives, which generic skills their graduates achieve, and teachers are being required to document how their courses and programs support the development of those skills and attributes. The mapping of opportunities for development of graduate attributes in the planned curriculum thus plays an important role in relation to quality assurance and reporting processes, and embedding these opportunities in curricula may ensure alignment between the espoused curriculum and the taught curriculum. But are these processes enough to ensure that what is espoused and enacted through the curriculum is aligned with what students experience and learn? This issue is addressed here through a case study of a team of university teachers at one Australian institution who went beyond the mapping and embedding of graduate attributes in their courses of study, and engaged in a process of action learning to create a valid and living curriculum for the development of graduate attributes.