Show employers what they are looking for – certifying the assurance of learning
Michael Tomlinson, Academic Board Chair at Victorian Institute of Technology, Nan Tien Institute of Higher Education and Governance Institute of Australia
In a recent Needed Now contribution, Bugeja, Hedayati and Turnip have made out a systematic case for extending program-level assessment approaches to generalist degrees, to counteract the tendency for evidence of learning to be fragmented across units and majors.
They rightly maintain that “visibility and alignment are what turn a collection of tasks into a defensible argument about graduate achievement”, and that “program-level approaches to assessment can support this by aligning tasks, feedback, and learning outcomes across time, creating visibility for both students and educators”.
But how do we present evidence of learning to stakeholders outside the academy, especially employers? We present them with records of results that are fragmented across units and majors.
What we do not do, normally, is show them the course learning outcomes (CLOs) that the student has achieved. And yet surely this is what prospective employers want to find out – what knowledge and skills students have gained and how well they have learned to apply these, especially in a real-world context? Understandably, employers are interested in seeing the alignment of the CLOs that extends all the way from individual units to the end of course design and delivery.
Why are we not highlighting this key information in the records of student results?
The regulatory framework does not require it. Standard 1.5.7 of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 requires records of results to state correctly only:
a. the full name of all courses and units of study undertaken and when they were undertaken and completed
b. credit granted through recognition of prior learning
c. the weighting of units within courses of study
d. the grades and/or marks awarded for each unit of study undertaken and, if applicable, for the course overall
e. where grades are issued, an explanation of the grading system used
f. where a course of study includes a significant particular focus of study such as honours, an area of specialisation or a major study, a definition of that component of significant focus, and
g. any parts of a course or units of study or assessment that were conducted in a language other than English, except for the use of another language to develop proficiency in that language.
Nothing about CLOs here.
What about the Australian Higher Education Graduations Statement (AHEGS)?
The latest edition of the AHEGS Guidelines has a section on “The Graduate’s Academic Achievements” (Section Four). The compulsory items for “Course Details” are set out as follows:
This section should contain relevant information pertaining to units of study undertaken toward this award, whether or not these were successfully completed. Included should be the unit name, institutional unit code, credit point value and grade.
Again, this is all entirely unit-based – there is still nothing about CLOs to be found here. Nor is there any reference to them in the optional items in the AHEGS Guidelines.
An employer wants to find out what job applicants have learned in their course and how they could apply it in the workplace — what they can do. However, the records of results tell them only what disaggregated units the students have completed.
Consider, for example, a typical set of CLOs for a Bachelor of Business as generated by Perplexity AI:
On successful completion of this Bachelor of Business, graduates will be able to:
1. Apply business knowledge and concepts
Apply foundational and discipline‑specific knowledge across core business fields (e.g., accounting, finance, economics, management, marketing, law, and information systems) to analyse and interpret contemporary business issues and opportunities.
2. Think critically and solve problems
Critically evaluate business information, data, and scenarios using logical and analytical reasoning to identify problems, generate evidence‑based solutions, and propose recommendations for decision‑making in uncertain or complex environments.
3. Communicate effectively in professional contexts
Communicate business ideas, arguments, and findings clearly and persuasively in written, oral, and digital formats appropriate to diverse audiences, including academic, professional, and community stakeholders.
4. Work effectively in teams and diverse environments
Collaborate ethically and inclusively in teams to plan, negotiate, and implement business projects, demonstrating awareness of cultural diversity, differing perspectives, and professional roles within organisational settings.
5. Act ethically and responsibly
Demonstrate awareness of ethical principles, professional standards, and sustainability considerations in business practice, and evaluate the social, environmental, and governance implications of managerial decisions.
6. Use digital technologies and data
Select and use relevant digital tools, information systems, and business technologies to access, manage, analyse, and present data and information in support of business decision‑making.
7. Demonstrate enterprise and employability skills
Develop personal responsibility for learning and career development, including self‑reflection, resilience, adaptability, and the application of core business skills to real‑world contexts via work‑integrated learning, projects, or placements.
8. Synthesise disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives
Integrate knowledge from multiple business disciplines to develop holistic perspectives on organisational and industry challenges, and to propose innovative and feasible strategies and solutions.
Many of these are the so-called ‘soft skills’, and there has been a dramatic shift in employers towards valuing these over STEM technical knowledge, as exemplified in the following infographic from a 2023 IBM report:
How will our poor employers know that the student is meant to have acquired these soft skills in the BBus example, and in which units?
The emphasis throughout course design has moved from content to outcomes. But employers are not provided with the CLOs. Employers are required to work backwards and deduce the skills and knowledge that the student has obtained from a list of units that they have completed, such as:
Core / Foundational Units
Exploring Business and the Contemporary Environment
Accounting for Business Decisions
Economics for Business
Marketing Essentials
People, Teams and Organisations
Information Systems in Business
Business Law and Regulation
Business Communication and Presentation Skills
Analytical and Decision‑Making Units
Business Quantitative Methods
Business Data and Decision Analytics
Business Research Methods
Operations and Logistics Management
Ethics, Sustainability and Governance
Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility
Business, Governance and Society
Sustainability and Social Impact in Business
Leadership, Strategy, and Management
Introduction to Management
Leadership and Organisational Behaviour
Strategic Management
Project Management in Business
Professional Development and Employability
Professional Practice and Career Development
Work Integrated Learning / Business Internship
Global Business Challenge / Applied Business Project
Elective / Interdisciplinary Units (examples)
International Business
Digital Marketing
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Financial Management
Human Resource Management
Business Analytics
Employers would be able to deduce how these unit titles relate to CLOs 1 and 6 above, but will be in the dark about the other CLOs from this unhelpful listing of topic areas.
The Bachelor of Business is a common course, so employers will have a general idea of what to expect from business graduates. But they may be stumped by what the CLOs are for a Bachelor of Divinity if they don’t work in that field, or for a liberal arts degree, even though these courses may develop exactly the skills they are looking for.
And students need to be graded at the CLO level – for a particular job, are employers looking for a student with an A in analytical ability, or an A in communication skills, or a discipline knowledge geek? Given all of this, it is easy to see why the ‘skills first’ agenda is gaining ascendancy internationally, given its promise of far greater transparency and more accurate recognition of skills acquisition, which benefits both students/graduates and employers.
Why don’t we just tell employers in the student’s record of results or graduation statement what they know and are able to do as a result of their course learning?
Michael Tomlinson, Academic Board Chair at Victorian Institute of Technology, Nan Tien Institute of Higher Education and Governance Institute of Australia, and former TEQSA Director