DALMINE
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students will have acquired an in-depth understanding of soft skills, with particular emphasis on those considered distinctive and highly sought after by organizations. At the same time, students will have developed the ability to relate effectively with peers by simulating professional contexts similar to those they will encounter in the workplace.
The skills addressed are directly linked to work-related activities and significantly influence performance. Through the course, students will develop competencies that complement their technical and professional skills, gaining access to both theoretical knowledge and practical tools that will enable them to adapt effectively to professional environments.
In particular, students will acquire skills useful for managing their work and professional relationships in an effective manner, coping with stressful situations, enhancing cognitive flexibility and initiative, responding to complexity, and strengthening empathy, emotional and social intelligence, and teamwork capabilities.
Course Prerequisites
Non sono previsti prerequisiti
Teaching Methods
Students will be active protagonists in a learning journey rather than passive participants in a course.
Multiple approaches, typical of experiential and coach-like learning, will be employed in the classroom:
- Situational approach, aimed at guiding students to reflect on work contexts and to simulate their complexity and impact on the ability to enact competencies.
- Transactional approach, focused on developing awareness of how identity, role, function, and mutual expectations operate within organizations (as well as within the university context).
- Transformational approach, designed to foster self-awareness and continuous improvement in divergent thinking, complex problem solving, the ability to give, ask for, receive, and manage feedback, stress management, and the capacity to consistently draw on one’s emotional resources, thereby developing emotional agility and empathy.
From a methodological perspective, all stages of the experiential learning cycle will be activated in the classroom, including:
- Abstract conceptualization
- Theoretical content aimed at understanding behaviours and modes of action related to skills
- Reflective observation
- Enhancement of self-observation skills
- Active experimentation through role plays, simulations, and the development of dedicated handouts
- Concrete experience in students’ everyday reality, carried out between classes through the completion of a journal provided by the teacher on an ongoing basis
Assessment Methods
Attending students: Ongoing assessment
- Participation: active attendance (>80%) and contribution to activities; consistent engagement during lessons, particularly in role-play and interactive sessions
- Reflection: completion of the journal with personal insights and evidence of application between sessions
- Growth: evidence of improvement in behaviors and awareness, not only at a personal level but also concretely in interactions with other students
- also assessed through edutainment sessions conducted in the first half and at the end of the course, aimed at highlighting progress in communication, collaboration, and a strategic approach to problem solving
Working students / non-attending students:
Oral examination focusing on:
- Discussion of a project work selected from three options provided by the instructor
- Questions on two assigned texts (individual study and preparation). The texts are:
- Social Intelligence, Daniel Goleman • Italian translation by Valeria Pazzi • 2007 • BUR Editions
- Le mie soft skills, Gianluca Rosso • 2025 • Lindau Edizioni (Le Querce series)
Contents
The course program includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:
- Introduction to soft skills (definition, structure)
- Cognitive flexibility and critical thinking (the art of asking questions)
- Creativity and divergent thinking
- Creative collaboration (thinking outside the box, together):
- The Six Thinking Hats and Provocative Operations
- Complex Problem Solving and anticipatory thinking
- Self-management
- Results- and service-oriented mindset
- Relational skills:
- Active listening
- Effective communication
- Working in multicultural and intergenerational teams, both in-person and online
- Mistake management and feedback
- Emotional and social intelligence: what, how, and why
- Attention and care for others, i.e. in the backstage of team-ness
- Personal leadership
- Soft skills: evolution and change