COMPETENCY LAB PLUS

Competency Lab PLUS (6CFU) is the result of participation in Competency Lab (3CFU) and Competence in Pills.

Competency Lab PLUS is available in all Ca' Foscari degree programmes.

It is a cycle of interactive seminars that aims to:
• accompany participants in a process of acquiring awareness of the soft skills needed to achieve their professional goals and improve their competitiveness on the labour market
• develop at least three soft competences (including at least one emotional competence and one social competence) considered necessary to achieve participants’ professional objectives .

The Competency Lab PLUS is developed by the Ca' Foscari Competency Centre, the University Centre whose aim is to improve the labour market attractiveness of people through the development of their behavioural competences (www.unive.it/cfcc).
Behavioural competences/soft skills represent a set of individual characteristics necessary for effective job performance. Being 'transversal', these competences can be activated in any professional position that requires them, and can be of emotional, social or cognitive nature, such as: achievement orientation, initiative, adaptability, empathy, leadership, conflict management, persuasion, group management, self-awareness, self-control, pattern recognition, systemic thinking, verbal communication, etc.

Completion of Competency Lab PLUS (6CFU) requires:

- Participation in one edition of the interactive Competency Lab (3CFU), consisting of four classroom meetings of approximately three hours each and online activities between one meeting and the next. Competency Lab editions start in September, November, February (in English) and March. For dates and registration see page http://www.unive.it/pag/30758/
• Participation in at least 3 'Skills in Pills' seminars, aimed at developing specific soft skills. Each seminar requires participation in 2 classroom meetings of approximately three hours each and in online activities between one meeting and the next. Three pills on EMOTIONAL SKILLS (Adaptability, Achievement Orientation, Stress Management and Self-control) and four pills on SOCIAL SKILLS (Empathy, Teamwork, Communication, Negotiation and Persuasion) are provided during the academic year. For dates and registration see page https://www.unive.it/pag/30759/

For the completion of Competency Lab PLUS, enrolment and attendance of both a Competency Lab (3CFU) and the Competency in Pills seminars is required.
Classroom participation and completion of the proposed activities via the online platform entail:
- the attainment of 6 CFUs, which will be included in the student's university career and in the final statement of examinations taken;
- the attainment of two Open Badges:
• Open Badge 'Soft Skills: Self-awareness' (https://bestr.it/badge/show/513 )
• Open Badge "Soft Skills: Emotional and Social Competences" (https://bestr.it/badge/show/520 )

- THE "COMPETENCIES IN PILLS" ARE IN ITALIAN ONLY. THE ENGLISH EDITION OF THE COMPETENCY LAB IS SCHEDULED IN MARCH 2024.

The Competency Lab PLUS enables students to undertake a pathway aimed at:
- acquiring the following knowledge: the emotional and social competence model, the intentional change process, the distinctive features that make up a personal vision, the 360-degree assessment of behavioural competences, the definition of one's strengths and areas for improvement,
- to deepen the importance of some specific soft skills to improve one's performance and of the behaviours through which they can be expressed
- to foster the process of understanding one's aspirations and objectives for personal and professional growth; to acquire awareness of the level of mastery of one's emotional and social skills, necessary for the achievement of one's objectives; to understand one's strengths and areas for improvement, functional to the definition of an individual development plan;
- gaining awareness of one's own level of mastery of specific soft skills and understanding how these competences translate into effective behaviours.
- apply knowledge and understanding about one's own level of behavioural competences to define personal learning goals and establish a plan for developing specific soft skills;
- to compare the personal portfolio of soft skills with the expectations of the labour market, and to critically assess how to enter in the labour market by leveraging one's personal vision and soft skills manifested.
- implement strategies for the development of soft skills in their daily context.

The Competency Lab PLUS is available for students enrolled in all Ca' Foscari master's degree courses.

In the Competency Lab PLUS each student is guided through four phases. The first phase consists of the identification of one's future goals and is intended to guide the student towards the development of a vision of one's professional objectives (ideal self). The second phase allows the student, through a 360-degree assessment process, to understand his/her own level of mastery of a set of behavioural competences (real self). The third phase involves an awareness of one's own strengths and weaknesses, and thus enables the student to understand which competences to develop - by implementing new behaviours - in order to realise one's ideal self. Furthermore, through direct dialogue with company representatives, participants will be able to understand the degree of alignment between their own professional goals and the soft skills they possess, on the one hand, and the expectations of the labour market, on the other. The fourth stage consists in selecting and developing at least three transversal competences (choosing from the emotional and social competences proposed during the academic year) considered important for achieving one's professional objectives.

Slides of the course that are made available in the digital Competency Platform http://mizar.unive.it/competency.centre/

The attainment of the 6 CFUs is based on:
- attendance at all Competency Lab and Competency in Pills seminars and
- evaluation of individual and small group assignments to be carried out via the online Competency Platform between one meeting and the next.

The activities of the Competency Lab will be offered through classroom meetings and online activities.
The in-class seminars adopt interactive and experiential learning approaches such as discussion of video clips, group discussion, presentation and analysis of the feedback related to the activities carried out between one class and the next, discussion with labor market operators, simulations.
The online activities will be supported by a digital learning platform developed by the Competency Centre for Ca' Foscari students (Competency Platform http://mizar.unive.it/competency.centre/ ). Through this platform, each student will have access to a set of additional activities required for the course: i.e., watching a short movie, filling in some questionnaires, completing some exercises, self-reflection activities.

Each edition of the Competency Lab PLUS is activated with a maximum number of 30 participants and enrolment and attendance are compulsory.

Attendance at all meetings and completion of the proposed activities via the online platform are mandatory for the award of 6 CFUs and Open Badges

To participate, students are invited to register online:
- to an edition of the Competency Lab 3CFU, via the page: http://www.unive.it/pag/30758/
- to three Competency in Pills seminars, via the page: https://www.unive.it/pag/30759/

Participation is reserved for students enrolled in Master's degree courses.

Info and contacts
Prof.Fabrizio Gerli, e-mail gerli@unive.it (editions in the first and second period)
Prof. Sara Bonesso, e-mail bonesso@unive.it (editions third and fourth period)
Ca' Foscari Competency Centre: www.unive.it/cfcc; competencylab@unive.it

KEEP ATTENTION:
- Participation is reserved for students enrolled in Master's degree courses.
- The Competency Lab PLUS must be included in the study plan only after having received confirmation of enrolment and having attended the first seminar.
- Due to the high number of requests for participation, in the event of absence from the first meeting, possible registration for subsequent editions will be subject to the presence of available places. In case of absence at meetings after the first one, it will not be possible to make up for it in other editions.
- The Competency Lab PLUS is not compatible with participation in "Emotional Competencies and Individual Development PLM002" and "Emotional Competencies and Individual Development PLM003".
- THE "COMPETENCIES IN PILLS" ARE IN ITALIAN ONLY. THE ENGLISH EDITION OF THE COMPETENCY LAB IS SCHEDULED IN FEBRUARY 2024.

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