An Evaluation of the Nunez Community College Quality Enhancement Program: Assessing the Impact of Embedded Conover Workplace Readiness® Modules on Students’ Work Readiness
Sandra Aurand Bosch and
Donna Mowery Rice
SAGE Open, 2024, vol. 14, issue 2, 21582440241251767
Abstract:
A mismatch remains between the skills employers seek in new hires and the skills applicants possess. This study encompassed an evaluation of the impacts of the Quality Enhancement Program on students’ work readiness competencies, including oral, written, and digital communication skills, at Nunez Community College. The Quality Enhancement Program initiative involved embedding Conover Workplace Readiness ® online training modules into English and communication courses to enhance professional skills. A non-experimental pre-post evaluation was used to investigate whether students’ oral, written, and digital communication skills were improved after participation in the Quality Enhancement Program coursework. Data were analyzed using (a) pre- and post-implementation grades, (b) rubric scores, (c) student survey scores, and (d) faculty survey scores. The evidence showed significant improvement in students’ oral, written, and digital communication skills after participation in Quality Enhancement Program courses, workshops, and modules, resulting in improved employability skills. Whereas students expressed confidence in their improved communication skills, teachers were more cautious about the extent of the gains. Although localized, this study has implications for addressing community college students’ work readiness globally, given worldwide skills gap concerns.
Keywords: soft skills; work readiness; online soft skill training; quality enhancement program; community college (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440241251767 (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:14:y:2024:i:2:p:21582440241251767
DOI: 10.1177/21582440241251767
Access Statistics for this article
More articles in SAGE Open
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().