Graduate Employability through Industry-Oriented, Problem-Based Learning: A Case Study

Abstract

Higher education is coming under increasing pressure. Central to this is the global growth in disruptive technologies, accelerated by responses to the recent global pandemic. The pressure on how education is taught is immense, especially as concurrently there is a change in the career objectives of graduates, and the skill sets required by employers, with transferability high on the wish list. This paper provides a discussion and case study of how one institution has taken up this challenge through the development of a new educational model, named Syntegrative Education. It highlights how Syntegrative Education, through symbiotic partnerships with industry, creates an industry-oriented ecosystem, embracing learning, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and social interaction, matching the learning experience with dynamic AI oriented industry employability demands, ensuring all graduates are future ready with entrepreneurial graduate attributes. The case study focuses specifically on the innovative change to delivery and assessment. Through the industry partnerships, students are introduced to research and inquiry based learning through real-life problems, proposed and initiated by industry. Industry also works as mentors for the students alongside academics. The article concludes by highlighting the potential for other institutions who wish to follow the same route of curriculum development.