Addressing Skills Gap: A Systemic Reframe and Redesign of Capstone using Design-Based Research

Johnston, Sonja Lynne

Addressing Skills Gap: A Systemic Reframe and Redesign of Capstone using Design-Based Research

dc.contributor.advisor	Jacobsen, Michele D. M.
dc.contributor.author	Johnston, Sonja Lynne
dc.contributor.committeemember	Clark, Douglas B.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Friesen, Sharon L.
dc.date	2024-11
dc.date.accessioned	2024-08-15T21:45:33Z
dc.date.available	2024-08-15T21:45:33Z
dc.date.issued	2024-08-12
dc.description.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.
dc.identifier.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.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119398
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Design-Based Research
dc.subject	Business Education
dc.subject	Skills Gap
dc.subject	Participatory Pedagogy
dc.subject	Learner-Centered Design
dc.subject	Work-Integrated Learning
dc.subject	Learning Sciences
dc.subject.classification	Education
dc.subject.classification	Education--Business
dc.subject.classification	Education--Higher
dc.subject.classification	Education--Curriculum and Instruction
dc.subject.classification	Business Administration--Management
dc.title	Addressing Skills Gap: A Systemic Reframe and Redesign of Capstone using Design-Based Research
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Education Graduate Program – Educational Research
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.