A LOG IN A BLOG

1. A LOG IN A BLOG DAVID LLOYD CARDIFF SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

2. Cardiff School of Management Strategic plan 2007-2012 • Importance of strengthening Employer links to enable students to gain “employability skills” • Employability skills to be hard-wired into the curriculum • 100% Commitment to establish a work-placement programme as a mandatory credit bearing module for ALL year two undergraduates Employability skills

3. Process/operational model developed to run the work-placement programme for 500+ year two undergraduates • Important to develop “virtual” communication systems with such a large cohort of students (not classroom based) • Reflective log established (assessed)- maintained in an e-portfolio • Virtual H&S training and test • Bolt on tools- link to Careers e-Module (13 e-lessons) including CV,s and covering letters, and Interview Skills • e-evolve lecture added for project management and reflective writing • Student/placement provider data base managed through Business Contact Manager • Marketing Literature and web presence • All handbooks, module descriptors and administrative forms accessed via Blackboard • Assessment/marking criteria for log and final referenced report included The Work-placement model

4. The creation of the log process maintained in an e-portfolio • Provides reflective evidence by the student on how each placement day/week has gone • Provides a history of the placement activity which helps in the writing of the final report • Allows direct and personal feedback (a critique) to the student by the placement tutor • Picks up on problems/issues as they arise • Provides a check on attendance and attitude What has gone well?

5. Careful planning/construction-long lead in time for development and trial (de-bugging) • Mandatory requirement- 10% of final mark • Evidence helpful in writing up final report • Tutor feedback encouraging/motivating • Easy to set up with voice over instructions • Quick and simple to use • Personal and private (only accessed by placement tutor) so a real chance to reflect (and learn the benefit of the reflective process • Evidenced by high proportion of good log marks Why did it succeed?

6. At the moment 30 log templates with prompt questions which are the same for all logs • As placement progresses need to develop the reflective prompts e.g. 10 for getting started, 10 whilst placement is at most intense research stage and 10 whilst drawing conclusions and making recommendations • Add a new log section where the student can evidence experience gained against a set of generic “employability skills” Start again-what would we do differently?

7. Some pro-active students really do enjoy writing and maintaining their log and see the value gained in preparing to write their report • Many students struggle to write reflectively • Students struggle to write about something new if the placement work is repetitive • Some are lazy and need a push • The “virtual” delivered process is easy to set up and easy to maintain by the student. It is also easy to access by the tutor • It is a “live” ongoing process providing a valuable insight into the students work with the opportunity for the student to make improvements whilst undertaking their placement rather than just at the end of the exercise when it is really too late • The process can be continually developed and refined • Experimenting with Pebble pad as an alternative to Blackboard with the opportunity through a gateway of students sharing their experience through a Blog What have we learned specific to our project?

8. Plan well ahead • Pilot to remove bugs • Listen to the end users and be prepared to make changes • Allow the process to develop and mature • Help the students by providing additional tools to support their reflective writing skills/ability • Experiment with new ideas (e.g. Pebble pad as an alternative) • Always look at the product through the eyes of the student and not just as an academic. What do they really understand is required of them? Words of Wisdom