How to Incorporate Generic Competences into Your Study Programme

1. Generic Competences at Ghent University: What Does It Mean?

By definition, cross-disciplinary, generic competencies are used in a broad range of (unpredictable) situations and professional contexts. Think of, for instance, collaboration, creative or strategic thinking, entrepreneurship, communication skills, language proficiency, dealing with diversity, IT skills and digital literary, among others.

Generic competencies encompass the knowledge, the skills and the attitudes that are necessary to function and to keep developing in an ever-changing world. A variety of terms is used to describe these cross-disciplinary competencies: key competencies, 21st-century skills, lifelong learning competencies, or transversal skills. At Ghent University, we have adopted the term generic competencies, which we then subdivide into three clusters:

intrapersonal competencies: knowledge, skills, and attitudes vis-à-vis one’s own functioning and development
interpersonal competencies: knowledge, skills, and attitudes vis-à-vis (the) other(s)
creative and innovative competencies: knowledge, skills, and attitudes to think and act innovatively

These clusters, in turn, are subdivided further into three subclusters. Taken together, they form an outline to serve as inspiration for Ghent University study programmes.

2. Incorporating Generic Competences into the Curriculum: Why?

New jobs, new ways of working together, and new technologies call for cross-disciplinary competencies. These competencies enable students to react appropriately in situations/problems for which there exists no well-established solution yet. In a fast-evolving knowledge society, after all, knowledge and skills become outdated in no time. At Ghent University, we want to be ready for the challenges of the future. With our future-proof education we want to deliver graduates who are at once experts in their discipline and also so-called T-shaped professionals. Such T-shaped professionals have an in-depth expertise in at least one discipline and are able to see the correlation between other disciplines, as well as interact with them.

A premium-quality future-proof study programme, in other words, delivers graduates who, in addition to their in-depth specialist expertise, possess a broad set of knowledge, skills and attitudes which allows an empathic approach to collaboration with other disciplines. This enables them to solve complex social issues in an (inter)national context. With their cross-disciplinary character, generic competencies are a necessary enrichment and strengthening of the disciplinary foundations of any academic study programme. The figure below is an illustration of how generic competencies and in-depth disciplinary competencies can be integrated. The incorporation of generic competencies into a set of clear-cut, topical, and sustainable programme competencies (in Dutch: OLRs) is the groundwork for a coherent curriculum, for a study programme’s assessment policy, and in a broader sense also for the required learning environment (resources, staff, facilities).

At Ghent University, the focus on generic competencies is not new. Thanks to our six strategic education objectives, such generic competencies as academic integrity, multiperspectivism, as well as critical and problem-solving thought have been encoded in our DNA for some time now. The ensuing question for many of our study programmes (and their Programme Committees) is whether or not they have embedded a sufficient number of generic competencies into their programme competencies/learning outcomes (in Dutch: OLRs), whether or not these generic competencies are appropriate, and whether or not the curriculum has been designed to facilitate an optimal acquisition of those generic competencies.

What poses a challenge for many of our study programmes, in other words, is questioning their vision on graduates in terms of and whether or not that vision is still topical. Consulting with the relevant stakeholders is the best way forward. Based on these consultations they can then decide to enrich their programme competencies/learning outcomes with any relevant generic competencies, to (re)design the curriculum in such a way that it fosters and assesses an optimal acquisition of those generic competencies. In doing so, they pave the way for their students to participate in, and contribute to today’s and tomorrow’s society.

3. Incorporating Generic Competencies into the Curriculum: How?

The roadmap below gives an overview of what Programme Committees can do to focus on generic competencies in their study programmes. Please note that our exercise starts from the assumption that the discipline-specific topicality of the curriculum is beyond dispute. If this is not the case, the Programme Committee should first run a curricular revision, in order to update the discipline-specific, academic-scientific and profession-specific competencies (cf. the Education Tip on How to (Re)Write Programme-specific Learning Outcomes), and to bring those aspects into alignment with current tendencies in the field, and with the needs and expectations of the professional field. Apply for tailor-made support from our education support staff by contacting onderwijsondersteuning@ugent.be.

3.1 Bring Together a Committed Team

In consultation with your Programme Committee (PC), bring together a group of people who are committed to this theme. Who are possible key players in this process of change? Think for instance of:

lecturers or other staff members associated with the study programme who already focus on, or are interested in generic competencies;

students and alumni of the study programme;

stakeholders from the professional field;

faculty support staff: curriculum managers, education support staff and/or quality assurance staff…;

central support staff: process facilitators for study programme support.

