| Abstract: | University education has been very effective in preparing graduates to be discipline experts but there has been an increased emphasis on students becoming more generalist in their abilities. This paper examines the opinions that instructors and students have about the teaching of generic skills in a School of Materials Science and Engineering in Australia. In interviews, both groups demonstrated a limited understanding of what constituted generic skills, but classroom observation found broad evidence of a range of such skills being taught and practiced. We conclude that it would be an advantage for the students, and their subsequent employers, if instructors worked to make the teaching and practice of generic skills more explicit in their course materials. |
