Abstract:
This paper addresses a problem that all educational institutions face. The validation of
statements made about their graduates' attributes with regard to critical thinking, team
skills, professional ethics etc. These attributes are becoming increasingly important in a
rapidly changing world and workplace yet university grades offer minimal feedback about
their development to students, parents, teachers and employers. The integration of these
graduate attributes is discussed, together with the notions of intelligence development and
employability.
The proposed approach to the development of students' attributes focuses on integrated
assessment criteria and the use of an online system to save time and improve feedback.
Online assessment software, designed by the author, has brought assessment criteria and
graduate attributes together in 'criteria categories '. These are later referred to with the
more student-centred terms, 'development domains' and progress pathways '. A case
study is used to highlight problems and to foreground future developments.
