Activities Suitable for The Development of Graduate Attributes Among Senior Engineering Students

Abstract

A challenge that is currently faced by many engineering educators around the globe is a lack of knowledge of what graduate attributes really entail and how they should be integrated and assessed in the curricula. The learned experiences of academics who have successfully assessed some of these attributes in their respective modules may help fellow academics in meeting this challenge. The purpose of this article is to highlight what activities an academic has used to help senior engineering students demonstrate two of the 11 graduate attributes required by a national engineering council that may help fellow academics, not to repeat mistakes, but rather achieve success in meeting the expectations of a statutory body. A descriptive case study is used which aims to provide a description of a phenomenon (activities used to help students demonstrate the acquisition of two graduate attributes) within a given context (a higher education qualification in engineering). The qualification was successfully accredited by the Engineering Council of South Africa in 2022, where exit-level modules featuring graduate attributes at the advanced level were scrutinized. This testifies to the validity of the activities used in this regard. The practical grades of students within this module indicate that the activities were neither to challenging nor to complex. The average grade for the activities for 2021 and 2022 for 371 students was 65%. It is recommended that academics continue to share their experiences with regard to the development of graduate attributes, as this will continue to contribute to the dialogue and help guide fellow academics in meeting the ongoing challenge of integrating and assessing them.