Quality learning takes place when students are able to improve their mental abilities and change their mindsets and habits. Students’ learning outcome can be identified by the attainment of certain skills such as creativity, willingness to learn, desire for future learning, teamwork, oral and written communication, work planning, problem solving, analysis and conceptualisation, flexibility and adaptability, self-confidence, independent judgement, self and peer evaluation, implementation of change, ethical awareness, cultural understanding, etc.—important qualities expected from university graduates.

Universities generally conduct various student assessment methods to judge whether students have achieved certain learning objectives before they leave their respective universities. Unfortunately, these assessment techniques, developed within the university system, sometimes do not allow educators to see the definitive learning outcomes of graduates in the workplace. Consequently, employers’ feedback can be very constructive in indicating how graduates demonstrate their learning outcomes by how they perform in the workplace. Moreover, since a display of significant student learning is considered a prima facie demonstration that teaching has been effective, employers’ feedback is extremely important to support a teacher’s claim of good teaching. It provides the evidence of successful imparting of knowledge, development of abilities and changing of mindset to think critically and act accordingly with self-confidence.

This paper introduces the concept of employers’ feedback as an important tool for understanding the degree of achievement of learning outcomes and discusses briefly the items to be included in designing an employer feedback form.

The concept

Employers can provide information about whether they are satisfied with the skills and knowledge levels displayed by recent graduates. In designing an employer feedback form, first establish a broad outline of the desired outcomes of a particular module. The actual outcomes may vary according to the types of students (e.g. students who took the module on a major or minor, full-time or part-time basis, etc.). In spite of such expected variation, the preparation of a set of learning outcomes for a module is important, as it will serve as the baseline for the survey. Next, consider the time frame of the survey to specify when the survey should be conducted (i.e. within a year of graduation or a sizeable number of years after graduation), depending on the scope of what learning outcomes have to be demonstrated. For example, it may be sensible to delay the survey for a few years to see the learning outcomes for the modules that teach leadership practice or the practice of medicine.

Next, consider the time frame of the survey to specify when the survey should be conducted (i.e. within a year of graduation or a sizeable number of years after graduation), depending on the scope of what learning outcomes have to be demonstrated. For example, it may be sensible to delay the survey for a few years to see the learning outcomes for the modules that teach leadership practice or the practice of medicine.

Finally, include a detailed outline of the curriculum in the employers’ feedback form so as to determine the insufficiencies of the curriculum in achieving certain learning outcomes. For example if students do not achieve a particular outcome, this may be the result of curricular problems rather than deficiencies in teaching skills. Employers may then give feedback on how to modify the curriculum so that the required learning outcome can be achieved in future.

The items

The learning outcomes can be measured in three broad areas of students’ achievements: (a) demonstration of familiarity with the body of knowledge; (b) demonstration of abilities and mental capacities to apply familiar information and knowledge to various situations and problems; and (c) demonstration of analytical mindset and habit of thoughts while working with controversial issues and concepts¹. Accordingly, the feedback form may address the following items:

1. Knowledge

   • Familiarity with the body of knowledge

2. Abilities

   • Ability to apply knowledge
   • Capacity for independent learning and problem solving
   • Ability to discover and construct knowledge (e.g. ability to conduct independent research)
   • Capacity for critical thinking and creativity
   • Capacity for independent inquiry/intellectual curiosity and ability to employ the modes appropriate to a given question or problem
   • Ability to communicate effectively at the work place
   • Ability to work in a team as well as independently

3. Analytical mindset and thought habits

   • Willingness and readiness to question established views and theories
   • Willingness to learn more

4. Curriculum

   • Sufficiency of curriculum in achieving all the learning outcomes mentioned above

Employers’ feedback on all the above points is invaluable in the development of quality teaching. It will also help faculty members to support their claim of good teaching in summative teaching evaluation. An example of an employer survey form can be found on the West Texas A&M University’s website².

The logistics

While it is difficult to use students’ learning outcomes in evaluating individual faculty, they are a critical component of the evaluation of teaching at the department level. Although an ongoing employers’ survey of graduates can be organised at the department level, it may also be valuable for a faculty member to conduct his/her own survey so as to gain valuable indications of the quality of his/her teaching. Unfortunately, complexities may arise when dealing with a shared module, or a cross-faculty module. But these complexities are worth overcoming given the usefulness of employers’ feedback in highlighting a module’s achievements in terms of the quality of learning outcome attained.

Conclusion

Employers’ feedback can bring forth evidence of the quality of graduates’ learning outcome and give an overall judgement of the curriculum. Such feedback is crucial as it indicates the value of university learning and demonstrates the graduates’ abilities and mental capacities in the workplace. Consequently, conducting regular employers’ feedback surveys can determine the future directions/requirements of higher education, customise education according to employment needs, and most importantly, help universities to understand whether the learning objectives of their programmes have been achieved.

References

The author is greatly indebted to Mr Glen O’Grady, Senior Educational Development Specialist, CDTL, for his invaluable comments on this article.