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Judene Pretti, Director Waterloo Centre for Advancement in Co-operative Education ( WatCACE )

Online Teaching of Professional and “Soft Skills” to Undergraduate Students: Medium and Long Term Impacts. Judene Pretti, Director Waterloo Centre for Advancement in Co-operative Education ( WatCACE ) Tonya Noël, Program Evaluation & Projects Coordinator

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Judene Pretti, Director Waterloo Centre for Advancement in Co-operative Education ( WatCACE )

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  1. Online Teaching of Professional and “Soft Skills” to Undergraduate Students:Medium and Long Term Impacts Judene Pretti, Director Waterloo Centre for Advancement in Co-operative Education (WatCACE) Tonya Noël, Program Evaluation & Projects Coordinator Waterloo Professional Development Program (WatPD) March 23, 2012 HEQCO Teaching & Learning Workshop Hamilton, ON

  2. Outline • WatPD Overview • Courses • Course Design • Operations • Evaluation Plan Overview • Current Project • Students • Co-op Employers • Additional Sources

  3. Two Questions ? ? How can you teach students soft skills – especially in an online course? How will you know that the program is making a difference? ? ?

  4. WatPD Overview • Required online professional and “soft skill” courses taken by all undergraduate co-op students during work terms • 4 or 5 credits needed for co-op degree (varies by faculty) • Each course is ~20 hours of work • CR or NCR appears on students’ transcripts • History/Motivation for Creation • Feedback from employers that students need more than technical skills • Academic credit for work terms • Centrally run unit under supervision of the Associate Provost, Resources

  5. Courses • Required (Applied Heath Sciences, Arts, Environment, Science and Mathematics) • PD1: Co-op Fundamentals • PD2: Critical Reflection & Report Writing • Required (Engineering) • PD20: Developing Reasoned Conclusions • PD21: Developing Effective Plans • Elective (All) • PD3: Workplace Communication • PD4: Teamwork • PD5: Project Management • PD6: Problem Solving • PD7: Conflict Resolution • PD8: Intercultural Skills

  6. Course Design • Each course has its own content developer • Worked closely with Centre for Extended Learning to put courses online • General Idea • introduce theory on specific topic • provide examples in workplace settings • through assignments, students connect theory to their experiences

  7. Operations • Staff • Director and Associate Director • Administrative Coordinator • Instructors (Waterloo faculty/staff paid as sessionals) • Instructional Support Coordinators (5) • TAs (15-20/term; full-time intermediate/senior co-op students) • Part-time markers (60+; grad students/former TAs) • Program Evaluation and Projects Coordinator • Scale • Began in Fall 2006 with 272 Math students. • Winter 2012 courses include 6100+ students from all 6 faculties • Currently offer 9 courses with more on the way

  8. Our Program Evaluation Journey

  9. Program Evaluation Overview Focus for this project Kirkpatrick, Donald L. (1998). Evaluating training programs: The four levels (2nd ed.)

  10. Current Project: Students • End of course and “Completed PD requirements” surveys • Self reports using Likert scales or responding to open-ended questions (that are coded using a code book) • Focus groups • Expand on the above surveys (sessions are transcribed and coded) • Graduating student survey • Self-reports on education outcomes that are believed to influence employment success • Compare responses of students in co-op vs. regular programs • Compare responses of students in co-op who did/did not complete PD courses

  11. Current Project: Co-op Employers • Survey about views towards soft skills, familiarity with the program, and Waterloo students’ skills • Included in winter (on campus) interview packages with an online option available • Interviews (follow-up to the above) • Course reviews (volunteers from interviews) • Co-op students’ work term evaluations • Map items that do/don’t connect to WatPD objectives • Compare ratings of students who did vs. did not complete PD courses

  12. Current Project: Additional Sources • HEQCO surveys • Analyze data collected in the work integrated learning survey to improve understanding of differences between co-op students and non-co-op students • Review employer responses to determine if differences exist between Waterloo and other institutions • uWaterloo Office of Alumni Affairs • Liaise to determine if any of their studies measure WatPD objectives

  13. Questions? Judene Pretti, Director Waterloo Centre for Advancement in Co-operative Education (WatCACE) tjpretti@uwaterloo.ca 519.888.4567 x32355 Tonya Noël, Program Evaluation and Projects Coordinator Waterloo Professional Development Program (WatPD) tnoel@uwaterloo.ca 519.888.4567 x32271

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