2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Defining, Measuring, and Recording Professional Skills: An Explication of a Professional Skills Certification Framework and Assessment Rubric

Presented at Continuing Professional Development Division (CPD) Technical Session 1

The lack of professional skills in engineers, a skill gap long recognized by employers, has created a demand for student development processes that facilitate the acquisition of technical and professional skills. In contrast to typical course-based learning, technical and professional skills are best acquired through experiential learning activities such as internships, research projects, and other co- and extracurriculars. The purpose of this paper is to explicate the development of a professional skills certification framework for undergraduate students in a microelectronics engineering workforce development program and creation of the mechanism(s) to assess professional skill development. The framework facilitates students’ acquisition of professional skills through experiential learning as viewed through the overarching theoretical lens of both social cognitive career theory and self-determination theory. The certification framework, rubric, and assessment development are described and the implications are discussed.

Authors

Mary Grace Golden Purdue University [biography]

Mary Grace Golden is a second-year master's student at Purdue University in the Brian Lamb School of Communication specializing in organizational communication.
Dr. Emeline Anne Ojeda-Hecht Purdue University [biography]

Emeline Ojeda-Hecht is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the department of Technology Leadership & Innovation at Purdue University where she serves as a mixed methods expert for the Scalable Asymmetric Lifestyle Engagement (SCALE) project. In this role, Emeline conducts microelectronics engineering workforce needs assessments to uncover issues and bolster the ecosystem of partners within academia, defense, government, and industry. Her research interest include organizational communication, in the context of technology’s influence on workplace experiences.
Savannah Meier Purdue University [biography]

Savannah Meier is a first-year PhD student in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. Her research interests include the intersection of organizational and risk communication.
Prof. Eric Holloway http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0343-1709 Purdue University [biography]

Prof. Eric Holloway currently serves as a Professor of Engineering Practice in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. He also holds a courtesy faculty appointment in the School of Engineering Education. His research focuses on assessment development and the professional formation of students.
Dr. Jennifer S. Linvill Purdue University [biography]

Dr. Jennifer S. Linvill is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Technology Leadership & Innovation at Purdue University. Her research examines organizational challenges related to future work and learning, specifically within the context of workforce development. Her research portfolio focuses on workforce development through the lens of the changing nature of work and is strategically designed to address organizational challenges by providing novel solutions through an interdisciplinary approach. Notably, Dr. Linvill is a Co-Principal Investigator on the SCalable Asymmetric Lifestyle Engagement (SCALE) Production Proposal, funded by the Department of Defense, with colleagues in Purdue’s College of Engineering. The project focuses on developing a scalable and sustainable workforce development program for microelectronics that will serve as a model for other workforce development efforts (i.e., artificial intelligence, hypersonics). In this role, she examines organizational and leadership issues that span across an ecosystem of partners within the following areas: defense, government, industry, community colleges, and universities. Her work has been presented at national and international conferences and has been published in peer-reviewed journals.

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