In the biological sciences as elsewhere, the development and assessment of tertiary students' generic skills is receiving considerable attention. This recognises: graduates' need for adaptable skills in order to respond to future change; the value placed on generic skills by employers; and the need for learning to continue beyond university. Describing the requisite skills of new employees, one employer of biological science graduates said:

Good verbal communication skills, not only in the subject area but in wider areas of interest that allow someone to interact well with non-specialists. It is always a bonus to have someone who writes well. An ability to work independently but always know at what stage there should be reporting of work or problems to the supervisor. In other words, I would not want someone who is just going to go off and do their own thing. [employer]

From our discussion with employers of science and technology graduates we know that they are looking for well-rounded people with good communication and interpersonal skills; people who can learn independently and have a desire to keep increasing their knowledge and abilities throughout life. They want people capable of both critical thought and creativity. [excerpt from UniServe Science resource]

Defining generic skills

Despite widespread agreement that generic skills are important, there is no absolute definition of these skills. Principally debate centres around just how generic 'generic skills' really are. Taken literally, a generic skill would be discipline-neutral. That is, the generic skills of science graduates and those of arts graduates would be indistinguishable. Yet this is unlikely to be the case for many of the skills that we consider 'generic'. Written communication is a good example. The style of writing that is valued in science is quite different to the 'creative voice' that characterises writing in many of the arts disciplines. For this reason, transferable is often preferred to generic - skills developed in one arena serve as a basis for further development and adaptation when transferred to another arena.

The generic skills typically associated with university education include high level skills in:

• Written communication
• Oral communication
• Critical and analytical thinking
• Problem-solving
• Teamwork
• Independent learning
• Information literacy

Many other skills and attributes could be added to this list, and often are. For example, to 'think and reason logically', to 'be open to new ideas and possibilities', and to 'be responsible and effective citizens' are some of the phrases that appear in university lists of generic skills.

Generic skills learning within the curriculum

One of the academic staff we interviewed described university education in biological science as three complementary levels of learning. The first, he argued, is irrespective of the discipline and develops a set of a skills that are recognisably 'generic'. Within this, he argues, is framed the learning of science as a process of enquiry, and then the particular ways of thinking that characterise biological science.

It's multi-dimensional.  Clearly you're introducing students, at the highest level, to university study itself - that is, the nature of higher education... So what is different about higher education?  ... hopefully after any first-year unit, whether it's my biology or anybody else's unit on campus, students will walk out with a different way of thinking that characterises higher education, with all of those attributes of higher education in terms of scepticism, and enquiry, and critical thinking ... all the rest of it.  They're the generic attributes of higher education. 

Next level down, one would hope that what [students] get out of the unit is the particular thinking in science itself as a form of enquiry. So you would hope that at the end of a course, people would come to an understanding about what's distinctive about science, about it demanding evidence, and it's a blend of logic and imagination, and so on. [Thirdly] you want to come out ... with some sense about what's special about biology as opposed to physics.  What's characteristic about biology? [academic, describing biological science learning at university]

While generic skill development may characterise higher education generally, most of the learning takes place within a particular disciplinary context. For the majority of undergraduate students studying biological sciences in Australia, their studies involve courses in the life sciences complemented by some study in associated science disciplines. Extensive study in non-science subjects is not commonly part of degree structures in the biological sciences.

Some generic skills are taught directly, and assessed explicitly, within the biological sciences. This is not equally true for all the valued skills and attributes, however. For example, interpersonal skills are highly valued and clearly transferable to many contexts - yet these are difficult to teach and even more difficult to assess. Even more problematic is the assessment of graduate attributes associated with ethics and values. How, for example, do we assess students' respect for different cultures or sense of civic responsibility? Should we? Statements of graduate attributes are often aspirational and, as such, may lie beyond the realm of direct teaching and assessment.

Approaches to the teaching and assessment of generic skills

Despite the complexities and associated challenges described above, the teaching and assessment of generic skills is an integral component of courses in the biological sciences. 

Critical thinking and analysis

Many learning and assessment tasks in the biological sciences are specifically designed to develop students' skills in critical thinking and analysis. A few of the more typical examples are listed below.

• Critique of scientific papers [Examples: Abbott; Cooke 3; Fairweather 2; May].
• Interpretation and analysis of experimental data [Examples: Benkendorff 1; Burke;  Hancock 1].
• Writing a critical review, essay or similar written assignment [Examples: Cooke 3; Fairweather 1; Wassens 2].
• Concept maps [Example: Sutton].
• Debates [Example: Short].

