The influence of fieldwork design on student perceptions of skills development during field courses

Employability is a key issue for students and Higher Education Institutions and a key component of employability is possessing the skills a role requires. In the environmental sciences, fieldwork provides an opportunity for students to develop employability-enhancing technical and transferable skills. However, students can have difficulty identifying the transferable skills they develop both during fieldwork and throughout their degree programmes. We investigated whether different pedagogical approaches to fieldwork (staff-led and student-directed) influenced student’s perception of skill-development. Additionally, we explored whether students recognised that skills developed during fieldwork might enhance their employability. Overall, students recognised technical skills more frequently than transferable skills. However, when fieldwork investigations were staff-led, students recognised more technical skills, but when students designed their fieldwork investigations themselves they recognised more transferable skills. Upon reflection, students were readily able to link skill-development to employability. We suggest that to maximise the skills development benefits of fieldwork, field courses should include a variety of fieldwork teaching designs to allow students to develop the widest array of skills possible. Additionally, students should be encouraged to reflect on their experiences throughout a field course as reflection is thought to aid their ability to recognise how their skills have developed