Graduate attributes are the overarching qualities, skills, knowledge and abilities to be developed by students during their studies in undergraduate programs.

While graduate attributes were first introduced at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 1996, there was no requirement to articulate in program descriptions or course profiles what attributes were developed and how they were developed across the program or course. (See the 'Notes' section for definitions of 'program' and 'course'.) Therefore, a graduate attribute mapping process was adopted in February 2002 by the University's Academic Board to complement the revised set of graduate attributes approved in 2001. Following a review of the policy in 2004, specific attributes for bachelor degree with honours graduates were added. Also in 2004, the University undertook to evaluate the attributes that should be achieved by students undertaking postgraduate coursework programs. The graduate attribute mapping process was then applied to these programs.

Mapping graduate attributes and embedding them within programs and courses supports and encourages teaching staff explicitly to reflect on where students will develop the attributes within programs and courses, and how this will be done. A focus on graduate attributes also makes explicit the philosophy underpinning the University's teaching and learning. It also encourages students to recognise these developments in themselves.

The process was developed in concert with the following curriculum requirements:

• Submissions for new programs must include a statement of graduate attributes to be developed in the program.
• Graduate attributes and their outcomes will be assessed as part of UQ's curriculum review process.

'Mapping' is the act of tracing where support for the development of graduate attributes occurs within a program or course. The mapping process leads to the 'embedding' of attributes in all curricula. While no course will develop every attribute, it is expected that the attributes will be developed incrementally across the program of study.

In developing the mapping process as it would apply to programs, a unit of analysis appropriate to both generalist and professional programs was determined. The sequence of study - defined as a grouping of courses and/or programs that make up a defined area of study within a disciplinary framework - was adopted as the appropriate unit of analysis. (Some examples of sequences of study are: groupings of courses in Australian Studies; the Bachelor of Engineering degree program; the Graduate Certificate/Graduate Diploma/Master of Occupational Therapy suite of programs.)

As a preliminary step to implementation of the mapping process, faculties were required to identify sequences of study/programs for which they would be responsible and to consult to identify a 'host faculty' in the case of cross-faculty sequences of study/programs.

The process of mapping and embedding graduate attributes involves:

(a) developing an explicit and shared understanding of how UQ's graduate attributes translate into meaningful and purposeful ideas that describe the aims and aspirations of a faculty for its graduates

(b) examining overall curriculum goals, learning objectives, learning outcomes, assessment programs and learning activities to pinpoint where a program or course already contributes to the development of graduate attributes

(c) comparing (a) with (b) to identify weaknesses and strengths in the support for graduate attributes across programs and courses

(d) changing programs and courses so that a faculty's aims and aspirations for graduates described through graduate attributes are made explicit

(e) changing documentation and practices so that support for graduate attributes is also made explicit to other interested parties.

Implementation of the graduate attribute mapping process occurs in stages, assisted through university workshops.

Stage 1: Mapping Graduate Attributes to a Program or Sequence of Study

This process is normally overseen by the Chair of the School Teaching & Learning Committee.

Process

The committee is required to identify specific graduate attributes relevant to the programs/sequences of study for which they are responsible (plus, where relevant, specific extra professional competencies and attributes).

Stage 2: Mapping Graduate Attributes to Courses

This process is undertaken by course coordinators.

Process

1. For all courses, coordinators are required to map learning objectives, developed in course assessment items or other learning activities, to the appropriate set (eg p/g coursework, bachelor pass) of graduate attributes.

2. For all courses contributing to professional programs, coordinators are required to identify, where relevant, the discipline-specific graduate attributes developed in a course.

Course coordinators are required to produce a statement that details:

• the intended learning outcomes/objectives
• how the learning outcomes/objectives relate to the graduate attributes
• the teaching and learning activities that will contribute to the achievement by students of those learning outcomes
• the assessment activities that will be used to measure the achievement of those learning outcomes.

To view an example of a statement, click on the link below.

Exemplar Statement of Graduate Attributes developed in a Course

Course coordinators are also required to include in the course profile a summary reference to graduate attributes developed across the course and the manner in which they are developed.

The website address for Teaching and Learning at UQ is www.uq.edu.au/teaching_learning.

UQ's inhouse biennial Student Experience Survey measures, among other things, students' perception of opportunities available to acquire and develop graduate attributes. There was a marked improvement of results in graduate attribute scales from first year undergraduates surveyed in 2001 and final year undergraduates surveyed in 2005, which indicated that the goal of incremental development of graduate attributes within programs was being achieved. Overall results have shown gradual improvement in nearly all graduate attribute scales since 2001. This result is consistent with the completion of the mapping and embedding process into undergraduate programs. The successful implementation of postgraduate coursework graduate attributes will be measured for the first time in the 2007 Student Experience Survey.

The graduate attribute mapping process has required input from faculty-based staff to identify sequences of study/programs, School Teaching & Learning Committees to map attributes to programs, and course coordinators to map attributes to courses and to amend course profiles to include summary reference to the graduate attributes developed in the course.

Teaching and Educational Development Institute staff contribute through workshops and resources to assist the mapping process.

At UQ, a 'program' is a sequence of study leading to the award of a qualification such as a bachelor degree; a 'course' is a distinct unit of study within a program. (At other institutions, a course may be termed a 'subject' or 'unit'.) Courses at UQ are normally completed in one or two semesters.

This entry was reviewed and updated on 27 June 2007.

© 2010 Australian Universities Quality Agency