Researchers from Abertay are exploring how the creative use of new educational technologies and new networks can enrich teaching and learning in higher education and encourage a ‘360-degree view’ of disciplines without the boundaries imposed by traditional methods.
In particular, the research assesses the impact of new technology on institutional, national and international practice, in terms of the customisation and personalisation of educational information as evidenced by social networking.
Abertay researchers are also exploring graduate recruitment and employability. By investigating the supply and demand of the graduate labour market, researchers hope to identity the gaps and so be able to assess whether universities are producing graduates with the desired attributes, and if not, what must be done to achieve this.
On the demand side of the labour market, researchers are measuring the expectations of employers and what recruitment methods are being used in relation to these expectations. At the supply end, they are looking at graduate experiences of the employment market and recruitment processes.
This research aims to strengthen links between higher education and industry and has been expanded to cover graduate recruitment markets in Germany and France, including an assessment of the impact of the Bologna Process.
In a related project, Abertay researchers have been examining the apparent tension between inculcating generic graduate attributes and teaching subject-specific skills. Theoretically, the preparation of dissertations at Honours degree level is the point at which the undergraduate should display a good balance between generic attributes and subject skills and knowledge.
However, interviews with recent graduates found that very few of them regarded the work they had done for their dissertations as research. A large majority did not seem to think in terms of new knowledge acquired or new findings uncovered.
Instead, they talked about project management, self-motivation and “finding out”, rather than deep research. This suggests that in moving towards a skills approach to undergraduate teaching and learning, we need to prioritise students’ capacity to develop new findings with value in themselves, not just as a demonstration of students going through a process.
Other experts at Abertay are exploring factors that affect how people learn and use language. For example, does the specific speech register used by adults when talking to children facilitate or hide the children’s language acquisition, and what factors determine the use of child-directed speech?
The research extends beyond English to encompass Russian, Serbian, Lithuanian and Dutch, and ultimately will contribute to our understanding of the general principles underlying human language acquisition and adult-child communication.
Researchers are also looking at the area of second language learning and what makes some adults better language learners than others, as well as how emotions affect communicative effectiveness, which in the future may aid the design of more efficient communication interfaces.
Intrigued by contradictory findings relating to personality differences in left- and right-handers, Abertay researchers have studied behavioural inhibition, a concept related to anxiety. They have found that left-handers tend to be more inhibited than right-handers, but that what might seem to be a handicap could actually mean that left-handers approach things more cautiously than right-handers and think more before they act.
The researchers are now investigating the concept of anxiety in new ways. For example, most anxiety measures look at a concept that relates to fear and withdrawal, whereas the inhibitory behaviour is measured using scales that are directly linked to approaching an idea or concept with caution rather than fear.
In 2000, all the major professional bodies governing accountancy introduced compulsory continuous professional development as a condition of professional accreditation. However, some bodies prescribed the precise form it should take while others left it to accountants’ own preferences.
Researchers at Abertay have recently surveyed practising accountants for their views, the results of which have been published in professional journals as a contribution to the ongoing debate on the issue. The findings are also feeding back into Abertay’s own course development.
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