Many students enter the workforce with strong academic accomplishments, but less experience articulating their transferable skills that employers value.

FUSION, a national skills-development initiative, aims to close that gap. 

The Future Skills Innovation Network (FUSION) provides students at its five partnering universities, including Memorial University, access to a series of self-contained learning modules.

Each of the 12 available modules addresses a specific skill identified by the Government of Canada’s Skills for Success model. 

The modules’ content complements the academic content Memorial students learn in their classes, and can be incorporated into any course, says Dr. Ian Gibson, Memorial University’s FUSION project lead.

Students can sign up independently to complete any or all of the modules.

In addition, instructors can incorporate FUSION modules into their curricula. 

Opportunity for reflection

Dr. Suzanne Dufour, a professor in the Department of Biology, incorporated FUSION’s adaptability module into her Biology 3711 course. 

Dr. Dufour felt the adaptability module, which helps students assess and improve upon their own adaptability, would be useful to students regardless of their post-graduation plans.  

“As they are preparing to enter the job market or apply to graduate or professional school, I think it is valuable for them to reflect on the skills they have developed in their coursework, volunteering, internships and paid work opportunities,” she said.

Dr. Dufour gave students the option to complete the FUSION module in place of one of a series of small assignments.

Ten of the course’s 39 students accepted her offer.

Those who did so say they found reflecting on their existing adaptability skills a valuable experience, she says. 

“They became better able to recognize and articulate the approaches they use when faced with unexpected circumstances,” said Dr. Dufour. “They learned that to develop a more flexible and adaptable mindset, time management and self-care are important.” 

The technical aspects of incorporating a FUSION module into her course were simple, she says.

She worked with CITL to embed the module in the course Brightspace shell, where students could easily access its content and upload their completed workbook. 

Experiential learning

Students can register for FUSION modules independently, as well.

Sajib Sarker, a student in Memorial’s Master of Business Administration Program, came across FUSION while researching career development opportunities.

He has since completed several of its modules, including digital literacy, communication and AI literacy.  

FUSION was a great learning and development opportunity that helped him in his academic journey and prepared him for his future career, he says.

In particular, he appreciated the modules’ phased course design: explore, apply and reflect.  

“Learning, and then applying and reflecting on those learnings, allows students to critically analyze events and get meaningful insights,” Mr. Sarker said. 

‘A perfect solution’

FUSION’s modules can also be used to expand on topics already included in a course’s curriculum.

Dr. Linda Cohen, a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, supplemented her instruction on AI in a second-year introduction to research methods course using the AI literacy module.  

“I don’t believe we can stop students from using AI, so we must help them see some of its ethical and academic issues. The FUSION model on AI was a perfect solution for this,” she said. 

Dr. Cohen also incorporated FUSION’s metacognition module into Sociology 4100, an internship course involving community work and an analytical research component.

In both courses, students worked through the modules independently and submitted the completed workbooks, which counted towards a small percentage of their grade. 

Both instructors say incorporating FUSION into their curricula was a positive overall experience, and they would use the modules in their courses again. 

Learn more

To learn more about FUSION at Memorial and its 12 available modules, please visit the website.

To complete FUSION modules as a student, please enrol via Brightspace.

For more information on embedding a FUSION module into your course, please reach out to Ian Gibson.