The more diverse the team, the more guarantee the study programme has of being screened and helped from various perspectives, and of gaining a broad outlook on things. In the past, the students' critical perspective has consistently proven to be very valuable in opening up the discussion about the curriculum and increasing receptiveness to new/different opportunities.

3.2 Refresh Your Vision

Have your team consider the balance between the acquisition of discipline-specific, academic-scientific, and, possibly, profession-specific competencies on the one hand, and the acquisition of generic competencies on the other. Also consider which generic competencies are needed for the graduate profile of your (future) students. Follow this two-step approach:

1. The Programme Committee considers the following questions:

what graduate profile do you aspire 5-10 years from now? What knowledge, and which skills and attitudes does a future-proof student need to master?

which current and future social issues are relevant to the study programme and its graduates?

2. The Programme Committee reflects on the generic competencies that are needed to deliver that graduate (profile):

which generic competencies (intrapersonal, interpersonal or creative/innovative) are needed to deliver the future-proof student described above?

which of those competencies are already embedded in the programme competencies/learning outcomes?

what are competencies that deserve further emphasis in the curriculum?

Once the Programme Committee has identified one or more generic competencies that they find important, these competencies can be incorporated into the programme-specific competencies/learning outcomes. This will make the Programme Committee’s vision more visible to stakeholders such as (prospective) students, lecturers, support staff, the professional field, ... (cf. the Education Tip ‘How to (Re)Design Programme-specific Competencies'). In a next step, the Programme Committee determines the relevant learning outcomes at the level of the various course units. The outline below contains three competency areas, each in turn subdivided into three subclusters. For each subcluster we have described possible course competencies/learning outcomes that you can develop and assess at course unit level. The outline offers a shared understanding of generic competencies at Ghent University, and it serves as an inspirational framework for study programmes to determine which generic competencies a student needs. Programme Committees can use the outline to identify relevant course competencies/learning outcomes, and, if necessary, customise them to suit their purpose.

3.3 Optimise the Curriculum to Boost the Acquisition of Generic Competencies

Once you have determined a set of generic competencies and have incorporated them into the programme-specific competencies/learning outcomes, the next step is to actually implement them in the curriculum, e.g. by means of an explicit learning pathway or a set of electives. The course competencies/learning outcomes are developed step by step in the course units that contribute to the programme-specific competencies/learning outcomes. The learning process should flow as logically as possible, bringing the students to a higher level of mastery gradually. These levels of mastery are determined in the programme-specific competencies/learning outcomes. In addition, the teaching and assessment methods in the different course units should be constructively aligned.

Generic competencies call for an approach to teaching that is different (in terms of teaching and assessment methods) from the traditional approach to discipline-specific knowledge, skills and attitudes. That is why accommodating experiential learning into the curriculum is important. It allows students to develop generic competencies through specific experiences. Again, this is a gradual process which requires a coherent curriculum that leaves room for (inter)active learning experiences with varying degrees of intensity. Such learning experiences can range from the acquisition of knowledge and insights on generic competencies to the application of these competencies in a controlled setting or the demonstration of generic competencies in an authentic context. The choice of teaching methods (guest speaker, authentic examples, case-based teaching, excursion, simulation, cooperative learning, challenge-based education...) should foster the acquisition of the course competencies/learning outcomes in the different course units.

A switch to (inter)active teaching methods has consequences for your choice of assessment methods, too. In the context of experiential learning it is essential for students to learn how to monitor and assess their own learning process (and that of others) by means of reflection (individually or collaboratively). Self-assessment, peer assessment and giving/receiving feedback are a part of that process. Apart from their role as an expert and conveyor of discipline-specific knowledge (which they do actively and evidence-based), the lecturer also facilitates the students’ learning process, whose starting competencies are much more heterogeneous. The acquisition of generic competencies calls for another approach to assessment, as well. Find out more in our Education Tip on How to Assess Generic Competencies.

If you want to make room for generic competencies in your curriculum, apply for tailor-made support from our education support staff by contacting onderwijsondersteuning@ugent.be.

4. Want to Know More?

Additional information and links:

In case you have questions or want to share good practices, please contact us at onderwijsondersteuning@ugent.be.

References

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Last modified April 9, 2024, 1:41 p.m.