Exploring Which Skills are Important for Students' Success

World War I 1914-18 was a conflict fought mainly in Europe among most of the great Western powers. Is this the type of knowledge students need to have to be a successful member of the workforce? Sometime schooling can have a focus on the content and not the process of using that information. There have been several studies as to how best to prepare students for their future. Is traditional pedagogy the best way to prepare our students or are skills found in inquiry based learning called process skills needed to combine with traditional pedagogy to better prepare our students? I propose that a combination is essential.

In 1991, the US Dept of Labor conducted a study named, What Work Requires of Schools: A Scans Report For America 2000 This Scans Report identified five competencies combined with a three part foundation of intellectual skills and personal qualities. The foundation included: basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities. These competencies included: resources, interpersonal, informational, systems, and technology. They proposed that, “by learning the competencies as they learn the foundations, each intertwined with the other our young people will be ready to enter and thrive in the workplace of tomorrow” (http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.pdf).

Another study done in 1993 by the Association of American Universities, focused on what students needed to survive in an entry-level university course. They suggested that, “students who are prepared to study science at the college level are capable of integrating scientific methods and contextual understanding, critical thinking and hands on skills” (http://www.epiconline.org/files/pdf/UUS_Complete.pdf). They looked at each subject area and re...

... middle of paper ...

...d due to digital technologies, so must the way we educate our students. Inquiry based learning allows for higher level thinking and application of the knowledge learned. Students need to be able to communicate, problem solve, and build interpersonal relationships. In inquiry based learning students have the opportunity to work on these skills as well as others.

References

Framework for 21st century learning. (2009, December). Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/documents/P21_Framework.pdf

Indicators of development of process skills. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://moodle1.wilkes.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=55296

What Work requires of schools: a scans report for america 2000. (1991). Retrieved from http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.pdf

Understanding university success. (2003). Retrieved from http://www.epiconline.org/files/pdf/UUS_Complete.pdf