Ursula Gobel, Associate Vice President of Future Challenges, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Time to tap into our knowledge base and improve student outcomes

By Ursula Gobel

We have just witnessed the biggest rise in post secondary global enrolment ever – a 160% increase between 1990 and 2009, according to the World Economic Forum. This dramatic pursuit for education is a testament to how students are preparing themselves for the evolving nature of work. Yet at the same time, are we concerned about the fact that almost one in five 15-year-olds in the developed world drops out of high school? We should be.

In our increasingly global society, formal education and skilled workers are more critical than ever before. And so the OECD finding that, even in OECD-member countries, 20% of young people don't acquire a minimum level of skills to be able to make a meaningful contribution should make us all take a hard look at what needs to be done. How can this still be happening, given the quality and sophistication of educational knowledge and infrastructure in 2015? Clearly, we need to do better.

The good news is that a significant body of research has explored what works and what doesn't in achieving learning outcomes. In Canada, over $150 million has been invested by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in just the past three years to enhance our understanding of how people learn best. It's now time to tap into that research to better inform education policy and pedagogy.

As part of its Imagining Canada's Future initiative, the Council is pursuing deeper clarity about new ways of learning and teaching to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving society and labour markets. A series of 20 knowledge synthesis reports are underway to tap into what research currently exists in the area of learning and teaching, including strengths, weaknesses and gaps. In the process, researchers, educators, institutions and governments are working together to see what can be done to cultivate innovation and adaptability through education.

Take for example, the common assumption that students are digitally literate because they are growing up in a digital era. Not the case, according to a recent study by researchers Dragana Martinovic at the University of Windsor and Viktor Freiman at l'Université de Moncton. In fact, information and communication technologies (ICTs) often intensify skill-based inequalities, widening the gap between urban and rural citizens, and further disadvantaging minorities, the poor and early school leavers.

Collaborative learner-centred approach required

In addition, high engagement with social media doesn't necessarily translate into effective mastery of ICTs in the classroom. As a result, academic requirements often challenge students' comfort with digital tools.

And yet, when supported effectively, students' enthusiastic embrace of technology can lead to the kind of independent problem-solving that flows out of inquiry-based research. The caveat is that achieving this requires instructors who practice a collaborative, learner-centred approach, casting themselves as "perpetual novices" alongside their students.

In fact, flexibility is a highly sought quality in employees in all fields. Miana Plesca and Fraser Summerfield from the University of Guelph have found that in rapidly evolving work environments, general skills – such as the ability to apply critical thinking strategies to a range of situations – are especially valued. In contrast, narrower, more specific competencies often make it harder for people to move from one occupation to another.

Indeed, Diane Pruneau's work at l'Université de Moncton reveals that employers are increasingly seeking workers who think like entrepreneurs and designers; are able to innovate by observing human behaviour and anticipating what people want and need; and can conceive not just of products, but of the entire systems necessary to support new approaches or inventions.

Transferable skills

All of these findings have significant implications for pedagogy and curriculum, inspiring researchers to propose changes to content and delivery models in education. Their analyses highlight the importance of developing transferable skills that will help to equip new generations of young people for future labour markets. At the same time, they look to the integration of more open, flexible, collaborative practices better suited to the development of high competency in digital literacy skills.

Creating more technology-rich learning environments and introducing changes to curricula and training that increase student engagement, persistence and learning will ultimately improve school success and retention. And that's a learning outcome we all need to strive for.

The impact will reach well beyond both the classroom and the workplace. Because the bottom line is that highly skilled individuals are not only more valuable employees, but more likely to report good health, volunteer, engage politically, and trust others.

We all have a vested interest in the effectiveness of our education systems; it's time to mobilize the valuable knowledge between post-secondary institutions and those who can best benefit from research, in the pursuit of effective learning and teaching, and sustained global impact.

Ursula Gobel is Associate Vice President of Future Challenges at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.