Skill-development curriculum
Maximizing transversal skill development during experiential learning activities
Domains
The FUSION Skill-Development Curriculum focuses on helping students enhance their skills across seven critical 21st century skill domains:
- Adaptability - The ability to achieve or adjust goals and behaviours when expected or unexpected change occurs, by planning, staying focused, persisting, and overcoming setbacks.
- Collaboration - The ability to contribute and support others to achieve a common goal.
- Communication - The ability to construct and convey a message through an appropriate medium.
- Inclusivity - The ability to use cognitive, affective, and behavioural skills to support those within a team, group, organization, or collective to feel involved, valued, respected, and that they are being treated fairly.
- Metacognition – The ability of the mind to plan, monitor and assess its own learning and performance.
- Problem Solving - The ability to connect various analytical strategies to come up with creative solutions to manage difficult situations.
- Self-management - The ability to regulate and take responsibility for your emotions, thoughts and behaviours as you learn, work, and manage your career.
These skill domains were selected based on their repeated prioritization in surveys of employers and their perceived centrality to ‘next-generation’ employment opportunities for university graduates.
Format
The curriculum is an interactive and engaging online, self-study experience designed to wraparound and complement an experiential learning opportunity (e.g. internship, student leadership role, research project, etc.).
Explore (2 hour)
Before the experience
- Students will learn about and define the skill.
- Students will engage in a self-assessment of the skill.
Apply (1 hours)
During the experience
- Students will complete a series of activities that explore how the skill can be used to help them navigate in a variety of contexts and environments.
Reflect (1 hour)
After the experience
- Students will look back at their applied learning experience, analyze what they’ve learned, and set goals for the future.
The curriculum consists of guided self-assessments, exercises, reflections, case studies and other activities to provide students with practice and guidance to meaningfully improve their skills.
Potential benefits
Wrapping the FUSION curriculum around university online or in-person experiential learning activities has the potential to:
- Heighten students’ awareness of skill development during experiential learning activities;
- Help students build skills in three skill domains that are important to employers;
- Support students in their skills articulation and transition to the future world of work;
- Provide instructors and program managers with additional instructional support.
Learn more
For more information, or to explore how the FUSION curriculum can help provide value to your Concordia course or program and students, contact Concordia’s FUSION Project Lead: megan.marcoux@concordia.ca
FUSION Concordia collaborators
- Applied Human Sciences Department (2021, 2022, 2023)
- Kristel Kabigting (Fall 2021 & 2022)
Career Advisor, Career & Planning Services - Olivia Piccirelli (Fall 2021)
Alumni Officer, External Partnership, University Advancement - Stefanie Corona (Fall 2020)
Professional Development Lead, Institute for Co-operative Education - Alice Isac (Fall 2020)
Program Coordinator, Beat the Odds
- Ying Li
Curriculum Developer, Centre for Teaching and Learning - Dalia Radwan
Curriculum Developer, Centre for Teaching and Learning