Higher Education Applications
Professional skills deserve intentional instruction
College students are often expected to demonstrate communication, collaboration, professionalism, flexibility, and self-management before those skills have been clearly defined or intentionally practiced.
SoftSpace Academy is developing higher education applications that help faculty make professional skill development more visible within existing coursework.
SoftSpace Academy is developing higher education applications that help faculty make professional skill development more visible within existing coursework.
Built for Existing Courses
- Rather than adding a separate soft-skills course, SoftSpace is designed to help instructors embed skill practice into the assignments, discussions, projects, feedback exchanges, and field-based experiences students already complete. The goal is simple: help students practice the professional behaviors they will need beyond the classroom, while giving faculty clearer language for teaching, observing, and supporting that growth.
Possible Applications Include:
- Communication and collaboration practice within group assignments
- Structured reflection after feedback, revision, or peer interaction
- Professional interaction skills for helping, service, education, healthcare, and client-facing fields
- Support for faculty who want to make professional expectations clearer without turning every assignment into a popularity contest
What We Are Developing
Professional skills deserve intentional instruction. Not participation grades, personality judgments, or informal expectations.
Ready-to-Use Instructional Resources
SoftSpace Academy is developing ready-to-use instructional resources for programs that want structured professional skill practice without redesigning entire courses.
Interaction skill modulesFor programs where professional communication and relationship-building are core competencies.
Assignment design guides For faculty who want to adapt existing assignments so professional skill practice becomes visible and observable.
Interaction skill modulesFor programs where professional communication and relationship-building are core competencies.
Assignment design guides For faculty who want to adapt existing assignments so professional skill practice becomes visible and observable.
Curriculum Design Consulting
- Institutions that prefer deeper integration will be able to work directly with SoftSpace through curriculum design consulting.
- In this model, we collaborate with faculty and program leaders to tailor the SoftSpace framework to existing syllabi, assignments, and practicum experiences. This approach allows institutions to preserve their existing curriculum while adding a structured pathway for observing and supporting soft skill development.
- Consulting may include:
- Adapting assignments to create observable skill opportunities
- Designing behavioral continuums aligned with program competencies
- Creating observation and monitoring tools
- Structuring practice opportunities across a program sequence
- Aligning professional skill development with accreditation expectations
Example: Moving Beyond a Broad Rating
Many programs, including CACREP-approved counseling programs, need to assess professional dispositions such as a student's willingness to accept and use feedback. The most common method is to use a likert rating such as optimal / acceptable / unacceptable or does not meet expectations / meets expectations / exceeds expectations. This is somewhat useful to faculty for making decisions about student performance, but it lacks the specificity required for students to learn. The SoftSpace Academy approach can help transform and contextualize such scales by adding specificity to the faculty assessment and guidance for student feedback.
Faculty Assessment Questions
After feedback is provided, what does the student do next?
Does the student:
Does the student:
- remain engaged long enough to identify a next step?
- ask a clarifying question when feedback is unclear?
- identify at least one usable revision target?
- apply the feedback in a later draft, discussion, or performance?
What level of support helped the student use the feedback?
Independent • Reflective cue • Direct coaching
Independent • Reflective cue • Direct coaching
Student Feedback
What showed up:You identified one specific revision target from the feedback.
What to strengthen:Use the feedback earlier in your next revision instead of waiting until the final submission.
Recommended next step:Choose one instructor comment and make one visible change before your next draft.
Try this:“Can you help me identify which change would make the biggest improvement?”
What to strengthen:Use the feedback earlier in your next revision instead of waiting until the final submission.
Recommended next step:Choose one instructor comment and make one visible change before your next draft.
Try this:“Can you help me identify which change would make the biggest improvement?”
Contact Us
Feel free to reach out. We would love to hear from you! Inquiries are answered within 2 business days.
info@softspaceacademy.com