Presenters: Amy Buechler-Steubing & Angie Hubbard Capella University Developing 21st century skills in students using a competency-based approach (Angie) Welcome Introduction of presenters Overview of Capella Presenters: Amy Buechler-Steubing & Angie Hubbard Capella University

Agenda Our institution and context Rationale for topic Career readiness skills and competencies Creating a supportive environment Competency-based training and skills development Examples from our institution Shared understanding of ways we impact academic success and career readiness Action plan for your setting (Angie) Contribute to shared understanding of ways student staff training and professional development contributes to academic success and career readiness Articulate ways in which their current professional development and training for student staff addresses career readiness competencies Design competencies to use as a framework for future student staff training and professional development.

Our institution and context Capella University Online institution serving adult learners 37,000+ students Average age is 38 years old, majority female Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs offered Many are seeking career advancement or a degree that matches their experience in the field Headquarters in Minneapolis, MN (Angie)

Our institution and context Center for Academic Success & Excellence (CASE) Peer support programs Faculty-qualified tutors (TAs) Writing Center and Quantitative Skills Center Online self-paced academic support resources 100+ student-staff around the world (Angie)

Building bridges to career success Supportive environments Competency-based skill development Effective training Career Success (Angie) Learning Assistance Centers are uniquely positioned to build a bridge to student-staff career success. By creating supportive environments, providing effective training, and cultivating key competency-based skill development, student-staff can develop and apply skills that will help them today and in their future endeavors. We have been convicted about the dual mission that we support: to provide quality services to our broader student population and to provide professional development to the student-staff in our center. Learning Assistance Programs are uniquely positioned to support student-staff career success.

Benefit to Center Results Increased employee engagement Increased employee retention Quality of services Angie A competency-based training and development plan provides student-staff with practical steps to develop 21st Century career readiness skills that employers are seeking. However, this purposeful performance management method also benefits Learning Assistance Centers. Programs will benefit from the services of student-staff who demonstrate these important career competencies. Here are some examples of the impact to the learning assistance center:   Benefit to Center: Retention: As with employees in corporate environments, student-staff who feel engaged and invested in are more likely to stay in their roles. Learning Assistance Centers will see an increase in employee retention when they purposefully invest in developing their staff professionally. Quality of services: The broader student population will benefit from a higher quality of services when delivered by student-staff who demonstrate these key 21st Century competencies. Student-staff who demonstrate leadership, critical thinking skills and more are likely to excel in their roles.

Benefit to Student-Staff Results Benefit to Center Benefit to Student-Staff Increased employee engagement Increased employee retention Quality of services Academic Success Language to recognize transferrable skills Vocational Self-efficacy Angie Benefit to Learner-Staff: Academic Success: The 21st Century skills that will benefit the student-staff in their future careers will also benefit them in their educational pursuits. The competencies of communication skills, leadership, critical thinking and problem solving have direct connection to student success in their courses. An increase in these key competencies influences their motivation and persistence towards their degrees. Language to recognize transferrable skills: Increasing the student-staff awareness of the direct correlation between what they do in these roles and how that applies to the work they hope to do in their careers. Providing them with language to use to describe those skills and competencies. Vocational Self-efficacy: Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy. Review Arendale’s (2016) article about SI leaders gaining confidence and confirmation that teaching was of interest in their future career

Vocational self-efficacy Survey of 43 peer learning facilitators Based on Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) “When individuals have high self-efficacy to do a task and believe they will be successful at it, they are more likely to develop interest and goals in that area. That, in turn, can lead to actions related to vocational choice” (Arendale & Hane, 2016, p. 4). Their hands-on experience in these roles Confirmed or ignited their interest in teaching

Tell us about your setting What roles are available for students in your learning center or setting? Why do students apply for them and what careers are they interested in? Examples at Capella….. Curriculum Development Instructional design Faculty Leadership (Angie)

Career Readiness & Competencies The National Association of Colleges and Employers defines career readiness as “the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace” (NACE, 2017). What skills are employers looking for? What are 21 century skills? Are your student-staff developing some of these skills in their roles as tutors, SI leaders, peer mentors,….? (Amy) {Ask} What are 21st Century Skills? The National Association of Colleges and Employers defines career readiness as “the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace” (NACE, 2017). Students working in our learning centers as tutors, SI leaders, or other staff have direct hands-on opportunities to develop the competencies that will help them achieve their career goals. As we’ve mentioned, Learning Center leaders play a key role in providing training and professional development for student-staff. Helping student-staff understand how the skills and competencies they develop will help them in their future careers and can positively impact their performance and sets them up for continued success.

