Reading, writing and apprenticeships: developing an authentic reading and assessment strategy for graduate apprenticeships.

Sutherland, William J.; Fulford, Heather

Abstract

The recent launch of graduate apprenticeships in Scotland requires participating universities to collaborate closely with employers to design and develop innovative curricula to enable apprentices to acquire new knowledge and develop relevant skills both in a traditional university learning and teaching setting as well as in the workplace. This paper argues that the additional context of learning situated in the workplace provides a particular impetus to consider and reflect the requirement and deployment of authentic reading strategies and authentic assessment regimes as essential design elements in these programmes. We present a discussion of the approach we are adopting to designing curricula and preparing learning and assessment resources for graduate apprenticeships in Business Management and Business Management: Financial Services. We focus here specifically on our plans for helping apprentices on these programmes to navigate the plethora of information resources available to them and develop effective reading strategies and information literacy skills in both academic and professional contexts. We indicate how the enhancement of these skills forms an important precursor to tackling the authentic assessments designed for apprentices to evidence their professional and academic learning during their apprenticeships. Our planning and design activity draws first on aspects of our recent research into reading skills and strategies among professionals and business students, as well as on our established track record of delivering a variety of work-based learning programmes. It is envisaged that findings and lessons learned from our work will help guide and inform other institutions across the UK as they establish curricula for graduate or degree apprenticeships.

Citation

SUTHERLAND, W.J. and FULFORD, H. 2018. Reading, writing and apprenticeships: developing an authentic reading and assessment strategy for graduate apprenticeships. Presented at the 2018 Chartered Association of Business Schools learning, teaching and student experience conference (CABS LTSE 2018), 24-25 April 2018, Glasgow, UK.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: 2018 Chartered Association of Business Schools learning, teaching and student experience conference (CABS LTSE 2018)
• Conference Location: Glasgow, UK
• Start Date: Apr 24, 2018
• End Date: Apr 25, 2018
• Deposit Date: Aug 3, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 3, 2018
• Keywords: Graduate apprenticeships; Authentic reading; Authentic assessment; Information literacy; Information resources; Employability
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/3049