Long-term Effects of Promoting Communication and Soft Skills in Higher Computing Education

Objectives. This work investigates students’ mid- to long-term takeaways from the course “Communication and Soft Skills” conducted at a European university and relates insights to soft skills interventions in higher computing education described in the literature. A major objective was to situate findings from researching a student-centered course into a broad, international context of promoting soft skills. Research questions address the students’ view on the course’s lasting effects, students’ memories of the course, and the identification of success factors for promoting soft skills in higher computing education based on the current study. Participants and Method. Research encompassed an online survey with open and closed questions that had been emailed to 1,036 course graduates reaching back up to 21 semesters and receiving 101 responses. Following a parallel mixed methods design, quantitative findings were obtained using descriptive statistics while qualitative data were analyzed via a qualitative content analysis. Findings. The study sheds light on which features of the course tend to stay on students’ minds and impact their way of being and acting in their jobs and in society. Our findings indicate that the experiential, student-centered nature of the course and the project-based didactics provided sustained whole-person learning as illustrated by versatile memories and self-reports about constructive changes in attitudes, behavior, skills, and knowledge of respondents. Based on our mixed methods study, we suggest implications for effective soft skills interventions. Conclusions. Only limited literature exists on long-term effects of promoting soft skills in computing-related higher education. This study is among the first to address this literature gap. Student-centered characteristics such as creating an equal environment, being listened to and included in decisions, working in teams on real projects, and getting immediate feedback turned out to leave lasting traces on students’ minds and behavior. The findings from our research contribute an evidence-based source of motivation for staff who are devoted to nourishing students’ soft or professional competencies aside from knowledge and technical skills.