Action learning(Learning by doing)
A learning approach where people work on real, unfamiliar problems alongside peers willing to ask honest questions. The unit of learning is a real challenge, not a textbook exercise.
Alternative credentials(Alt credentials)
Credentials issued outside traditional degree pathways — micro-credentials, verifiable credentials, industry certifications, portfolio-based artefacts. The point is that they are recognised on their own terms.
Assessment rubric(Marking rubric)
A structured set of criteria used to evaluate a piece of work. Each criterion has weighted levels and a description; the student sees what good looks like before they ship.
Authentic assessment(Performance assessment)
Assessment that measures what a learner can do in a real-world context — produce a deliverable, solve an actual problem, ship a portfolio piece — rather than what they can recall on a multiple-choice test.
Authentic task(Authentic activity)
A task that mirrors the structure, ambiguity, and stakes of work in the real domain — not a textbook problem with a clean answer key.
Capstone project(Senior project)
A substantial project undertaken near the end of a degree programme that integrates skills from across the programme — often the most CV-relevant piece of work a student produces in school.
Career readiness(Career preparedness)
The combination of technical skill, professional behaviour, and demonstrable evidence of work that lets a graduate compete for entry-level roles in their target field.
Case study method(Case method)
A teaching method centred on analysing structured business cases — usually with a known historical context and a discussion of what was decided. Useful for reasoning practice; weak as evidence of work.
Challenge-based learning(CBL)
A pedagogical approach where students learn by working through real, authentic challenges that mirror the kind of work they would do in their target field. The unit of learning is the challenge cycle.
Critical thinking(Analytical thinking)
The ability to evaluate evidence, weigh trade-offs, and form a defensible judgement under ambiguity. The shape of it varies by domain, but the structure is similar — evidence, framing, judgement, communication.
Deliberate practice(Purposeful practice)
Practice with a specific learning goal, immediate feedback, and progressive difficulty. The kind of practice that builds skill, distinct from repetition that does not.
Deliverable(Output)
The artefact a student produces in response to a challenge — a strategy document, a prototype, a code repository, a marketing plan. The deliverable is what is actually assessed, and what eventually ends up in the portfolio.
Employability skills(Workplace skills)
The combination of technical capability, professional behaviour, and demonstrable evidence of work that lets a graduate compete in the entry-level labour market.
Experiential learning(Kolb's cycle)
Learning that proceeds through direct experience — concrete experience, reflection, abstract conceptualisation, active experimentation. Often associated with David Kolb's four-stage cycle.
Feedback loop(Feedback cycle)
The structured cycle of work, review, and revision that turns time spent into skill. The shorter and more concrete the loop, the faster the skill grows.
First-job portfolio(Entry-level portfolio)
The body of demonstrable work a graduate brings into the first job application — the artefacts that let a hiring team see the work before they see the candidate.
Peer review(Peer assessment)
Review of one student's work by another student in the same cohort or programme, typically structured by a rubric. Useful for both reviewer and reviewee — assessing work develops the assessor's judgement.
Portfolio(Professional portfolio)
A curated collection of a person's work, organised so a reader can see what the person has actually done — not what they claim to have done. The defining feature is reviewable artefacts, not bullet-point experience.
Portfolio assessment(Portfolio-based assessment)
Assessment that uses a learner's portfolio of work as the primary evidence — the actual artefacts, with their rubric grades and reflections — rather than separate examinations or one-off graded assignments.
Portfolio project(Portfolio piece)
A specific project undertaken with the deliberate goal of producing a portfolio-quality artefact — a piece a recruiter could review and a future employer could ask about in detail.
Problem-based learning(PBL (problem))
A pedagogical approach where students learn by working through ill-structured problems — problems where the correct answer is not given and the path to it is not obvious. Distinct from project-based learning by the emphasis on the problem itself, not the deliverable.
Professional portfolio(Professional body of work)
A portfolio framed for professional contexts — early-career hiring, promotions, business-development conversations. Tighter curation than an exhaustive portfolio; the principle is to show your strongest work in your target field.
Project-based learning(PBL (project))
A pedagogical approach where students learn by completing extended projects with public deliverables. Distinct from problem-based learning by the emphasis on the deliverable; close kin to challenge-based learning, with project-based learning often more bounded.
Real-world portfolio(Industry portfolio)
A portfolio whose pieces come from real briefs — industry challenges, sponsored projects, internship deliverables — rather than from coursework alone. The defining feature is that the work was scoped against a real-world context.
Reflective practice(Reflection)
The deliberate practice of reflecting on one's work — what worked, what did not, what to change next — as a structured part of the learning cycle, not as an afterthought.
Retrieval practice(Active recall)
Studying by pulling information out of memory — testing yourself — rather than putting it back in front of your eyes by re-reading. It is one of the most reliably effective learning techniques in the research.
Rubric(Grading rubric)
A structured tool for assessing work — a set of criteria, with a weight and a description of what each level of achievement looks like. Rubrics make assessment consistent across reviewers and visible to students before they ship.
Simulation-based learning(Simulation training)
Learning through realistic simulations of work or scenarios — flight simulators, clinical scenarios, business simulations. Strong for high-stakes situations where real-world practice is unsafe or impractical; weaker as evidence of work for portfolios.
Soft skills(Power skills)
The cluster of behavioural, interpersonal, and self-management skills that affect how someone works rather than what they produce — communication, collaboration, judgement under ambiguity, time management.
T-shaped skills(T-shaped professional)
A skill profile combining deep expertise in one specialty (the vertical bar of the T) with broad working knowledge across adjacent fields (the horizontal bar). Common framing in technology, design, and consulting hiring.
Transferable skills(Portable skills)
Skills that move with a person across roles, industries, and contexts — communication, problem-framing, project management. Distinct from role-specific technical skills by their cross-domain reach.
Work-integrated learning(WIL)
Learning that integrates academic study with real workplace experience — internships, capstone projects, sponsored challenges, work-shadow placements. The umbrella covers many specific formats; the common thread is workplace-anchored learning.
Workplace simulation(Virtual work experience)
A simulated work scenario — typically pre-recorded with employer partners — where a learner walks through a structured set of tasks resembling work at a specific company. Strong on brand exposure; weaker as evidence of work for portfolios.
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Technical Terms
3 terms
Technology-related terminology including software, platforms, and digital tools used in modern education.
Industry Terms
25 terms
Business and professional terminology related to partnerships, hiring, and workforce development.
Platform-Specific Terms
5 terms
Features and concepts unique to the Ewance platform and challenge-based learning ecosystem.