How do you help lecturers to teach generic attributes? The CUTSD Communication Skills Project tests one approach

CUTSD Communication Skills Project Team Affiliations: University of Wollongong, Curtin University of Technology, Flinders University, University of Queensland, University of Adelaide, RMIT University, University of New England, Queensland University of Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, University of Western Australia, University of Western Sydney-Nepean, Monash University.

The 'Communication Skills Project' has received $150,000 in funding to cover the years 2000 and 2001 from the Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development (CUTSD) of the Australian Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA). The Project reflects collaboration of staff at more than ten universities working to enhance students' professional communication skills by employing flexible delivery for staff development. That is, flexible delivery is being used to attempt to enhance lecturers' abilities to build their students' generic attributes, a type of learning outside most lecturers' specialties.

Our project team is undertaking three, integrated thrusts:

• Forming networks of 'early adopter' lecturers in a range of disciplines to test and provide reviews of existing materials and teaching strategies to enhance students' professional communication skills;

• Modularising these communication skill materials and teaching strategies into ready to use formats, tailored for specific disciplines, and accompanied by reviews by lecturers in those disciplines (as mentioned above); and

• Establish on the web a database to contain these materials and strategies, publicising the site via methods such as broadcast email messages and icons on lecturers' computer screens, both of which would be linked to the web site.

The two most tangible outcomes from the next two years of the project will be: (1) the web site of accumulated materials; and (2) intra- and inter-university networks of lecturers employing and commenting on the materials. Long term outcomes include insight into how universities can address other areas of student development that are not specific to the disciplines in which lecturers are trained, areas such as ethics and social responsibility.