Characterising students' perceptions of their learning environment via an understanding of generic skills acquisition

This innovation aimed to find a way to embed teaching of University of Tasmania Generic Graduate Attributes (GGAs) into 2nd yr Zoology practical classes, and became a means of gauging student satisfaction with their Zoology experiences. Graduating students are asked to evaluate learning experiences via course Evaluation Questionnaires (CEQ), but how well do they understand teaching aims and the design of learning exercises? Can they relate specific tasks to the acquisition of particular generic skills, or must we be much more overt about our reasons for designing tasks in a particular way? I have investigated different ways of embedding GGAs into my teaching, and evaluated students' abilities to link learning tasks and practical exercises with the opportunity to practice and/or master various GGAs. I have also followed a cohort of students through their next year of study and revisited with them the level of impact their increased awareness has had on subsequent learning experiences.