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WatPD : Professional Development Program for Co-op Students

WatPD : Professional Development Program for Co-op Students. Judene Pretti, Director. 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?. ?. ?. Outline. Background Information

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WatPD : Professional Development Program for Co-op Students

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  1. WatPD: Professional Development Program for Co-op Students Judene Pretti, Director

  2. 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? ? ?

  3. Outline • Background Information • WatPD Operation and Courses • Supporting Soft Skills Development • Measuring Impacts • Questions/Comments

  4. Background on WatPD program • Feedback from employers • Academic credit for work terms • 2005: Learning from Experience Report • Five Faculties, working with Gary, determining that needs could be supported through a centrally run unit • Creation of WatPD under the supervision of the Associate Provost, Academic and Student Affairs

  5. WatPD Logistics • Seven online courses taken by co-op students during their work terms • Involve approximately 20 hours of work • Students earn CR/NCR • Began in Fall 2006 with 272 math students, this term we have 2777 AHS, Arts, ENV, Math and Science students

  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. Required PD Courses PD1: Co-op Fundamentals • Office Politics: Choose Your Own Adventure • Based upon the previous activity, "Avoiding the pitfalls of office politics," list two things you learned from this exercise that you will remember in dealing with office politics during your work term.

  8. Required PD Courses • Formatting a report: details are important • Exercise has students look at two different title pages and identify the differences

  9. Elective PD Courses Group Assignment “One Minute Briefing” • For an annual company skills workshop, your employer has asked you to brief your coworkers about a topic you are learning about in PD 3. • You can choose any topic that could conceivably improve the communication strategies of the particular people in your particular workplace. • So think about the specific people and communication environment in your workplace. Have you observed any areas of communication weakness? • Share ideas amongst your assigned PD 3 group. Once group members agree on a topic, together you’ll prepare a One Minute Briefing accompanied by three slides.

  10. Elective PD Courses Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire • What did you learn from completing the questionnaire and the electronic report you received? • How do the results compare with your self-image? • How will you use this experience to improve your teamwork and relational skills?

  11. Elective PD Courses • “What the experts say” video clips • Feel a connection to course instructor • Polled students for types of problems they face in the workplace

  12. Elective PD Courses • Video skits acting out a workplace scenario that ties content from one week to the next • Video of an mediation process

  13. Our Program Evaluation Journey

  14. Kirkpatrick Model for Evaluation Kirkpatrick, Donald L. (1998). Evaluating training programs: The four levels (2nd ed.)

  15. Reaction: Student Surveys • Workload • 73% report no concerns with workload (‘too little’ work to ‘just right’) • Also ask for a self-report on the hours spent • Value (Examples) • 74% in PD3: “This course has helped me to identify my communication weaknesses.” • 79% in PD4: “This course has helped me understand more clearly the elements that go into high-quality teamwork.”

  16. Reaction: Student Surveys • Marking/Feedback Example • Strong support for objectivity and fairness in grading but lower support for feedback received on assignments

  17. Learning – Success Rates

  18. Learning – Pre/Post Tests

  19. Behaviour • Challenge of our context • Our planned direction • Employer evaluations of student performance • Collect student self-reports of behaviour change • Interviews with students and employers • Main idea is to see if there are trends and converging evidence

  20. Results • Challenge of our context • Our planned direction • NSSE • Graduating student survey (with pre-PD and PD students) • Interviews with employers

  21. Questions? Comments?

  22. Thank You

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