“Learn It! Live It!” Ensuring the Workforce Readiness Skills and Behaviors of Today’s and Tomorrow’s Workers Quality Enhancement Plan Faculty Training Presentation

Admissions, Initial Advising, and Orientation Students are introduced to QEP plan and objectives Progression Courses Skills are introduced and developed along with course content; formative assessment is conducted Academic Advising Advisors review progress toward QEP goals with their advisees Capstone Courses Students complete problem-based learning projects that incorporate all QEP goals in a unified format; summative assessment in conducted Graduation Students receive a Workforce Readiness Certificate. Area employers have been familiarized with this plan The Implementation Approach

Training Needs  Appreciative Advising  Assessment  Integrating Applied Communication Concepts for Problem Solving in a Work-Environment  The Big6 Approach to Integrating Technology for Problem Solving in a Work-Environment  The Tell-Show-Do-Feedback (TSDF) Model for Integrating Soft Skills  Using the Production Studio  Project-Based Learning

Advising Appreciative Advising

Assessment The Backwards Design Model Backwards design consists of…  Identifying desired results.  Determining acceptable evidence.  Planning learning experiences and instruction.  And…taking into account the level of learning experiences and instruction (Remember Bloom’s Taxonomy.).  Taking into account what you want them to know and what you want them to do with it.

Integrating Applied Communication Concepts for Problem Solving in a Work-Environment Big6 The Big6 Skills approach can be used whenever students are in a situation, academic or personal, which requires information to solve a problem, make a decision or complete a task.” This process entails the following: 1. Task Definition (The first part in the information problem-solving process involves recognizing that an information need exists, defining the problem, and identifying the types and amount of information needed and the technology required to retrieve it.) 2. Information Seeking Strategies (Once the information problem has been formulated, the student must consider all possible information sources and develop a plan for searching.) 3. Location and Access (After students determine their priorities for information seeking, they must locate information from a variety of resources and access specific information found within individual resources.) 4. Use of Information (After finding potentially useful resources, students must engage (read, view, listen) the information to determine its relevance and then extract the relevant information.) 5. Synthesis (Students must organize and communicate the results of the information problem-solving effort using technology.) 6. Evaluation (Evaluation focuses on how well the final product meets the original task and the process of how well students carried out the information problem-solving process.)

Integrating Soft Skills Tell/Show/Do/Feedback Model A best practice review indicates that this tactic (what is often referred to as the TSDF Model of Instruction) is the most productive way to incorporate and assess soft skills in course work. The TSDF Model of Instruction may be summarized as follows:  TELL – is the explanation component of skill training. Faculty explain each step: the who, what, when, where, and how.  SHOW – is the instructor demonstration of the skill. Repetition may be necessary during this component of the model. Doing the skill in “real” time during the show is critical. It is important to note, however, that a demonstration may be done slowly or broken into steps initially before doing “real” time.  DO – is the opportunity for every participant to practice the skill. During this component it is critical to let individuals try the entire skill before providing corrective instruction. The DO is the component often left out of skill training, yet it is the most important.  FEEDBACK – is the opportunity for the trainer to share with participants what they did well.

Using the Production Studio For Storage and Dissemination

Project-Based Learning For Full Implementation and Assessment in Capstone Courses