Generic Skills in Higher Education

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Background

Higher education is a fundamental social institution that supports and ensures generic skills of the next generation. Thus, higher education cannot solely facilitate learning of domain-specific knowledge and skills, but it also has to promote learning of generic skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and communication skills. Generic skills are considered to be important in working life and in continuous learning. They are also seen as vital for participating as a citizen in society in the 21st century. However, rather than only being essential in working life and in civic life, generic skills are also needed in higher education studies. Students need these skills to construct and apply their domain-specific knowledge and understanding. For example, communications skills enable students to make their ideas and conclusions visible to others; while critical thinking is required to assess information and to come to well-reasoned conclusions, as well as testing them against relevant criteria and standards.

Although there is a growing consensus on the importance of generic skills, there is also evidence that many higher education students face challenges when trying to implement them. Challenges in teaching generic skills may also occur because university teachers do not necessarily recognize their role in this aspect and they do not have pedagogical skills to integrate these skills in their teaching practices. There is also a large variation in students' level of generic skills. Additionally, new graduates have been found to have problems in reflecting their generic skills. However, surprisingly little is known to what extent and how these skills develop during higher education studies. Furthermore, there is no consensus around the processes of implementing generic skills in different learning environments. Several teaching methods, such as PBL, have been suggested for promoting learning of generic skills. However, focusing on a single teaching method is not adequate. Rather, studying how the various pedagogical methods and principles are used and how the skills are assessed is more crucial than the methods themselves.

Thus, this Research Topic welcomes research that investigates teaching and learning and assessing generic skills within the context of higher education. Possible topics of interest to the Research Topic include (but are not limited to) the following:

- Different kinds of assessments of generic skills in higher education, and their advantages and disadvantages
- Theoretical and empirical sounded conceptual models of generic skills
- To what extent do generic skills develop during higher education studies?
- What kind of learning environments, including digital settings, are helpful to support the development of generic skills in the context of higher education?
- How are different generic skills developed in various academic domains and fields of education?
- How are generic skills related to higher education students' academic achievement and overall quality of learning?
- Higher education students' and teachers' perceptions of generic skills
- Are there any social groups of students that dispose or lack of specific generic skills?

To that end, this Research Topic welcomes original research articles employing quantitative, qualitative or the mixed method research designs, systematic reviews of the literature, and conceptual-comprehensive analysis papers.

Keywords: generic skills, higher education, assessment, academic achievement, conceptual models

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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