Angela Maher Director of Careers & Work Experience

Angela MaherDirector of Careers & Work Experience • If it’s not measured it won’t matter! • Assessing the learning from work placements Business School

Adding value through work placement: what does research tell us? • The value of HE • Graduates earn more than those who have not been through HE • Earn on average 50% more than those who have not been through HE (rising to 64% more for those with a degree or equivalent) Future of Higher Education, DfES, January 2003 • Large earnings premium associated with HE, as much as 10% per additional year of education Walker & Zhu, Office for National Statistics, March 2003 • Graduates less likely to be unemployed • 93% of full-time first degree graduates in employment 6 months after graduation Business School

Adding value through work placement: what does research tell us? • Benefits for students • Working in a setting in which to put theory into practice (increased motivation towards studies) • Developing awareness of workplace culture • Encourage self development through critical reflection • Opportunity to develop personal and professional skills and attributes • Short and long term financial benefits • Enhancement of career prospects • Learning to work with others Business School

Adding value through work placement: what does research tell us? • Benefits for employers • Gaining intelligent, motivated, cost-effective labour resource • A good return on investment (STEP research indicates a £6 return for every £1 spent by employer) • Offers numerical flexibility • Potential graduate recruitment tool • An injection of new and fresh ideas • Developing links with HE and benefiting from research • Staff development opportunity for workplace mentors Business School

Adding value through work placement: what does research tell us? • Benefits for educators • Opportunity for students to see subject area in practice • Engagement with mature and reflective students • Enhancement of student skills/attributes • Establishing links with employers and potential for collaborative projects • Work placement can complement and enhance the academic programmes in HE • Developing expertise in assessment methods • It helps with future recruitment of students Business School

Adding value through work placement: what does research tell us? • ‘The traditional year-long sandwich placement … is often viewed as the exemplary form of work placement, combining a long period of immersion in the work-place setting with course relevance and well-developed structures of support and monitoring of the experience.’ • Harvey et al (1998) Work experience: expanding opportunities for undergraduates Business School

Adding value through work placement: what does research tell us? • Key issues to consider • Learning and objectives • Preparing students for placement • Assessment and accreditation • Monitoring students at work • Management of placement • Equal opportunities Business School

Assessing learning at work • The pedagogical benefits of work experiences depend largely on the extent to which students reflect on them and the extent to which they take understandings derived from the academic context and relate these to work’ (Smith, Clegg, Lawrence & Todd, 2007) • Harvey et al (1998) ‘Experience of work ….. is not enough in itself. It is the learning that comes from it that is important’. Business School

Work experience and academic studies • What students know prior to work placement (that is the perceived relevance and applicability of their course content and their intentions in undertaking that placement) and then how the experience of work placement changes their understanding and perceptions (their reflections on that experience) are important in helping us to understand what they learn from that experience • ‘the articulation of what has been learned is key’. (Blackwell, Bowes, Harvey, Hesketh & Knight, 2001) Business School

Understanding the workplace experience • We send students on work placement because we believe that they learn from experience and in a context relevant to the subject they are studying. This is linked to the ideas of experiential (Kolb, 1984) learning and situated learning (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989) • Students are engaging in a cycle of ‘action, reflection and evaluation’ in order to make sense of their learning in the workplace Business School

Academic credit for work experience: do you award it? • You need to determine where the work experience fits into your academic programme • You need to decide how you are going to assess it and the amount of credit that can be awarded • You must ensure the assessment process and method is academically rigorous and challenging • OBU example • Minimum 40 weeks work experience – non credit level 4 module • Work Experience Portfolio Module – 6,000 words (excl appendices) worth 30 credit level 5 module Business School

Academic credit for work experience: the portfolio • Knowledge and Understanding • What are you expecting your students to learn? • How will they show evidence that they have learned? • OBU example • Analyse and explain specific aspects of organisational practices in the areas of operations, marketing, human resources and finance. • Evaluate organisational practices in relation to relevant theory and concepts in international hospitality management. • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of one aspect of the business through the completion of a project relevant to the needs of the employing organisation. Business School

Academic credit for work experience: the portfolio • 2. Disciplinary and Professional Skills • What about personal development? • Using self-development approach to learning • OBU example • Demonstrate an ability to reflect on practical work experiences in an international context, drawing on relevant management theories/concepts. • Practice a self-development approach to learning by identifying learning opportunities, setting and achieving learning objectives, and analysing personal development. • Demonstrate an appreciation of diversity and cultural issues in both work and customer groups. • Demonstrate an ability to adapt to living and working in a different culture. Business School

THE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CYCLE Source: Honey and Mumford, 1986 Business School

Portfolio contents: the evidence of learning • Evidence is presented through a range of documents: • KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING • Reports on Operations, Marketing, Human Resources and Finance • A work-based project • DISCIPLINARY & PROFESSIONAL SKILLS • Self-development essay • Performance appraisals (3 or 4) • Reflections on each performance appraisal Business School

Portfolio contents: the evidence of learning • SUPPORTING EVIDENCE • Learning agreements (6) • Reflective journal extracts (8) • ALL SUPPORTED BY COMPANY DOCUMENTATION, MANAGEMENT LITERATURE AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM THE STUDENT’S RESEARCH • The important thing to remember is that the portfolio is part of the student’s academic studies and should provide evidence of intellectual development and subject understanding – IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT TECHNICAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Business School

Final thoughts • Students (and other) stakeholders need to see the value of work experience • Work experience assessment needs to be ‘authentic’ • Assessment needs to be challenging and academically rigorous • ALL stakeholders need to take assessment seriously and support student learning at work • Students need to be well prepared, well supported and encouraged to learn – BUT they are the final decision makers in regard to whether they learn • HOWEVER – IF EDUCATORS PROVIDE THE LEARNING FRAMEWORK AND EMPLOYERS PROVIDE THE RIGHT LEARNING CONDITIONS THEN STUDENTS WILL FIND LEARNING A REWARDING EXPERIENCE - AND HARD TO RESIST !!! Business School

Angela Maher Director of Careers & Work Experience