Creativity and job tension in experiential learning

This work-in-progress research paper presents a study on employability skills. Employability or soft skills refer to personality traits, attitudes and behavior that are complementary to professional knowledge. These skills are part of a series of competencies that are intertwined with the engineer's technical work [1]. A high percentage of job success depends on employability skills [2]. A gap exists between the attributes of engineering graduates and company requirements [3]. Experiential learning can develop a myriad of skills required by the workplace. Universidad EAFIT, located in Medellin (Colombia), has developed an experiential learning program called KRATOS. KRATOS was sent an invitation to participate in an international competition that implied designing and building a solar/electric powered vehicle. Think creatively is a competency that is important for engineering practice across areas, disciplines and countries [1]. Although student competitions that include design activities may enhance a passion for engineering, they can also have negative emotional consequences [4] (i.e. job tension). Using the structural equation modeling technique, the authors of this study analyzed the responses of 334 undergraduate students. The results of the study indicate that job tension significantly decreased over time, whereas no significant change was detected in terms of creativity. © 2018 IEEE