Conference Session

Assessment of Student Learning 2

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Debra Gilbuena, Oregon State University; Audrey Briggs Champagne, University at Albany, SUNY; Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

define what “professional skills” means and which skills fit into thatcategory, varies widely. When it comes to clearly defining the term “professional skills,” mostresearchers provide a list of included skills rather than defining the category. Even the lists ofskills that fit into the category of professional skills vary. As noted by Colwell, “if one were toask educators in…engineering…what is meant by the term ‘soft skills’, there would likely besome consensus on the list, but each educator asked would probably have a different list (p.3)”.10 Despite the variation, many authors representing practicing engineers 9, alumni ofengineering programs 11, and engineering educators 7, 11 agree that the following skills areprofessional skills