"The confidence to do things that I know nothing about" - Skills development through extra-curricular inquiry activity

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a survey given to students engaging in educational enhancement activities in inquiry/enquiry-based learning at two Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). The students involved were asked to comment on the skills they felt that they had developed as part of their roles as 'interns' and 'ambassadors'. These comments were analysed inductively and several strong themes emerged. Students valued the opportunity to engage in such activities, which they felt developed a wide range of transferable skills and impacted positively upon their academic work and their prospects for future employment. While there is a considerable amount of literature on Higher Education and skills development, a growing body of work on how curricular IBL impacts upon students' capabilities, and a plethora of studies on how paid and unpaid extra-curricular activities impact upon students' educational achievement, few studies have sought to relate these areas of research.

Keywords

• Skills Development
• Students as Partners
• Inquiry-Based Learning
• Centres for Excellence