Profiling students academic, personal and professional development

1
Profiling students academic, personal and
professional development

• Sam Rhodes, Careers Centre
• and Pauline Ridley, Centre for Learning
  Teaching

2
National Context

• HE Progress Files to be introduced by 2005-6
• Post-Dearing, CVCPUUK/QAA/SCoP 2000 policy
  statement
• Progress File incorporates two elements
• a transcript
• a comprehensive and verifiable institutional
  record of the individual students learning and
  achievement
• a personal record
• HEIs should provide structured and supported
  processes to develop the capacity of individuals
  to reflect upon their own learning and
  achievement, and to plan for their own personal
  educational and career development. The term
  Personal Development Planning (PDP) is used to
  denote this process.

3
Representing learning

• Implicit in the conception of the progress file
  is the notion that, while universities and
  colleges can take primary responsibility for the
  assessment and representation of disciplinary
  learning and achievement, learners themselves
  must take primary responsibility for evidencing
  and representing their learning and achievement
  in, and for, the transdisciplinary world.
• Jackson Ward, A fresh perspective on
  progress filesa way of representing complex
  learning and achievement in higher education
  Assessment Evaluation in Higher Education Vol.
  29, No. 4, August 2004

4
Personal Development Planning (PDP)

• Umbrella term - usually involves some or all of
  the following
• Initial self-evaluation and action planning
• Learning to learn, study skills etc
• Development of key/ transferable skills
• Reflection on own practice
• Regular progress reviews (tutorial systems)
• Career/ professional development planning
• Quick survey how many of these already take
  place in your courses?

5
Introducing PDP at Brighton

• Existing opportunities for PDP in all courses
  mostly mapped through Career Planning Agreements
• Review of personal tutoring during 2003
• Consultations working group
• Liaison tutors and other academic staff
• Careers Centre
• Centre for Learning Teaching
• Student representatives

6
Recommendations from WG

• Need to improve training and support for personal
  tutors and liaison tutors
• Updated Personal Tutoring Policy
• CLT Guide for new Personal Tutors
• Build on existing course processes but make PDP
  more explicit for students through
  University-wide identity and support materials
• Introduction of studentprofile
• Piloting materials with selected courses 2004-5

7
By July 2004

• Pilot courses identified, representing different
  disciplines and approaches
• Business Studies, Education Studies, SASS,
  Sculpture, Engineering, Chelsea
• Studentprofile materials for trial -mostly
  subject-specific, already in use (extra resources
  to be developed/ adapted as needed)

8
Implementation and assessment

• Different implementation models and the
  beliefs and purposes that underlie them will
  foster different types of assessment regimes and
  create different situations for the validation of
  student claims for learning made through PDP-type
  processes. Jackson Ward 2004
• Main categories
• Embedded in the curriculum
• i) PDP processes systematic and integral to way
  of learning eg negotiated WBL . May be main focus
  of assessment or assessed alongside academic
  learning
• ii) not systematic, deployed in various ways
  across curriculum
• connected within an overall framework/portfolio
  which may or may not be assessed
• PDP and other types of process-based learning not
  connected. Assessment ( if it exists) tuned to
  each context
• Discrete
• located in discrete curriculum units or
  extra-curricular award schemes which have their
  own assessment regime

9
The studentprofile folder

• Electronic or hard copy
• Guidelines or exercises
• Planning the inserts

10
Introduction

• An introductory insert explaining benefits to
  students
• help you plan and record your academic, personal
  and professional development
• How to use studentprofile
• meetings with your tutor, reflection on learning
  and experiences, action planning

11
Audit of personal skills and knowledge

• Record current skills, knowledge and competence
  in relation to qualifications, work experience,
  positions of responsibility and extra curricular
  activities
• Goal setting
• Academic and career planning

12
Opportunities to develop skills

• Course (CPA)
• Work experience
• Part time work
• Voluntary work
• Student Union
• Clubs and societies
• Leisure

13
Career Planning Agreement

• Not about the acquisition of employability skills
  - already built into the courses - but like
  studentprofile encourages reflection, self
  analysis, researching and planning for life after
  graduation.
• CPA provides a framework to enable students to
  engage in career planning in a self directed way

14
Progress review sheets to be used with tutor

• Encourages review, reflection and planning
• Strategies for promoting studentprofile to
  students
• Will help with transition to employment or
  further study
• Process of reflection in action, will help
  students understand that they may experience
  frequent job changes with new skills and
  knowledge being used at frequent intervals
• PDP will promote lifelong learning through
  reflection or professional updating enabling
  flexible career management
• Assessment?

15
Continuing Professional Development

• Meeting requirements of professional bodies or
  introduction of process
• Professional bodies have welcomed concept of
  introducing PDP skills in students
• Ability to reflect, self assess and plan specific
  actions in relation to required learning and
  development is an important skill
• Individual has responsibility of their own
  competence portfolio to ensure currency
• Continued learning helps motivate staff and
  improves employability

16
Transition / Presenting yourself

• studentprofile will help applicants tackle open
  questions that demand reflection, and description
  of both academic and non academic activities
• Will help students prepare for assessment centres
  as well as traditional CV and interviews

17
Sources of further support and information

• This section of the folder will list contact
  points (mainly University based) such as
• Careers Service
• _at_ctive student
• Student Union
• studentcentral will house a generic version with
  links to suitable resources, as well as
  subject-specific studentprofile areas for each
  course or school