Strengthening the Engineering Graduate Toolkit: Conscious Professional Skill Development Through PBL Experiences

A gap persists between most engineering undergraduate curricula and employers' demands for diverse professional non-technical skills like teamwork, empathy, and critical thinking. These skills are vital for graduates' employability, play a key role in multidisciplinary team success, and are essential for effective workplace integration. Consequently, the work reported in this paper is part of a broader research aiming at developing a framework for promoting a wide range of students' professional skills during undergraduate engineering courses. This paper examines two case studies of undergraduate engineering courses that integrated a new framework aimed at enhancing students' awareness of their developing skills. Students worked in teams on projects and engaged in activities designed to apply and build skills relevant to the course. Each activity was followed by a reflective questionnaire where students assessed their skill levels. Additionally, a comprehensive skills questionnaire was completed at the beginning and end of the course, covering four skill categories essential for employability: mindset, thinking, emotional intelligence, and professional development. The findings indicate that this framework promoted students' selfawareness, including understanding specific skills and their terminology, recognizing strengths and areas for growth, and applying skills in varied contexts. Notably, engineering students showed a clear awareness of their limited ability to identify their own emotions. This research underscores the value of explicit skills development in engineering education, empowering students to engage in their professional growth and better preparing them for the demands of engineering careers.