Professional Competency Development through Reflection (Work-in-Progress)

Laurie Sutch

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED) Technical Session 4
Tagged Division: Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED)
Page Count: 9
Permanent URL: https://sftp.asee.org/47877

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Laurie Sutch University of Michigan orcid.org/0000-0002-1205-1468

visit author page

Laurie is an experienced administrator in higher education as a director and program manager, workshop presenter, and facilitator of interactive learning experiences. Currently in the College of Engineering Undergraduate Education office at the University of Michigan, she supervises Spire, a program designed to help students develop professional competencies such as teamwork, communication, etc. She has presented at a variety of conferences, and has published several articles on gameful competency development, technology and campus collaboration, as well as developing leadership skills. She participated in the CLIR/EDUCAUSE Leading Change Institute in 2014.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Students attend college for a variety of reasons - particularly for engineering undergraduates, it is to learn the technical skills that will form the knowledge base they will use throughout their entire careers. However - whether they know it or not - they are also gaining non-technical, professional skills through their experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. Helping students consciously develop and hone these professional competencies is the goal of one new program at a college of engineering at a large midwest public university and the subject of this work-in-progress paper.

The college of engineering is collaborating with a central office of academic innovation to create an online platform that provides a mechanism for students to track and reflect on the professional competencies they are gaining through their experiences both in and out of the classroom, particularly experiential learning opportunities. Through this tool, students choose specific competencies to focus on, find or create experience opportunities, reflect on the growth that results from these experiences, and learn to articulate their skills in ways that will resonate with employers.

The platform is available to all engineering students, with 29% of undergraduate engineering currently onboarded. It is designed to encourage students to intentionally pause and take stock of the professional skills they are gaining through their engagement with experiential learning opportunities such as design or competition teams, participation in study abroad or research, or project work in a particular course.

The platform promotes twelve specific competencies identified by the college as crucial to the development of successful engineers. Within each competency, there are three or four dimensions (for example, within "Communication", there are speaking, writing, presenting, and listening). Students choose three competencies to focus on, then throughout their time at the university complete reflections on staff created "opportunities" - such as the activities mentioned above - or they can create their own.

For each opportunity, students reflect on how this experience has helped them grow in the associated competency dimensions. To "level up" in a dimension, students submit a single reflection that synthesizes their development and growth by answering specific questions related to the dimension, and they can also link to associated opportunity reflections. These requests are reviewed by program staff using the assessment criteria outlined in rubrics that have been created, and then the level up is either awarded or sent back to the student with a request for additional content or elaboration. If they achieve the third level in two dimensions of a single competency, they receive a digital badge for that competency that they can post to LinkedIn as a credential.

In addition to campaigns to promote the tool to all engineering students, the team is also working directly with specific instructors of introductory, design, and study abroad courses. This includes developing integration with Canvas, the learning management system, so work done in the course can be reflected automatically in the platform. The team is also focused on encouraging the continued engagement of students who have started to use the tool, to keep their attention and focus on competency development when participation is not part of a course. This paper will discuss the development of the platform, engagement with students and faculty, and plans for scaling the adoption of this tool.

Citation
Format

Sutch, L. (2024, June), Professional Competency Development through Reflection (Work-in-Progress) Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://sftp.asee.org/47877

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Students attend college for a variety of reasons - particularly for engineering undergraduates, it is to learn the technical skills that will form the knowledge base they will use throughout their entire careers. However - whether they know it or not - they are also gaining non-technical, professional skills through their experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. Helping students consciously develop and hone these professional competencies is the goal of one new program at a college of engineering at a large midwest public university and the subject of this work-in-progress paper.

The college of engineering is collaborating with a central office of academic innovation to create an online platform that provides a mechanism for students to track and reflect on the professional competencies they are gaining through their experiences both in and out of the classroom, particularly experiential learning opportunities. Through this tool, students choose specific competencies to focus on, find or create experience opportunities, reflect on the growth that results from these experiences, and learn to articulate their skills in ways that will resonate with employers.

The platform is available to all engineering students, with 29% of undergraduate engineering currently onboarded. It is designed to encourage students to intentionally pause and take stock of the professional skills they are gaining through their engagement with experiential learning opportunities such as design or competition teams, participation in study abroad or research, or project work in a particular course. 

The platform promotes twelve specific competencies identified by the college as crucial to the development of successful engineers. Within each competency, there are three or four dimensions (for example, within &quot;Communication&quot;, there are speaking, writing, presenting, and listening). Students choose three competencies to focus on, then throughout their time at the university complete reflections on staff created &quot;opportunities&quot; - such as the activities mentioned above - or they can create their own. 

For each opportunity, students reflect on how this experience has helped them grow in the associated competency dimensions. To &quot;level up&quot; in a dimension, students submit a single reflection that synthesizes their development and growth by answering specific questions related to the dimension, and they can also link to associated opportunity reflections. These requests are reviewed by program staff using the assessment criteria outlined in rubrics that have been created, and then the level up is either awarded or sent back to the student with a request for additional content or elaboration. If they achieve the third level in two dimensions of a single competency, they receive a digital badge for that competency that they can post to LinkedIn as a credential.

In addition to campaigns to promote the tool to all engineering students, the team is also working directly with specific instructors of introductory, design, and study abroad courses. This includes developing integration with Canvas, the learning management system, so work done in the course can be reflected automatically in the platform. The team is also focused on encouraging the continued engagement of students who have started to use the tool, to keep their attention and focus on competency development when participation is not part of a course. This paper will discuss the development of the platform, engagement with students and faculty, and plans for scaling the adoption of this tool.
AU  - Laurie Sutch
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Professional Competency Development through Reflection (Work-in-Progress)
UR  - https://sftp.asee.org/47877
ER  -