Year: 2016
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Despite extensive research on soft skills development and mentoring in cooperative education, no identifiable study provides assessed the effectiveness of mentorship on developing soft skills, especially in engineering cooperative education.This study examines: (a) the difference between formally assigned mentors (supervisors) and informal, unassigned mentors (non-supervisors) in mentoring their students in developing soft skills and (b) which mentoring function-psychosocial or career-better helps students improve soft skills during their cooperative education program.Methodologically, this study used a longitudinal survey distributed both before and after the cooperative education program.From Summer 2014 through Fall 2014, eight universities with engineering cooperative education programs agreed to participate in the study with a total of 11 cooperative education cycles (three universities participated both in summer and fall cycles).Study participants were engineering students as they participated in their cooperative education programs.This research examined the participants' experiences during the cooperative education program as well as participants' soft skills performance development.The study identified the significant factors that affect mentorship experiences associated with engineering cooperative education.The study included a survey developed based on Noe's mentoring function
Author: Dyah A. Hening
Institution: Ohio University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2612324426