scholarly journals Investigating the Perception of Stakeholders on Soft Skills Development of Students: Evidence from South Africa

10.28945/3417 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estelle Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Problem Statement ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Interdisciplinary Journal ◽  
Development Of Students

[The final form of this paper was published in the journal Interdisciplinary Journal of e-Skills and Lifelong Learning.] Soft skills are becoming increasingly important and will be critical for success in the Information Systems profession. Employers complain about a lack in soft skills among graduates from tertiary education institutions. No agreement exists about what these skills actually are, which are of importance, and how acquiring these soft skills should be approached in higher education. The aim of this paper is to research the perceptions of lecturers, industry, and students on soft skills development of students and to identify important soft skills that need to be developed. The paper starts with a problem statement emphasizing the importance of soft skills and the possible lack thereof. This is followed by a literature review, a description of the methodology followed for this research, the results, conclusion, and the references. The research was done at a university in South Africa. Questionnaires consisting of open questions were distributed to lecturers, industry, and students respectively, and qualitative analysis was done on the results. Results show that stakeholders feel that soft skills of students are not developed adequately, that there is some uncertainty about who should be responsible for developing soft skills, and that the development of soft skills is seen as a difficult task. A list is compiled of the most important soft skills according to literature, lecturers, industry, and students. This list can be used in further research on the soft skills of IT-students. Recommendations are made for the teaching and learning of soft skills.

scholarly journals Investigating the Perception of Stakeholders on Soft Skills Development of Students: Evidence from South Africa

10.28945/3412 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 001-018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estelle Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Problem Statement ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Development Of Students

Soft skills are becoming increasingly important and will be critical for success in the Information Systems profession. Employers complain about a lack in soft skills among graduates from tertiary education institutions. No agreement exists about what these skills actually are, which are of importance, and how acquiring these soft skills should be approached in higher education. The aim of this paper is to research the perceptions of lecturers, industry, and students on soft skills development of students and to identify important soft skills that need to be developed. The paper starts with a problem statement emphasizing the importance of soft skills and the possible lack thereof. This is followed by a literature review, a description of the methodology followed for this research, the results, conclusion, and the references. The research was done at a university in South Africa. Questionnaires consisting of open questions were distributed to lecturers, industry, and students respectively, and qualitative analysis was done on the results. Results show that stakeholders feel that soft skills of students are not developed adequately, that there is some uncertainty about who should be responsible for developing soft skills, and that the development of soft skills is seen as a difficult task. A list is compiled of the most important soft skills according to literature, lecturers, industry, and students. This list can be used in further research on the soft skills of IT-students. Recommendations are made for the teaching and learning of soft skills.

Challenges Posed by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for South African Higher Education Institutions

10.28945/2679 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
ME Herselman ◽  
HR Hay
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Teaching Learning

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are the major driving forces of globalised and knowledge-based societies of a new world era. They will have a profound impact on teaching and learning for two decades to come. The revolutionary change which is taking place in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), has dramatic effects on the way universities carry out their functions of teaching, learning and research, particularly on the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge. These developments pose unprecedented challenges to higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries particular in South Africa as South Africa is viewed as the leading country on the continent.

Soft skills development in entry-level internal auditors: perspectives from practising internal auditors, students and facilitators in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Cornelius Steyn
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Auditors ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Alternative Teaching ◽  
Interview Survey ◽  
Teaching Learning

Purposeliterature and research internationally indicate a lack of sufficient facilitation of soft skills development in entry-level internal auditors (internal audit graduates upon entering the workplace), although it is essential for entry-level internal auditors to be able to apply soft skills effectively. The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which these international views and findings on soft skills development are evident in South Africa according to practising internal auditors, students and facilitators. Comparisons are also drawn between the perceptions of practising internal auditors, students and facilitators.Design/methodology/approachPurposive sampling was used, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire and an interview survey with quantitative analysis.FindingsIn general, the results concur with the literature in terms of the lack of sufficient facilitation and the importance of soft skills development in entry-level internal auditors in South Africa for all three groups. Significant differences were also found between some of the perceptions of practising internal auditors, students and facilitators.Practical implicationsThis study benefits internal audit employers, students and facilitators because soft skills are an in-demand graduate attribute and the application of alternative teaching–learning activities to develop students' soft skills also promotes deep learning through student engagement.Originality/valueThe identification of the 21 soft skills categories from the literature, which should be developed in entry-level internal auditors, has not been researched before as well as the perspectives of students and facilitators in South Africa on soft skills development.

