Peter, What a wonderful task and related question. I will leave the door open to others, to address your question of which of these learning goals might have the largest impact. What I can't resist is the opportunity to note two things about your list of possible learning goals. First, if you had not mentioned that the course was mainly about Management and Marketing, I could have read that list as a good list of learning goals for "Leadership in Any Kind of Organization" - churches, schools, the military, university department chairs, non-profits, etc. Second, when I read your list of desired kinds of learning and relate them to my taxonomy of significant learning, they seem to relate to three of the categories of significant learning: *Application*: A. Skills Communication Writing Presentation Project Management IT Management B. Thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Creativity *Human Dimension*: A. Learning about ONESELF: Managing oneself B. Learning how to INTERACT WITH OTHERS Giving and receiving feedback Negotiating Managing Others Teamwork *Learning How to Learn* Lifelong Learning Thanks for the quick posting! I assume others will have more to say about your question. Dee On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 3:47 AM, Peter Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi all, > > I, and two colleagues, have been tasked with developing, introducing, and > delivering a new core (aka compulsory) courses for our 1st year, > undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Commerce).The 'content' of the course is > largely based on Management and Marketing. > > Aside from the 'content', there are explicit goals around the delivery of > soft skills. our starting list of soft skills is rather long (more than we > can possibly do). Our partial list includes: > > Communication skills > Writing skills > Giving and receiving feedback > Presentation skills > Project management skills > Negotiation skills > Managing self > Managing others > Teamwork > IT Management and Technology > Critical thinking > Problem Solving > Creativity > Lifelong learning > > > I wonder what people have found that, in their experience, are the three or > four soft skills that would have the largest positive impact on students > (I'm leaving things rather vague here, so people can interpret the question > in a variety of ways). > > > > Kind regards > > Peter Smith > > Department of Management and International Business > The University of Auckland Business School, Private Bag 92019, AUCKLAND > Email: [log in to unmask], Phone: +64 9 923 7178 > Wave: [log in to unmask] > -- *********************** L. Dee Fink 234 Foreman Ave. Norman, OK 73069 Phone/FAX: 405-364-6464 Email: [log in to unmask] Website: www.finkconsulting.info **National Project Director: Teaching & Curriculum Improvement (TCI) Project **Senior Associate, Dee Fink & Associates Consulting Services **Author of: Creating Significant Learning Experiences **Former President of the POD Network in Higher Education (2004-2005)