Online Teaching of Professional and “Soft Skills” to Undergraduate Students:

Medium and Long Term Impacts

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

Tonya Noël, Program Evaluation & Projects CoordinatorWaterloo Professional Development Program (WatPD)

March 23, 2012HEQCO Teaching & Learning Workshop

Hamilton, ON

Outline

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

Two QuestionsHow can you

teach students soft

skills – especially in an online course?

How will you know that the

program is making a

difference?

??

??

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

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

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

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

Our Program Evaluation Journey

AccountabilityProgram

Improvement

Program Evaluation Overview

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

Focus for this project

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

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

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

Questions?

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

tjpretti@uwaterloo.ca519.888.4567 x32355

Tonya Noël, Program Evaluation and Projects CoordinatorWaterloo Professional Development Program (WatPD)

tnoel@uwaterloo.ca519.888.4567 x32271