learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Revisiting the Personal Transferable Skills Debate - an
eLearning Pedagogical Perspective
Samuel Adu Gyamfi 1 , Lene Tolstrup Sorenson 1 and Thomas Ryberg 2
1
CMI, Aalborg University, Copenhagen
2
Faculty of Humanities, Aalborg University
sagy@plan.aau.dk
Abstract: Personal Transferable Skills (PTS) are essential work skills which are not specific to any subject or
profession, and which, though learned in one context may be successfully transferred to and applied in many
other contexts. They are skills that enable people to acquire, structure, interpret and put to efficient use, their
subject knowledge. There is a growing concern among educational providers and employers’ organisations on
the lack of PTS of university graduates. This phenomenon has been amplified by the need of university
graduates of the twenty-first century to possess skills and knowledge that can be effectively used in new domains
and in different situations since there is also an increasing tendency for graduates to take jobs outside their
academic field of study. There have been several attempts to promote PTS by university institutions in the
traditional classroom settings where three broad approaches for developing PTS within the curriculum have been
experimented with. To date, progress so far has been patchy. The paper is in two theoretical parts. The first part
seeks to advance the theoretical framework of REALs as the better approach to teaching and learning in our
universities. The second part of the paper argues that theoretically, communication theory (which draws on
contemporary rhetorical theory) and social informatics theory provide important perspective for the application of
eLearning based on REALs in the development of PTS for university graduates. The paper would contribute
significantly to theoretical underpinnings of eLearning based on REALs for the development of PTS of university
graduates.
Keywords: personal transferable skills, eLearning, Rich Environment for Active Learning, intentional learning,
co-operative learning
1. Introduction
The main aims of university education are to inspire and enable individuals to develop their
capabilities to the highest potential levels throughout life, so that they grow intellectually, are wellequipped
for work, can contribute effectively to society and achieve personal fulfilment; and to serve
the needs of an adaptable sustainable, knowledge-based economy at local regional and national
levels (Dearing, 1997). Consequently, the graduates of our universities who would constitute the
bedrock of the workers in this knowledge-based economy are expected to have more applied skills in
terms of teamwork, communication skills, problem solving and lifelong learning (OECD, 2006). These
skills have been variously referred to as core skills, personal skills, personal competences and
personal transferable skills (Justice, Rice, & Warry, 2009; Bridges, 1993; Drummond, Nixon, &
Wiltshire, 1998 & Nabi & Bagley, 1998). In this article, it has been referred to as personal transferable
skills (PTS). Personal transferable skills are essential work skills which are not specific to any subject
or profession and which, though learned in one context may be successfully transferred to and
applied in many other contexts. They are skills that enable people to acquire, structure, interpret and
put to efficient use, their subject knowledge (Gash & Reardon, 1988).
There is growing concern among educational providers and employers’ organisations on the lack of
PTS of university graduates (Drummond, Nixon, & Wiltshire, 1998 & Kemp & Seagraves, 1995). This
phenomenon has been amplified by the need of university graduates of the twenty-first century to
possess skills and knowledge that can be effectively used in new domains and in different situations,
since there is also an increasing tendency for graduates to take jobs outside their academic field of
study (Nabi & Bagley, 1998). There have been several attempts to promote PTS in university
institutions in the traditional classroom settings where three broad approaches for developing PTS
within the curriculum have been experimented with (Drummond, Nixon, & Wiltshire, 1998; Kemp &
Seagraves, 1995 & Chadha, 2006). These approaches include the embedded or integrated
development, parallel (or stand-alone) development and work placements or work-based projects.
Kemp & Seagraves (1995) report on findings of an empirical study of transferable skills provision on
five courses at Glasgow Caledonian University, which was carried out as part of a larger investigation
into a novel form of work-based learning experience – Structured Industrial Practice Studies (SIPS),
where the three approaches were used. The authors found out that a fairly high percentage of
students at the end of the course did not feel they had received formal instruction or additional help in
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