Abstract:

We are living in a rapidly changing world that requires more than just occupation-specific employment skills. Due to the introduction of new advanced technology and automation there has been a shift towards new sets of employability skills. This particular paper focuses namely on the so called 4Cs: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication.

In this new workplace context, universities must ensure that students have the theoretical and practical knowledge to meet the demands of 21st century labor markets. This paper offers an example of an innovative methodology - agile team project-based learning - involving 128 bachelor degree students of business. This student-centered, agile team project-based learning was introduced as part of a compulsory course on Human Resources Management during the 2019 Summer semester.

In order to assess the impact of the methodology in question, both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were employed. The students were asked to respond to two surveys - one at the beginning of the course and one at the end. 114 surveys were returned each time, the equivalent of an 89% response rate. In addition, student feedback on the adequacy and applicability of the agile team project-based learning methodology in relation to 21st century employability skills was collected, transcribed, coded and evaluated.

Based on the survey data results, this paper argues for tertiary educational institutions to adopt new methods of preparing students for both the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century workplace. This agile team project-based learning methodology, as proposed by the author of this article, provides a platform that can be used to exercise both subject theory, in this case human resource management, but most importantly to practice and develop the above-mentioned employability skills.

Keywords:

Agile team project-based learning, 21st century employability skills, student-centered education, project-based learning, human resources management.