In some cases critical analysis is an explicit assessment criterion. In other cases, it may be more implicit. For example, criteria for an essay may include well-structured argument, original interpretation or supported by appropriate literature. Each of these identifies the outcomes from a critical and analytical approach to a task.

Critical and logical thinking involve asking a series of questions, such as: what is the question being addressed? what are the assumptions? what is the evidence? It requires that students develop the confidence to question assumptions and to pose relevant questions.

[see also: Examinations; Research projects; Presentations; Tests and quizzes; Written assignments]
 

Oral communication skills

Oral presentations are clearly a task associated with the development and assessment of oral communication skills. While assessment criteria for oral presentations will often also cover content, aspects of oral communication usually feature heavily [Examples: Macaulay; May; Oldroyd] [see also: Presentations].

There are numerous, less visible ways in which students develop their oral communication skills through their course of study. Few of these are directly assessed, however, with the possible exception of participation in small-group settings such as tutorials [see also: Student participation and contributions].
 

Written communication skills

The development of written communication skills rates highly among the learning outcomes in the biological sciences. In particular, priority is given to the ability to present logical, well-structured argument and to precision and clarity of expression [Examples: Cavanagh 1; Hargreaves 2;  Mulder 3;  Rogers 1; Taylor 1]. Colourful or highly 'creative' prose is not usually a feature of writing in the biological sciences.

One of the themes to emerge from our interviews with academic staff were concerns about the poor writing skills demonstrated by some students, particularly in large and diverse classes. A basic level of skill with grammar, vocabulary and expression is deemed a necessary starting point for further development of students' writing skills  - yet many students are struggling with these basics. We were told of a range of intitiatives developed in response, including the early identification of students' particular needs [Examples: Cavanagh 1] and the provision of learning strategies and resources to support all students [Examples: Gleeson; Miller 1; Quinnell 1; Taylor 1; Taylor 2] [see also: Written assignments].
 

Team work skills

The ability to work in a team is an important generic skill. Groupwork and, particulary, group projects are widely used to both develop and assess students' team work skills. The direct assessment of such skills often involves peer and self-assessment, and may include specific criteria associated with team work processes [Examples: Kleindorfer; Meyer].

[see also: Groupwork; Peer and self-assessment]
 

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are directly taught and assessed in some biological science courses, most notably in the health sciences. In general, however, students' development of these critical skills is less visible and their assessment less direct. Groupwork is a good example. Successful groupwork relies upon negotiation and high levels of interpersonal skills. While it is common for group processes to be assessed, this work rarely touches on interpersonal skills per se. Similarly, peer assessment that involves giving constructive feedback to fellow students is particularly challenging in terms of interpersonal skills. Even in those situations where the reviewers' contribution is assessed, the criteria are unlikely to include specific reference to interpersonal skills.

[Examples: Kleindorfer; Meyer; Mulder 1]

Information literacy

Life long learning is contingent upon well-developed information literacy, among other things. Familiarity with the diversity of information sources in the discipline is an important learning outcome for graduates in the biological sciences. Literature-based research and analysis of the scientific literature helps students to develop a sense of the role of the 'primary literature' in the sciences. In particular, the distinctions between original research published in peer-reviewed journals, and secondary sources such as review articles and textbooks. The requirement for high levels of information literacy is increasing with the growth in online publishing in all its various forms. The ability to negotiate an increasingly information-rich terrain is a valuable skill in any career.

Written assignments, and their referencing, provide an effective means of developing and assessing students' information literacy skills. For example, it is not uncommon for students to cite papers from electronic journals as if they were websites - author, date, title and URL - apparently not distinguishing peer-reviewed and original research from other, less-authoritative websites.

[Example: Fairweather 1] [see also: Research projects; Written assignments]

Ethics and values

Many of the staff interviewed stressed the importance of ethics as a theme in biological sciences curricula. 'Ethics' in curricula can mean a variety of things -  ethical standards relevant to particular professions; the ethics of scholarship and intellectual integrity; and values such as respect for cultural diversity, for example.

Most commonly, ethics is represented within the curricula through the selection of topics that have a clear ethical dimension and the design of tasks that require students to consider and present a diversity of perspectives [Example: Cooke 1]. For example, the arguments for and against human cloning [Example: Ross 4].