Developing Key Competencies through Hackathon Based Learning

Abstract

Every day we encounter the thesis that there is a huge gap between the education system and the labor market. The aim of this research is to identify problems in the employers’ circle when it comes to hiring fresh graduates. The educational system is critical to information about the needs of employers in order to adapt educational programs to the needs of the labor market, to formulate learning outcomes in education programs and define occupational standards. The focus is on key competencies of candidates that are indispensable in today’s labor market. The paper will show: what are the expectations of companies that actively seek workers? What are the priority competencies? Is there a scale of expected competencies? We want to find out how participants in the labor market are thinking about cooperation with educational institutions and which concrete ways of cooperation are considered effective in terms of training. What is the relationship between business and institutional education in defining and developing competency requirements? We proceed from the assumption that key skills create the competitive advantage of graduates because they talk about how they use their expertise. In addition, this paper illustrates hackathons and suggests some academic contexts in which they can be used.