Employability skills gained through team projects

1. Employability skills gained through team projects Dr Janice Whatley 17th October 2013

2. This presentation describes a Live Project module, aimed at providing undergraduate students with experience of managing a project, and developing their employability skills. Outline of presentation • Introduction • Why this module • All about the module • What we found • Conclusions • Discussion points Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

3. Employability skills IT skills Working in a team Manage own learning Innovative Presenting Communication Project management Working with others Problem solving “effective performance, within a team environment, including leadership, team building, influencing and project management skills” Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

4. What employers want • A survey in 2007 found that 64% of employers regarded employability skills more highly than the discipline knowledge of a student’s undergraduate degree programme (Prospects, 2010). • A Gallop survey covering the European Union confirms: • 98% of employers questioned said team working skills are important in recruiting • 97% asked for an ability to adapt to different situations • knowledge of foreign languages sought by 67% of employees Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

5. All about the Live Projects module • A real life project, provided by an external client • Clients range from local charities to national organisations • Clients present a business problem, which the team have to try to address • Providing the opportunity for experiences to develop skills • Learning as participation and learning as acquisition • 6 months from October to April Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

6. About 300 students took the new MDP2 module in 2010 to 2011. • We had over 40 different projects, so roughly eight students in each team. • Team members were allocated randomly, membership was adjusted to provide balanced teams with members from all programmes of study. • A team of 5 tutors supported the student teams, through meetings with the teams on a fortnightly basis. Tutors had expertise in marketing, hospitality, data analysis, finance and IT. • There was a weekly lecture, covering topics such as project management, working in teams, conducting research, presenting data and report writing, as well as guest speakers who gave their perspective on project working in organisations. Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

7. Assessment • Combination of reports on outcomes for the client, individual reflection on learning, presentation at an Expo at the end of the project. • Part of the graded outputs from the project comprised milestones to be achieved throughout the project, including a client contract, project plan and interim and final reports. • Grading: • Group project 50%, included assessments from the client and from the team tutor. • Expo presentation 10%. • Individual contribution, 40%, including peer assessment and tutor observation of individual contribution as well as assessment of an individual reflective report and the weekly learning log. Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

8. Examples of projects Salford City College – Public Perception Project Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

9. Examples of projects PROJECT: RESEARCH INTO FUNDRAISING AND PROMOTION Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

10. Interplay between Product and Process Learning Report for client Discipline related skills Artefacts Managing the project Employability skills Learning Collaboration Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

11. What we found • Feedback from students and clients • What did you find most useful about this module? • What did you find least useful about this module? • Are there any changes you would recommend making to this module? Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

12. Skills recognised by students • Team working skills • Project and time management • Working with students from other programmes of study • IT skills • Communication skills • Leadership Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

13. Some of the students’ comments • “learn how to do websites”, • “working in a team of people I have never met before”, • “learning to work as a team”, • “social learning, people with different abilities working in a group”, • “learn how to develop a project from scratch”, • “striving towards deadlines”, • “improve problem solving skills”, • “how goal planning can help you in future”. Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

14. Tools to support their project work • Lots of supporting information on Blackboard • Tutor support • MS Project • Group pages on Blackboard • Excel spreadsheet • MS Messenger • FaceBook • Mobile phone Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

15. Clients’ comments • “The team have worked hard to complete the project on time and come up with some interesting and relevant proposals.” • “Good, we have met regularly & Z as team leader has led the team & kept all members in touch although I think he may have experienced some difficulties in getting co-operation from all the team. He mentions this in the interim report too and has probably found this frustrating although all credit to him in ensuring the project is delivered well & is on track.” Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

16. “it might be useful to organise the work in the future around a project management framework, where the client receives regular updates on project implementation including the in-house support and issues arising from this.” • “On the whole, I have found the team to be professional & committed. I was heartened to read the comment & sentiment on page 8 of the interim report – that “we find that this is a very worthy goal and look forward to making that dream become reality” – fantastic!” from a charitable organisation. Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

17. Some of the issues of Live Projects • Success in this module relies on the good will and willingness to help from our project clients • Tutors need to support the process as facilitators, by providing scaffolding for students to build up their own knowledge • Individual student motivation and commitment was variable, and this affected performance in the team • Not all teams worked in the same ways, so it was difficult for tutors to monitor progress • It is whether and how teams overcome these issues that determine the success of a project Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

18. Conclusions • Live Projects are a marvellous way to provide students with opportunity to develop a range of employability skills • Students also reflected on their performance and learning • Local community projects helped the university in its mission to engage locally • Undergraduate team projects are very complex • Motivational and commitment issues often arise Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

19. Thank you for listening to me Now it is your turn to tell me what you think as potential employers Email: j.whatley@mmu.ac.uk Website: jansinterests.wordpress.com Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

20. Discussion points • Are Live Projects co-operative or collaborative learning? • Does the desire for self motivated learning and learning from mistakes conflict with the university’s need to assess students? • Each project had different degrees of difficulty, so how can we ensure equal learning opportunities? • Should the projects be more structured? Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013

21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXL2lAuaIug • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjgqqzgw6PY Dr Janice Whatley, APM Branch Event 17th October 2013