Enhancing the teaching and evaluation of graduate attributes in wine science and viticulture degree level courses

This paper explores the development of protocols to evaluate and enhance graduate attributes for wine science and viticulture degree courses at Charles Sturt University. The project aimed to determine the extent to which graduate attributes were fostered within specific subjects and to identify any perceived deficiencies. This objective required a critical discourse about the importance of graduate attributes in teaching and learning and subsequent evaluation of the coverage of key graduate attributes in subject assessments. These attributes were then compared to those identified by first and third year students during focus group discussions. Overall, there was general consistency between the attributes identified by students and those identified by academic staff. Attributes such as teamwork, verbal skills and computer literacy were less evident than conceptual knowledge in the teaching of the viticulture and wine science courses. Industry awareness and showing initiative, were identified as important attributes by focus group students. The ensuing thematic analysis of student responses provided academic staff with new insights into how graduate attributes can be integrated into the learning design for future offerings of wine science and viticulture subjects.