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.