Evaluation of the effectiveness of an online program to help co-op students enhance their employability skills [electronic resource] : a study of the University of Waterloo's Professional Development Program (WatPD) / T. Judene Pretti, Tonya Noël and Ga

"Co-operative education was one of the University of Waterloo's (UW) defining characteristics when it opened in 1957 and it remains a foundational pillar today. With the support of its 4,500 employer partners, UW offers alternating terms of academic and workplace experience to more than 16,500 students from more than 120 different academic programs. These figures make UW the largest postsecondary co-op program in the world. Maintaining strong employer relationships has been a critical success factor for UW's co-op program. Both the relevant literature and the feedback received from employers have indicated that employability skills (communication, interpersonal skills, problem solving, etc.) are essential to success in today's workplace. A number of studies also indicate that employers are not satisfied with the employability skills of new graduates. To address this concern, co-op students from UW have been taking online professional development courses since 2006 through the University of Waterloo's Professional Development program (WatPD). The goal of WatPD is to enhance students' development of employability skills during their work terms. This report describes WatPD's program evaluation plan, including the evaluation methodology and findings collected to date." -- Executive summary.

Includes bibliographical references.

"Co-operative education was one of the University of Waterloo's (UW) defining characteristics when it opened in 1957 and it remains a foundational pillar today. With the support of its 4,500 employer partners, UW offers alternating terms of academic and workplace experience to more than 16,500 students from more than 120 different academic programs. These figures make UW the largest postsecondary co-op program in the world. Maintaining strong employer relationships has been a critical success factor for UW's co-op program. Both the relevant literature and the feedback received from employers have indicated that employability skills (communication, interpersonal skills, problem solving, etc.) are essential to success in today's workplace. A number of studies also indicate that employers are not satisfied with the employability skills of new graduates. To address this concern, co-op students from UW have been taking online professional development courses since 2006 through the University of Waterloo's Professional Development program (WatPD). The goal of WatPD is to enhance students' development of employability skills during their work terms. This report describes WatPD's program evaluation plan, including the evaluation methodology and findings collected to date." -- Executive summary.

gr-140922

rss-140324

I

2014

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