Comparing Engineering Education Systems Among USA, EU, Philippines and South Africa

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela C. Alves ◽  
Franz-Josef Kahlen ◽  
Shannon Flumerfelt ◽  
Anna Bella Siriban Manalang
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
University Education ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Solid Core ◽  
Education Systems

Globalization has permeated our personal and professional lives and careers over the past two decades, to a point where communication, product development, and service delivery now are globally distributed. This means that the globalization of engineering practice is in effect. Large corporations tap into the global market for recruitment of engineers. However, the education of engineers occurs within the context of individual Higher Education Institutions. Engineers are educated with varying pacing and scoping of higher education programming with varying methods and pedagogy of higher education teaching. The expectations for engineering practice normed from the corporate side within the engineering marketplace, therefore, often do not match the widely dispersed educational experiences and outcomes of engineering education delivery. This gap brings challenges for all stakeholders, employers, higher education and the engineering graduate. But particularly, university education systems which traditionally are slow to respond to shifting market trends and demands, are expected to realign and restructure to answer this shortfall. A response to this shortfall has been prepared independently in different regions and countries. This paper discusses the response from Europe, USA, South Africa and Philippines. The European Commission started building a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) with the intention of promoting the mobility and the free movement of students and teachers in European tertiary education. US universities are introducing a design spine and strengthening students’ systems thinking and problem solving competencies. Philippines is trying to be aligned with ABET system from US. South Africa universities are evolving to a solid core undergraduate engineering curriculum with a limited set of electives available to students which include project-based learning. This is intended to address the education-workplace gap as well. This theoretical paper will provide a comparison study of the differences between the Engineering Education in USA, EU, Philippines and South Africa. The authors will compare current trends and initiatives, aimed at improving the readiness and competitiveness of regional engineering graduates in the workplace. Given that several worthwhile initiatives are underway, it is possible that these initiatives will remain as disparate responses to the need for the globalization of engineering education. Lean performance management systems are widely used in engineering practice internationally and represent one possible rallying concept for the globalization of engineering education in order to address the education-workplace gap. Therefore, this paper examines whether the introduction of a Lean Engineering Education philosophy is a worthwhile global curricular innovation for engineering courses.

scholarly journals Investigating Suggestions for Increasing the Throughput Rate of IS Students

10.28945/2678 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsa Naude ◽  
Tertia Horne
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Throughput Rate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Second Year

During the past few years science faculties at tertiary education institutions in South Africa have had to face increasing pressure from national as well as provincial government bodies to improve the student throughput rate. Various suggestions have been made to achieve this goal. This paper investigates the viability of two of these suggestions for solving the throughput problem. It is part of a larger reflexive research project investigating various aspects of the teaching and learning of Computing and IS through distance education. Information from the assignment records and the examination marks of students for a specific Computer Science second year module with a practical component was used for this study.

scholarly journals SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN JOINT ACTIVITY WITH A SPECIAL COMPUTER SYSTEM

2020 ◽  
pp. 234-240
Author(s):  
Андрей Андреевич Титов
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Computer System ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Communication Competence ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Primary School Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Modern Computer ◽  
Development Of Students

Представлено авторское компьютерное психолого-педагогическое средство, предназначенное, в частности, для развития коммуникативных компетенций и навыков soft skills младших школьников. Обсуждается потенциал и варианты его применения в целях развития взаимодействия учащихся и учебной мотивации в контексте предметного содержания. Предложены альтернативные (внеклассные) способы развития коммуникативных компетенций и их производных посредством современных компьютерных технологий, предназначенных для организации учебной деятельности, а также повышения эффективности взаимодействия школьников между собой и с учителями. This article describes a special computer system which was created, in particular, to develop communication competence and soft skills of primary school students. A potential and ways to apply for development of students interaction in the meaning of particular subjects are discussed. We suggest alternative (out-of-class) ways to develop these skills and derivatives with modern computer technologies, which is designed to organize of learning activities and to increase of efficiency children and teachers interaction.

