'WHAT SKILLS DO I HAVE? WHAT SKILLS WILL I NEED?' - BUILDING AN EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS PROFILE THROUGH AN ONLINE REFLECTIVE LEARNING PROGRAM

There is consensus of opinion of the value of critical reflective practice for student learning, professional development and employability. Yet, students are known to struggle with reflective practice. The purpose of this research is to describe a proposed design for an innovative multidisciplinary online program for Work Integrated Learning [WIL], which facilitates and guides reflective thinking while developing metacognitive awareness of employability skills and attributes. The paper discusses the theoretical framework and envisaged design of this online resource. Reflection and application is introduced in three stages. In stage 1, [Pre-Placement], the student reflects on their preparedness for WIL using the tool informed by the Work Skill Development Framework (WSD) [Bandaranaike & Willison, 2009]. Questioning techniques together with skill statements derived from the WSD six facets of work, guide students through the process of self-identifying current employability skill sets. This process is then elaborated by self-appraising the degree of autonomy across a continuum for each employability skill identified. In stage 2, [In- Placement], the student collects evidence of applying practice based work skills. The progressive development of skills and the acquisition of new skills are mapped to a WSD informed online template. In stage 3 [Post-Placement] the student re-identifies and re-appraises skill competencies by reflecting on the WSD's degrees of autonomy. Reflections submitted gradually compile a personalised employability skills profile of a student's WIL journey. The artefacts that will be produce will enhance student feedback, inform WIL discussions with stakeholders and empower students with the 'language' needed for future employment.