21st Century Skills The National Association of Colleges & Employers has identified the following as key skills that employers are looking for from college graduates: Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Oral/Written Communications Teamwork/Collaboration Digital Technology Leadership Professionalism/Work Ethic Career Management Global/Intercultural Fluency What essential tasks do the student-staff in your center execute that fall within these categories? (Amy) NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) has identified the following categories as key 21st Century skills that employers are looking for from college graduates. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving: Exercise sound reasoning to analyze issues, make decisions, and overcome problems. The individual is able to obtain, interpret, and use knowledge, facts, and data in this process, and may demonstrate originality and inventiveness. Oral/Written Communications: Articulate thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively in written and oral forms to persons inside and outside of the organization. The individual has public speaking skills; is able to express ideas to others; and can write/edit memos, letters, and complex technical reports clearly and effectively. Teamwork/Collaboration: Build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers representing diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, religions, lifestyles, and viewpoints. The individual is able to work within a team structure, and can negotiate and manage conflict. Digital Technology: Leverage existing digital technologies ethically and efficiently to solve problems, complete tasks, and accomplish goals. The individual demonstrates effective adaptability to new and emerging technologies. Leadership: Leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals, and use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others. The individual is able to assess and manage his/her emotions and those of others; use empathetic skills to guide and motivate; and organize, prioritize, and delegate work. Professionalism/Work Ethic: Demonstrate personal accountability and effective work habits, e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, and time workload management, and understand the impact of non-verbal communication on professional work image. The individual demonstrates integrity and ethical behavior, acts responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind, and is able to learn from his/her mistakes. Career Management: Identify and articulate one's skills, strengths, knowledge, and experiences relevant to the position desired and career goals, and identify areas necessary for professional growth. The individual is able to navigate and explore job options, understands and can take the steps necessary to pursue opportunities, and understands how to self-advocate for opportunities in the workplace. Global/Intercultural Fluency: Value, respect, and learn from diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and religions. The individual demonstrates, openness, inclusiveness, sensitivity, and the ability to interact respectfully with all people and understand individuals’ differences. naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined/

Creating a supportive environment We seek to intentionally connect the tasks of the role and skill development to their desired vocation demonstrating commitment to their future. Tasks of role Skill development Career interest(s) (Amy) What impact might we see with this intentional connection? How does this benefit YOU (the learning center? Mindset shift – intentionally making the connection between the tasks they perform and their connection to their intended vocation. Learners (staff) feel more engaged, increases quality of services provided. Activity: What benefits do/could your center see with this approach? What’s the win/win – you are getting a benefit as a center, what benefit are the learner-staff receiving? Engaged staff, increased service quality, career- ready graduates

Activity What are you doing now to invest in the career and professional development of your student-staff? How could you integrate more purposeful skill development into your center or setting? (Amy)

Activity Where do they want to go? What competency do they need to get there? How can they demonstrate that competency? Leadership position Judges the performance of self and others fairly (CAS, 2006). Conduct peer and self observations to evaluate quality of tutoring support. Accounting Teaching (K-12) Medical/Nursing (Angie) The first step in designing a competency-based approach may be to consider where the learner-staff wants to be or what they need to demonstrate for their future career. Take for example, a learner has identified that they want to be in some type of leadership position. In the area of leadership and supervision, The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education states that individuals judge the performance of self and others fairly. How can the learner-staff demonstrate that competency? One example may be to conduct peer and self observations to evaluate the performance or quality of tutoring support. What is an example of another common area or ability that learner-staff in your center may want? Based on the standards of excellence from CAS, what competencies do they need to demonstrate? {Return to slide 13} What task or duty do they perform in their current role that will give them experience to demonstrate this competency?

Competencies: Higher Education General Knowledge & Skills Possess appropriate knowledge of relevant theories, literature, and philosophies on which to base informed professional practice Thinks critically about complex issues Works collaboratively Uses technology effectively for educational and institutional purposes Interactive Competencies Values differences among groups of students and between individuals Self Mastery Commits to excellence in all work Intentionally employs self reflection to improve practice and gain insight (Angie) The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) identifies standards in key areas in higher education. They have also identified individual standards for excellence for professionals within higher education. These characteristics or competencies can be used for performance feedback, self-reflection, and professional development. There are 50 total factors; I’ve selected a few that align closely with the roles of the student-staff in our center. We have used these competencies to provide a common language to help our student-staff see the parallels between what they do in their role and the track that they want to pursue in their careers. For example, one of the SI leaders in our program solicited me for advice on what jobs should could get that would give her hands on experience in instructional design – which was her field of study at Capella and her intended career goal. Using this framework, I was able to directly map the work that she was doing as an SI leader to specific competencies in higher education and instructional design as a whole.

