What are the competencies students and adult learners need today to engage in the world of work and further graduate studies?

Memorial University’s Career Integrated Learning Project seeks to build on a student’s competencies gained from in-class work, experiences outside the classroom and how they can be applied to career development.

Supported by a $569,400.00 grant from the Counselling Foundation of Canada, the goal of the career integrated learning project is to help students articulate their career competencies, or graduating student competencies (GSC) practiced through their university courses.

Video - Career Integrated Learning Project

This five year project was created as a result of:

• Experience in career development work in post-secondary
• Recognition that students needed more opportunity to reflect on their post-secondary experiences
• Discussion with colleagues in the university regarding student engagement
• Doctoral research that discussed student persistence and career development

To encourage development of competencies, career integrated learning is:

• Learner focused
• Learning embedded in experience
• Focused on the skills required to navigate life - leisure and work

Without changing any aspect of curricula, professors and project staff identify the competencies that exist in syllabi. The competencies are introduced to students alongside the course content and students are encouraged to reflect throughout the semester.

By reflecting, students make the connection between their university courses and the skills required to progress in life after university. While reflection is part of experiential learning programs this project extends that concept from workplace and/or community based programs to the classroom.

Memorial University’s Teaching and Learning Framework gives several examples of GSC including:

• be critical and practical thinkers
• demonstrate ethical, moral and intellectual integrity
• be creative and responsive problem solvers
• communicate effectively with others

Our goal is to create an e-portfolio system for students to track the development of GSC through their university studies. The project provides an opportunity to engage faculty, staff, and students in identifying the skills developed at Memorial and opens a discourse on career development.