Addressing Skills Gap: A Systemic Reframe and Redesign of Capstone using Design-Based Research
Date
2024-08-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
A growing number of reports identify the skills gap between graduate competencies and employer expectations, especially for business school graduates. The added impact of economics, the pandemic, and the advancement of generative artificial intelligence is resulting in a further shift of workplace-necessary skills and the future of jobs. Post-secondary education is under pressure to prepare graduates for changing futures. If the skills gap is viewed as a systems problem instead of a student problem, how can reframed designs and course-based interventions be used in a systems approach to improve student learning experiences and create stronger workplace readiness? This design-based research study, comprised of three research cycles, explores research for, on, and through intervention, and investigates reframing and redesign in the context of an undergraduate Business Capstone course in a western Canadian polytechnic institute. Situated at the end of a degree pathway, the Capstone is an opportunity to consider the most effective conditions for students and instructors to best prepare for workplace futures beyond the post-secondary credential. Through the analysis of previous course iterations and stakeholder perspectives, the reframing, design, and implementation of an intervention as course design is engaged with two instructor-participants. Theoretical and practice implications are offered for approaching skills gap differently that focuses on coaching pedagogy and student development. Through this study, an alternative conceptual model to the Triple Helix is offered, using the 4M Framework (based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory) to orient interconnections and interrelations between stakeholders involved in Capstone, with student-centered reframing. A model is offered that proposes nine course-level considerations for design to support learner agency, autonomy, and development. Although the context of this research was business education in a post-secondary institution focused on applied learning, the insights gained are of interdisciplinary relevance and anchored in social constructivist learning theories that support transferability. As educators and students are faced with navigating ever-changing ecosystems, employers are seeking new perspectives and orientations to problem solving and innovation. This work explores the impact of reframing and redesign of conditions for learning, even within system bounded contexts, and directly effects surrounding businesses, communities, and society.
Description
Keywords
Design-Based Research, Business Education, Skills Gap, Participatory Pedagogy, Learner-Centered Design, Work-Integrated Learning, Learning Sciences
Citation
Johnston, S. L. (2024). Addressing skills gap: a systemic reframe and redesign of Capstone using design-based research (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.