Industry Specific Competencies Tiered Skill Set Industry Specific Competencies Core Competencies 21st century skills (Angie) When pulling all of this information together, we’ve considered that there are some skills that are a foundation of business. These are articulated by the NACE 21st century skills. These are skills that regardless of industry are critical to success. Next, we have core competencies that are related to higher education including collaboration with learners and faculty or confidentiality. Finally, there are industry specific competencies. For our center, we have a high number of learners who are seeking roles as faculty or instructional design. There are competencies from these industries that we can include in our development of student-staff. For example, to provide students with experiences to develop these competencies, we encourage those interested in instructional design to take part in training. Our student-staff are encouraged to design a training session and present to the larger team. We’ll talk more specifically about other ways that we provide these learning opportunities for our staff.

How do we… Criterion Performance Competency: Design and facilitate group study sessions adhering to adult learning theory and Supplemental Instruction principles. Criterion Performance Ask open-ended questions 80% of the session (compared to closed-ended).   Utilize wait-time of 7 seconds or longer, when appropriate. Utilize active learning strategies as covered in SI training manuals. Analyze performance through one peer or self observation per quarter. Develop PowerPoints, handouts, and other resources that adhere to multimedia principles of adult learning. (Angie) In considering our performance evaluation of tutors and SI leaders, we felt that it was taking a very metric based or task based evaluation. We wanted to shape something that had a more positive framework. Something that encouraged students, that inspired them to develop. We also knew that what motivated most of the individuals to apply for these roles was to get the valuable hands on experience that they need to break into careers in higher education. In SI, we took the skills and abilities found in faculty roles and found the common themes for Supplemental Instruction Leaders. We designed these as competencies. Each competency has 3-4 activities that demonstrate their performance in that competency. When I introduced this to the SI team, they were very receptive and even excited about the concept. One SI leader told me he was excited to put these competencies on his resume. Not just to add them to his resume, but to be confident that he had evidence to support what he put on his resume. He came to me later and said that he got an internship that he feels was strongly based on his experience in SI and his ability to talk about the parallels between what he’s learned in his role and what he can contribute in the internship. This has been a more informal example of a competency based evaluation. Amy will speak about a formal program that we’ve been piloting across the organization.

Teaching Experience pathways Post-Doc Fellowship Capella Faculty/Instructor Possible future state options Graduate Instructor Lead Tutor, TA, SI, or Coach TA (advanced), Supplemental Instruction Leader, TA (novice), Peer Tutor/Coach Teaching Experience Pathways example Amy Goal: Provide professional development, opportunities for diverse hands-on teaching experiences, and stackable skill/competency development.

Teaching Experience – ongoing development opportunities Seminar opportunities for those seeking additional professional development and hands-on experiences Self-paced ; initial self-assessment and action plan guide learner throughout Modules include discussions, assignments, and a reflective journal component ePortfolio developed throughout Competencies covered Foundational Assess skills for teaching online Use LMS tools to support online learning Provide one-on-one and one-to-many support to learners Identify and develop resources to support learning online Apply culturally competent practices to online teaching Next level Provide substantive formative feedback on academic work submitted online Provide support to at-risk learners online Provide support for ESL/ELL learners online Apply ethics and standards of practice to their online teaching Amy

Success Stories Our student-staff have reported these exciting outcomes Promoted to Graduate Instructor roles within the organization. Secured adjunct teaching positions at other institutions. Secured internship. Increased confidence and clarification of future career goals. Some have opted to start master’s and doctoral programs. Contributed to a chapter in a book authored by one of the faculty of the course they support. Amy

Pathways success scenario Received multiple job offers in teaching field; attributes success to his experience in the TA and SI roles. Graduated from PhD SOE program Expressed appreciation for experience and confidence gained in roles. Applied for and moved into SI leader role for two quarters Amy Recommended by faculty for SI leader role supporting newly revised course Worked two quarters as TA supporting SOE learners

Action Plan Activity Identify action plan for next steps you’ll take to strengthen the connection between the student-staff roles in your setting and student-staff training, ongoing development, mentoring, etc. Pick a role in your learning center or setting: Identify two or three skills or competencies those individuals have an opportunity to strengthen in their role. What do you do today to help student-staff identify their career goals and connect what they do in their role to their career goals? What can you do tomorrow? Are there others on campus that you can partner with? If you implement this action plan, what is the value to your student-staff? What is the value to your center? Co Reflect & Share Questions:

What do you want to do/do differently? Supportive environments Competency-based skill development Effective training In each area: What do you do now? What do you want to do/do differently?

Questions?

Amy Buechler-Steubing How to reach us Amy Buechler-Steubing amy.buechler-steubing@capella.edu Angie Hubbard angie.hubbard@capella.edu