UndergradSkiller: Skill Set Map for Undergraduate Students And Their Educators

ABOUT UndergradSkiller

Brief overview

UndergradSkiller is an annotated skills map for undergraduate students.

Targeted audiences are:

• Undergraduates
• Undergraduate programs educators
• Undergraduate programs supportive staff (e.g., career advisors)

UndergradSkiller is divided into six competence categories. Each one includes sub-categories that discuss individual skills. The structure is as follows:

1. Academic Reading and Writing
2. Information Literacy and Digital Safety
3. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
4. Learning and Self-Management
5. Communication and Collaboration
6. Intercultural Competencies

All resources are annotated and openly accessible online.

Purpose

UndergradSkiller builds on the original STEMskiller framework, which focused on the competencies and skills of early-career researchers. Unlike its predecessor, UndergradSkiller is designed for undergraduate students and their educators. It is a structured, comprehensive, annotated, and hyperlinked map to high-quality, openly accessible English language resources that support students and their educators in developing critical transferable skills and other key competencies.

UndergradSkiller’s goal is to provide reliable information resources for educators and bachelor students at institutions that do not have a strong support for the development of essential transferable skills. By bringing together high-quality educational materials in one place, it facilitates easier access to resources that can support both teaching and learning.

Another important feature of UndergradSkiller is its adaptability for international use. The framework may be translated into different languages, allowing institutions to evaluate their strengths and identify competencies that require further improvement. Any translated version should provide appropriate credit to the original STEMskiller and include a link to the original resource.

Methodology

The methodology used to identify and select high-quality resources is based on:

• A combination of primary and secondary research;
• A systematic review and comparative analysis of a wide range of sources, focusing on their relevance to college students and their availability under an open-access model;
• Consultations with experts in the field of advanced academic support and consideration of their feedback when selecting the final sources.

For contributors

Mentors, educators, and developers of educational services are encouraged to review the available resources and contribute to the further development of UndergradSkiller by suggesting additional materials or reviewing existing annotations. Dedicated forms are available for both purposes:

• Propose a new resource
• Review an annotation

All submissions are evaluated by the UndergradSkiller curators, who reserve the right to accept or reject proposed resources. Preference is given to openly accessible materials developed by non-profit educators and educational institutions, rather than commercially produced content.

Credits

• Council for Research, Development and Innovation: National research, development and innovation policy of the Czech Republic 2021+
• OECD: OECD Skills Strategy 2019: Skills to Shape a Better Future
• UN: The 17 Goals
• The Open University: Learning how to learn
• Krueger, S.: STEMskiller

UndergradSkiller was created as a university project by Leeanne Irwin from Robert Gordon University. She developed UndergradSkiller during her internship at the NTK.