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The Generic Skills Scale (GSS)

The Generic Skills Scale is an attempt to assess the impact of university courses on the generic skills of their graduates. The emphasis on generic skills stems from the belief that knowledge quickly becomes obsolete, and generic skills that may have been acquired in the learning process should endure and be applicable in a broader context.

Questions in the CEQ that combine to provide performance on the Generic Skills Scale are:

2. The course developed by problem-solving skills

5. The course sharpened my analytic skills

9. The course helped me develop my ability to work as a team member

10. As a result of my course, I feel confident about tackling unfamiliar problems

11. The course improved my skills in written communication

22. My course helped me to develop the ability to plan my own work

The table below provides performance in the Generic Skills Scale by Department:

	2005			2006
	Number of respondents	Number satisfied	Percent satisfied (%)	Number of respondents	Number satisfied	Percent satisfied (%)
Sci, Comp, Eng, Arch, Agric
Statistics	*	*	*	13	5	38.46
Biological Sciences	38	25	65.79	53	45	84.91
Grad School of the Environ	25	20	80.00	13	9	69.23
Chem & Biomolecular Sci	*	*	*	11	8	72.73
Physical Geography	*	*	*	*	*	*
Earth & Planetary Sciences	17	15	88.24	26	19	73.08
Animal Behaviour (CISAB)	-	-	-	*	*	*
Computing	60	33	55.00	65	32	49.23
Electronics	*	*	*	*	*	*
Mathematics	*	*	*	*	*	*
Physics	*	*	*	*	*	*
Total broad group	171	114	66.67	198	128	64.65
Bus, Law, Econ
Accounting and Finance	191	95	49.74	369	161	43.63
Actuarial Studies	26	16	61.54	42	25	59.52
Business	70	48	68.57	116	72	62.07
Economics	24	15	62.50	29	20	68.97
Business Law	-	-	-	*	*	*
Law	102	64	62.75	78	50	64.10
Media	-	-	-	*	*	*
Total broad group	413	238	57.63	644	333	51.71
Hum, Arts, Edu
Business	-	-	-	*	*	*
School of Education	74	46	62.16	58	37	63.79
Institute of Early Childhood	33	27	81.82	58	40	68.97
Ancient History	-	-	-	*	*	*
Asian Languages	*	*	*	11	3	27.27
English	23	17	73.91	41	32	78.05
European Languages	*	*	*	*	*	*
Modern History	23	18	78.26	56	44	78.57
Contemporary Music Studies	*	*	*	12	7	58.33
Politics & Internat Relations	13	10	76.92	25	15	60.00
Anthropology	13	8	61.54	*	*	*
Cultural Studies	*	*	*	17	11	64.71
Media	59	38	64.41	96	65	67.71
Philosophy	*	*	*	*	*	*
Sociology	28	21	75.00	16	15	93.75
Warawara, Dept of Indig Stud	*	*	*	-	-	-
Human Geography	*	*	*	*	*	*
Linguistics	19	14	73.68	*	*	*
Psychology	76	60	78.95	127	94	74.02
Total broad group	400	285	71.25	554	391	70.58
Health
Biological Sciences	-	-	-	*	*	*
Health & Chiropractic	11	4	36.36	20	10	50.00
Linguistics	*	*	*	*	*	*
Electronics	-	-	-	*	*	*
Total broad group	20	11	55.00	25	14	56.00
All disciplines
Accounting and Finance	191	95	49.74	369	161	43.63
Actuarial Studies	26	16	61.54	42	25	59.52
Business	70	48	68.57	118	73	61.86
Economics	24	15	62.50	29	20	68.97
Statistics	*	*	*	13	5	38.46
School of Education	74	46	62.16	58	37	63.79
Institute of Early Childhood	33	27	81.82	58	40	68.97
Ancient History	-	-	-	*	*	*
Asian Languages	*	*	*	11	3	27.27
English	23	17	73.91	41	32	78.05
European Languages	*	*	*	*	*	*
Modern History	23	18	78.26	56	44	78.57
Contemporary Music Studies	*	*	*	12	7	58.33
Politics & Internat Relations	13	10	76.92	25	15	60.00
Business Law	-	-	-	*	*	*
Law	102	64	62.75	78	50	64.10
Anthropology	13	8	61.54	*	*	*
Cultural Studies	*	*	*	17	11	64.71
Media	59	38	64.41	98	65	66.33
Philosophy	*	*	*	*	*	*
Sociology	28	21	75.00	16	15	93.75
Warawara,Dept of Indigenous St	*	*	*	-	-	-
Biological Sciences	38	25	65.79	54	45	83.33
Graduate School of the Environ	25	20	80.00	13	9	69.23
Chem & Biomolecular Sci	*	*	*	11	8	72.73
Health & Chiropractic	11	4	36.36	20	10	50.00
Human Geography	*	*	*	*	*	*
Physical Geography	*	*	*	*	*	*
Earth & Planetary Sciences	17	15	88.24	26	19	73.08
Linguistics	28	21	75.00	10	8	80.00
Psychology	76	60	78.95	127	94	74.02
Animal Behaviour (CISAB)	-	-	-	*	*	*
Computing	60	33	55.00	65	32	49.23
Electronics	*	*	*	*	*	*
Mathematics	*	*	*	*	*	*
Physics	*	*	*	*	*	*
Total broad group	1004	648	64.54	1421	866	60.94
A dash (-) means no response. A star (*) means less than 10 responses and the cell is suppressed.

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The Generic Skills Scale (GSS)

Sci, Comp, Eng, Arch, Agric

Bus, Law, Econ

Hum, Arts, Edu

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