Integrating soft skills training into your course through a collaborative activity

Abstract

Nowadays, employers highly value soft skills, yet many students lack these fundamental abilities. Teaching soft skills involves fostering active student participation and facilitating communication of technical knowledge among peers. This approach presents challenges: (i) creating an engaging learning environment; (ii) ensuring students get timely feedback; (iii) finding an approach that is not too time-consuming for instructors to prepare. The Collaborative Design & Build (CDB) activity, described in this paper, was designed to respond to these challenges. It simulates a real-life scenario, triggering students' interest. The success of this collaborative activity hinges on students working together in a structured chain, where each team builds upon and contributes to the success of the others. This fosters student engagement and accountability as they realize the impact of their actions on the entire chain. This pedagogical approach has already been adopted by four universities abroad. This paper shows how it can be deployed in different courses. Finally, it also discusses how students perceived the activity through four soft skills: collaboration, communication, problem solving and critical thinking. These skills were selected based on their relevance, both in the context of the collaborative activity and in the job market. They are also aligned with the ''4C's of 21st Century skills''. Results show that while students initially struggled with soft skills, consistent practice throughout the semester boosted their confidence, especially in communication. This makes the activity particularly relevant in the classroom, as communication is considered as the most important soft skill for the future.