Writing students´ self-assessment of communication skills in the service learning classroom: Preliminary results of a quasi-experiment

While many studies have investigated postgraduate professionals´ perceptions of collaborative writing skills, few investigate undergraduates´ perceptions before graduation. The purpose of this study was to provide a place for students to critically assess the communication and writing skills they bring to the workplace, and articulate how those skills will serve their future. The study´s design used a content analysis of 200 job ads in large metropolitan setting, representing a variety of employment sectors. The researcher developed a pre- and post-test 35-item survey, asking students (n = 42) about the job postings´ 30 most common professional communication themes. During the pre-test, nearly one third (30.8%) of students, including seniors, had not begun to think about how their skills would translate to professional positions after graduation; by the post-tests, only 6.8% reported the same. Students indicated that the service learning classroom provided a comfortable place to negotiate how their own skills aligned with those expected by employers before entering the job search. Integrating a similar longitudinal scale into existing writing courses, particularly service learning courses, may be of value to programs´ internal assessment efforts, help students feel more confident about their major, and reflect positively on program outcomes.