Table 2 Weekly summary Week Skill theme... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Weekly summary

Week	Skill theme	Author-synthesised feedback	Implication and refinement
1	The signalling theory and skills audit	Found the theory helpful but raised questions about how to identify key skills in a changing environment Finding a dream job to base skills audit on was helpful	Introduce signalling theory at level 4 and then develop skills to identify, monitor and adapt skills requirements throughout level 4, 5 and 6
2	Soft skills and employability	Recognised the nuanced difference between students learning for and through work and students learning in/from work	Stronger links need to be made to WBL. Link success of becoming an apprentice with employability skills at level 4
3	Reflective models	No-one had actually taught the theory before. They admitted they were “making it up”	Introduce a reflective model at each level
4	Professional skills and career advancement	Similar to week 1 and 2, raised questions about how to identify key skills in a changing environment recognising their skill development was more about getting a promotion or using their experience to advance in their career. Felt the CMDA Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours were only relevant to the End Point Assessment	Make the skills focus at level 6 more about the “next step” e.g. End Point Assessment (EPA) or next promotion or next job. Encourage identified problems for the SML report to be about the next step
5	Written and oral communication skills	Knew the theory but needed more examples such as role models	Incorporate more TEDx talks from younger generations in the SML skills sections and use the levels to develop and reflect upon communication as a skill
6	Peer feedback on written drafts	Found the peer feedback exercise very helpful and suggested it be done from the start	Incorporate peer feedback from level 4
7	Peer feedback on presentation drafts	Found it helpful, but many had not produced a draft finding the presentation (oral communication) more challenging than the written communication	Focus on habits of mind to develop self-efficacy etc. Perhaps make it a key focus at level 5
8	Self-perception and growth mindset	Reflecting on peer feedback and matching self-perception with the perception of others was very insightful. Linking this to reflection was also very helpful	Enable more discussion in class to enable reflection and therefore guidance on how to improve reflection, i.e. deep learning
9	Career anchors	Found this very helpful, especially at level 6 as they now think about “what next”	Apprentices suggested doing this at level 4 and monitoring any changes
10	Self-awareness	Found self-assessment tests such as DISC, Belbin team roles etc. very helpful. The discussion of results as peer feedback etc. was needed to make links	Create a reflective profile and stagger the tests to be completed throughout the levels, allowing enough time to reflect on results

Week	Skill theme	Author-synthesised feedback	Implication and refinement
1	The signalling theory and skills audit	Found the theory helpful but raised questions about how to identify key skills in a changing environmentFinding a dream job to base skills audit on was helpful	Introduce signalling theory at level 4 and then develop skills to identify, monitor and adapt skills requirements throughout level 4, 5 and 6
2	Soft skills and employability	Recognised the nuanced difference between students learning for and through work and students learning in/from work	Stronger links need to be made to WBL. Link success of becoming an apprentice with employability skills at level 4
3	Reflective models	No-one had actually taught the theory before. They admitted they were “making it up”	Introduce a reflective model at each level
4	Professional skills and career advancement	Similar to week 1 and 2, raised questions about how to identify key skills in a changing environment recognising their skill development was more about getting a promotion or using their experience to advance in their career. Felt the CMDA Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours were only relevant to the End Point Assessment	Make the skills focus at level 6 more about the “next step” e.g. End Point Assessment (EPA) or next promotion or next job. Encourage identified problems for the SML report to be about the next step
5	Written and oral communication skills	Knew the theory but needed more examples such as role models	Incorporate more TEDx talks from younger generations in the SML skills sections and use the levels to develop and reflect upon communication as a skill
6	Peer feedback on written drafts	Found the peer feedback exercise very helpful and suggested it be done from the start	Incorporate peer feedback from level 4
7	Peer feedback on presentation drafts	Found it helpful, but many had not produced a draft finding the presentation (oral communication) more challenging than the written communication	Focus on habits of mind to develop self-efficacy etc. Perhaps make it a key focus at level 5
8	Self-perception and growth mindset	Reflecting on peer feedback and matching self-perception with the perception of others was very insightful. Linking this to reflection was also very helpful	Enable more discussion in class to enable reflection and therefore guidance on how to improve reflection, i.e. deep learning
9	Career anchors	Found this very helpful, especially at level 6 as they now think about “what next”	Apprentices suggested doing this at level 4 and monitoring any changes
10	Self-awareness	Found self-assessment tests such as DISC, Belbin team roles etc. very helpful. The discussion of results as peer feedback etc. was needed to make links	Create a reflective profile and stagger the tests to be completed throughout the levels, allowing enough time to reflect on results

Source(s): Generated by authors