Auditing the University: Promoting Business Education …
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the detection of problems and creation of potential solutions that prevent problems
in the future (Argyris 1982; Beckett and Murray 2000).
To support the assignment and develop employment skills the author engages
students in audit skills: questioning, listening and looking. Students are encouraged
to undertake a site inspection of the campus to discover examples of sustainability
issues and good practice and explore the university’s sustainability website, which
can provide evidence for their audit. This exploration engages students in the looking skills required for a successful audit. The author suggests they undertake this in
groups and share findings to use their resource efficiently, promote a comfortable
learning environment and gain experience of group work and peer-to-peer learning and the opportunity to practice their softer employment skills of collaboration,
negotiating and influencing.
Audit meetings are held with members of the university’s operational departments
including the Sustainability Director and representatives from Procurement, Operations, Catering, etc. during taught sessions. These sessions give the students the
opportunity to test their audit skills of questioning on the university’s sustainability
practitioners, discuss their site inspection findings with those implementing sustainable and unsustainable practices and ask for more information to support their audit.
This mirrors the audit meetings held during a real-world sustainability audit such as
for ISO14001 certification and gives students further opportunity to practice their
softer employment skills. Audit meetings also provide students time and space to
reflect on their knowledge and skills that are vital for sustainability advocacy and
future employment.
The use of ABL for the business sustainability module presented here supports the
University of Worcester Business School’s learning, teaching and student experience
approach that promotes personal contact between students and staff through small
classes, face-to-face support and extensive formative and summative feedback as
well as integration of employment skills and personal development grounded in real
world activity.
6 Design of the Study
Two mixed method questionnaires were distributed to 29-second year undergraduate
students in the first and last lectures of the 12-lecture module. The first survey, Phase
1 of the research, was designed to gain an understanding of students’ perceptions of
their pre-module sustainability knowledge and skills, employment skills and audit
experience and expectations of the audit assignment. The second survey, Phase 2 of
the research, was undertaken in week 12 to capture students’ perceptions of their
post-module sustainability knowledge and skills and reflections on their audit experiences and development of employment skills. These timings were set to obtain a
general pre and post module comparison to test ABL’s ability to enhance sustainability knowledge and skills and to identify where and when formative feedback and
additional support could be offered to enhance engagement with the audit process
311
the detection of problems and creation of potential solutions that prevent problems
in the future (Argyris 1982; Beckett and Murray 2000).
To support the assignment and develop employment skills the author engages
students in audit skills: questioning, listening and looking. Students are encouraged
to undertake a site inspection of the campus to discover examples of sustainability
issues and good practice and explore the university’s sustainability website, which
can provide evidence for their audit. This exploration engages students in the looking skills required for a successful audit. The author suggests they undertake this in
groups and share findings to use their resource efficiently, promote a comfortable
learning environment and gain experience of group work and peer-to-peer learning and the opportunity to practice their softer employment skills of collaboration,
negotiating and influencing.
Audit meetings are held with members of the university’s operational departments
including the Sustainability Director and representatives from Procurement, Operations, Catering, etc. during taught sessions. These sessions give the students the
opportunity to test their audit skills of questioning on the university’s sustainability
practitioners, discuss their site inspection findings with those implementing sustainable and unsustainable practices and ask for more information to support their audit.
This mirrors the audit meetings held during a real-world sustainability audit such as
for ISO14001 certification and gives students further opportunity to practice their
softer employment skills. Audit meetings also provide students time and space to
reflect on their knowledge and skills that are vital for sustainability advocacy and
future employment.
The use of ABL for the business sustainability module presented here supports the
University of Worcester Business School’s learning, teaching and student experience
approach that promotes personal contact between students and staff through small
classes, face-to-face support and extensive formative and summative feedback as
well as integration of employment skills and personal development grounded in real
world activity.
6 Design of the Study
Two mixed method questionnaires were distributed to 29-second year undergraduate
students in the first and last lectures of the 12-lecture module. The first survey, Phase
1 of the research, was designed to gain an understanding of students’ perceptions of
their pre-module sustainability knowledge and skills, employment skills and audit
experience and expectations of the audit assignment. The second survey, Phase 2 of
the research, was undertaken in week 12 to capture students’ perceptions of their
post-module sustainability knowledge and skills and reflections on their audit experiences and development of employment skills. These timings were set to obtain a
general pre and post module comparison to test ABL’s ability to enhance sustainability knowledge and skills and to identify where and when formative feedback and
additional support could be offered to enhance engagement with the audit process