CAREER SKILLS INSTITUTE
CONCEPT & SUMMARY
TO INFORM CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
WHY A CAREER SKILLS INSTITUTE
According to numerous recent studies, employers are more concerned than students or
educators about new graduates having a range of skills in areas like innovation,
communication, applying knowledge to real world problems and teamwork. In 2015, the
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) did a companion survey of
college students and employers and here are the results:
According to the AACU report, "When it comes to the types of skills and knowledge that
employers feel are most important to workplace success, large majorities of employers do
NOT feel that recent college graduates are well prepared. This is particularly the case for
applying knowledge and skills in real-world settings, critical thinking skills, and written and
oral communication skills — areas in which fewer than three in 10 employers think that
recent college graduates are well prepared. Yet even in the areas of ethical decision-making
and working with others in teams, many employers do not give graduates high marks."
CAREER SKILLS INSTITUTE
CONCEPT & SUMMARY
TO INFORM CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS THE CAREER SKILLS INSTITUTE CONCEPT?
We envision a program that teaches student much needed soft business skills and current
technology applications in a flipped classroom setting, “powered by lynda.com.” You may already
know that lynda.com is a leading online learning company that helps anyone learn business,
software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals.
lynda.com offers over 100,000 online videos on all sorts of topics trending in professional
skills. We feel the Career Skills Institute can enhance the lynda.com experience by bringing
students and industry together in the classroom to practice solving real world problems.
The Career Skills Institute is a flipped classroom concept taking practical application to the
extreme. Students are assigned a lynda playlist (to view online with instructor guidance to
make sure everyone stays on track). Classroom time is spent discussing concepts learned
(not lecturing!) and putting those concepts to action by tackling a real world problem, ideally
a problem offered up by an industry partner. The result is a learned skill, with a portfolio
piece to prove it.
THE CHALLENGE
We intend to build 30-40 noncredit short courses (8-16 hours each) in the next month! The
challenge is on! The course topics are driven by what’s available on lynda.com. Your task is
to have a look around the lynda.com website, see what topics are covered in your area of
expertise and use your imagination to consider building a hands-on, problem-solving
experience for students, based on video instruction. Your first task is to share a brief
proposal of 2-3 topics (courses) you might like to develop, and connect 2-3 courses to a
mini-certificate (badge). Each badge/certificate must have a minimum of 2 noncredit courses
in it. If your proposal is accepted, you will have access to the full lynda.com site, and a
noncredit course development packet. We have derived a list of courses to tease your
creativity, but also to give you an idea of our first areas of potential focus. Here’s the list: