A problem based approach to teaching employability and independent learning skills

A presentation from the STEM Annual Conference 2012.

This presentation addresses the disparate needs of higher education to deliver both technical skills in STEM subjects and also the employability skills demanded by government and employers without compromising either. In previous generations academics saw their role as delivering academic excellence. Universities had some responsibility to equip graduands with employability skills but this was seen to be the responsibility of careers departments. So long as students had the technical knowledge and the ability to learn they were to all intents and purposes de facto employable.