Applying Transfer Of Learning: The Vital Partnership Between Career Education And Learning Design

Natasha Dilay, MEd, Associate Director, Experiential Learning Student Services and Ken Jeffery, Associate Director of CTET, Royal Roads University

Natasha Dilay, MEd, Associate Director, Experiential Learning Student Services and Ken Jeffery, Associate Director of CTET, Royal Roads University

In the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education, universities face a significant challenge: preparing students for an increasingly complex and unpredictable future. Post-secondary institutions strengthen the relevance and impact of higher learning by embedding career development learning to strategically align with educational development and learning technologies departments. Together, these departments’ services play a pivotal role in enhancing the student experience and ensuring that graduates are well-equipped for the demands of the modern world.

Royal Roads University (RRU) is a research university with applied and professional programs targeted to mature learners seeking career-transforming education. RRU’s Career Learning and Development (CLD) and the Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies (CTET) provide an indispensable service that creates connections between career education, established theories and andragogies, and traditional course teaching and learning. Through conversations and collaboration with CLD and CTET, faculty members and instructors access services to understand how to embed career capital into traditional classroom teaching, course assignments, and research topics to align with students’ individual professional goals and pathways. “Through symbiotic relationships, universities and industries influence each other, encouraging thought leadership, socializing emerging concepts, and responding to labour market shifts emerging from an ever-changing world,” says Natasha Dilay, Associate Director of Experiential Learning.

A conventional first-step approach to embedding career learning can include faculty inviting industry guest speakers into the classroom, promoting professional networking opportunities, or instructors offering personal insights into career skills and opportunities through their own experiences. “RRU takes this approach further,” continues Dilay, “by encouraging students to focus their research and academic assignments on emerging issues impacting their world or work.” The CLD and CTET partnership encourages instructors to learn how career theories may enhance course curriculum, thus creating intentional open dialogue that challenges students’ labour market biases and knowledge, embedding career-reflective practice assignments, or requiring assignment criteria to include a specific number of labour market grey papers to complement peer-reviewed articles. These activities provide invaluable resources and guidance for students to navigate the daunting transition from academia to the professional world.

As RRU’s centralized services for quality teaching and innovative practices, CTET plays a vital role in engaging faculty and instructors in career-informed learning that connects to

 RRU’s unique student body of undergraduate- and graduate-level mid-career learners. RRU students are spread throughout Canada and the world, conducting cohort-based learning in asynchronous virtual environments. CTET creates the bridge between online learning and engaged education by supporting faculty to teach using best practices in interactive and online learning. “We want students to demonstrate both near- and far-transfer of learning,” says Ken Jeffery, Associate Director, Learning Design, Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies. “Our goal in CTET is for RRU students to engage in near-transfer of learning, demonstrating skills to identify connections between courses, academic learning or similar settings, as well as apply far-transfer of learning that goes beyond classroom learning into professional capacities and situations. We’re supporting students in becoming the next influencers in the changing workplace.” CTET approaches this work by ensuring faculty members are equipped with the skills and resources to embed authentic real-world approaches into their teaching practices.

CLD and CTET offer complementary services that enrich the student experience, enhance course design and development, and maximize graduates’ career outcomes. By partnering emerging career practices and andragogies with educational technologies, RRU bridges students’ academic achievements to realize real-world successes. This approach encourages students to understand the interconnection between epistemological learning and tangible opportunities that address the challenges and opportunities of the future world of work.

University career development and the teaching and educational technologies departments are invaluable assets that play a vital role in enhancing the student experience to prepare graduates for the demands of the modern world. By investing in these departments and recognizing their importance, RRU furthers its mission of fostering academic excellence and inspiring people with the courage to transform the world.