Introduction.
Being the technical partner in the Here4U project we wanted to create a diagnostic tool for our caregivers working with seniors target group. Using this diagnostic tool the caregivers are able to assess the current state of their own personal soft skills. We based our tool on ten different soft skills, namely empathy, assertiveness, the ability to empower and motivate other people, general problem solving, stress management, creativity, patience, communication skills, observation skills, and thickness of skin, as was discussed and studied with the other partners in the project. The goal was to create an MVP or Minimum Viable Product of this tool and start testing it in order to later improve. In other words, the current version of the diagnostic tool is a psychometric tool and the goal is to provide the user of an automatic feedback report and their assessment results after completion of the questionnaire.
How it works.
When first navigating to the tool using the link: https://here4u-9e425.firebaseapp.com/, the user is asked how they wish to sign in. The tool asks you to sign in, in order for it to keep track of your previous scores. Users are able to sign up using their Google account or create an account using their email address. Once they created an account and they are signed in, the user is allowed to take the assessment test. This test is made up out of a series of fifty statements all related to one of the ten soft skills listed before. From the pool of all questions, five are selected from every soft skill and they are then randomized in order. The user then needs to indicate to what extent each of the fifty statements applies to them by using a Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”. Finally upon finishing the questionnaire, the user is provided with a small report on how they fared for each of the examined skills. Further development of the platform will use these scores to suggest training materials and track personal development in these soft skills.
Each of the statements in the tool was carefully selected and thought on in cooperation with experts of the field. In this preliminary study it was also decided to provide each of the skills with respective “inverted” statements which can be raised throughout the test in order to really make the user thinks about their answers.
Future.
The next steps we are undertaking is adding the feedback report to the final screen where the user is able to view their score. This feedback will be based on the score for each soft skill.
Then, following the development of this assessment tool, we will build a e-learning platform for the caregivers to extend the resulting toolset of this project for our target group. By creating this platform we will allow senior’s caregivers to not only assess their current skills but also improve or refine them. The users of the platform will be able to follow online courses using media like video tutorials in order to improve on those soft skills they currently seem to lack in or refine skills they already own and excel in them.
Hope you are all as excited as we are!
The Odisee team.