Developing soft skills in computer students

Abstract

Today software developers are required to work closely with users when defining, developing and implementing systems. Interaction between software developers and users can influence the success or failure of the system development and implementation. The emphasis has shifted towards the need for IT developers who, not only have the technical capabilities and knowledge, but who also have strong interpersonal and business skills. IT professionals need to be able to form close working relationships and communicate effectively with both end-users and their IT peers. Tertiary institutions have, however, continued to emphasise technical and research skills and usually ignored the need for soft skills. It is not enough for tertiary institutions to tell students that they need these soft skills, opportunities must be created so that they can develop them. At the Port Elizabeth Technikon special modules have been created within the Information Technology course to afford students the opportunities to develop these skills. These modules run throughout the year for second and third year students. The emphasis is on providing an environment (n which the students are encouraged to practise their soft skills. The paper will discuss the module content, methods used and our experiences in teaching these modules. The modules alone, however, are not sufficient for development of the necessary soft skills, therefore opportunities for this must be created within other subjects. The paper will also describe some of the methods that can be implemented to achieve this.