scholarly journals Faithfulness and fidelity across identities and contexts for SOTL in the global South

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
KC Lee ◽  
Zach Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Global South ◽  
The Other ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

Issue 5.2 of SOTL in the South features four peer-reviewed articles, one reflective piece and one book review. The peer-reviewed articles include two articles about broader concerns related to the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education, namely the discursive and negotiated work of producing SoTL work and the importance of considering diverse worldviews regarding research ethics. In addition, there are two detailed accounts of instances of SoTL, one from Lesotho, addressing the challenges facing students from rural contexts, and the other from South Africa, investigating the implementation of collaborative learning in a fourth-year social work classroom. The issue concludes with a reflection on an action-oriented workshop held in Aotearoa New Zealand aimed at increasing the number of Māori and Pasifika academics, and a review of The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South.

scholarly journals Soft Skills Research in Higher Education: Top 100 Scopus-Indexed Publications

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-607
Author(s):  
Olesia V. Rumiantseva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
University Education ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Pedagogical Issues ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Subject Areas

Introduction. At present, employers’ standards for university graduates are scrutinized, obviously stepping up requirements for soft skills. The issue of modernization of university curricula or development of new ones that include soft skills development in the framework of university education is relevant. The importance of the problem makes us turn to the experiences of foreign universities. This article aims to identify the main subject areas, where much attention is paid to the issues of soft skills, as well as directions of research on students’ soft skills development between 2010 and 2020 in the framework of higher education. Materials and Methods. ИThe study was conducted in two phases. During the first phase, we used a search strategy to identify the main subject areas of research on the topic of soft skills development in the period from 2010 to 2020. At the second phase, a study of one hundred most cited articles indexed in the Scopus database on the topic of soft skills in education was carried out. The selection was based on the inclusion and non-inclusion criteria. We used a method of content analysis. The selected articles were divided into several clusters demonstrating the research focus. Results. The analysis of foreign studies provided information on the subject fields that essentially focus on forming soft skills. The main subject areas, where the largest number of studies on soft skills published from 2010 to 2020 were recorded, embrace social sciences, IT, engineering, business and accounting. The areas of research on students’ soft skills in the period between 2010 and 2020 were general pedagogical issues, issues of increasing employability, and different areas of education. Discussion and Conclusion. A selection of the worldʼs best practices described in the leading articles on the formation of soft skills in education enriches the collection of methodological techniques of teachers in various specialized disciplines. The materials of the article can be useful for methodologists and teachers of professional education institutions, engaged in the formation and development of a new type of curricula, taking into account the needs of the modern labor market, and persons interested in the problems of higher education.

scholarly journals English Trainee Teachers’ Perspective on Soft Skills Development in Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Kniaz ◽  
Olena Chukhno
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Trainee Teachers ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Professional Teacher ◽  
Research Questions

The integration of soft skills in training pre-service teachers ensures higher academic performance and provides them with better career opportunities. However, many university teachers pay insufficient attention to developing soft skills in higher education. The article aims to investigate the correlation between the soft skills included in professional teacher training and undergraduates’ viewpoint on soft skills development at university. The authors formulated three research questions: (a) How do English trainee teachers assess their soft skills? (b) How much attention, in students’ opinion, do teachers pay to developing soft skills? (c) Is there a gap between teachers’ work on developing students’ soft skills and trainee teachers’ expectations? To answer these questions, the researchers analized the empirical data received through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was completed by 153 English trainee teachers studying at H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. The respondents answered two close-ended questions regarding the level of soft skills they believe to possess and the amount of time devoted to soft skills development. The findings suggest that most students consider the level of their soft skills intermediate or high. Nevertheless, a significant number of the respondents still feel that teachers pay insufficient or hardly any attention to improving these skills. It is necessary to conduct further research to analyze university teachers’ viewpoint on improving students’ soft skills and organize the development of soft skills which would meet trainee teachers’ expectations.

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