Using Structured Activities to Teach Durable Skills
by Adam O'Neal, MBA -- Durable skills are in high demand by employers, but teaching these skills to students in an academic environment can prove challenging. Teaching classes focused primarily on durable skills can lead to students compartmentalizing the content into the context of a leadership class, for example, and failing to transfer the skills to practical applications in their field. In classes focused on content, group projects present opportunities to teach skills like teamwork, leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving. Executing this effectively in a way that explicitly conveys the skills being learned—without distracting from the content—can be difficult. I discussed concepts of durable skills—teamwork, communication, leadership, problem-solving and critical thinking—but I had no effective way to assess the process of executing the project. One possible solution is to create a structured instrument that addresses the durable skills being featured. Students...