adding employability value to an eportfolio

21
Adding employability value to an eportfolio Dr Ruth Sibson School of Business, Edith Cowan University With Many Thanks to Dr Ken Robinson & Ms Heather Pate and the Centre for Learning & Development

Post on 19-Oct-2014

690 views

Category:

Education


0 download

DESCRIPTION

Many learners find it difficult to develop a good employability portfolio from scratch. It is, therefore, critical to provide learners with a scaffolded learning experience which is structured, easily understood and meaningful. Once this initial experience is provided, learners are enabled to take the next step which is integrating their course-wide and other lifelong learning experiences with prospective employment opportunities. We demonstrate the effectiveness of a scaffolded learning experience in a sport, recreation and event management unit in a university setting, where students are asked to develop their skills and enhance their employability prospects through a final year Industry Practice placement of 100-160 hours. The scaffolding is effective because it enables learners to evaluate their placement experience in the context of learning outcomes associated with their course. As part of their assessment for this unit, students set personal and professional learning outcomes and create an eportfolio, using a range of evidence (e.g. supervisor reference, flyer, Excel database, brochure etc.) which demonstrate their achievement outcomes; and participate in a Showcase where they present their portfolio and a poster of their experiences in interviews with industry judges. The purpose of this workshop is to demonstrate and discuss from both a lecturer and student perspective how the use of a webfolio, which incorporates reflective practice through an activity log and a purpose built workbook template, can manage and showcase student learning experiences, and be used as a wider tool for enhanced employability outcomes.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Dr Ruth Sibson

School of Business, Edith Cowan University

With Many Thanks to Dr Ken Robinson & Ms Heather Pate and the Centre for Learning & Development

Page 2: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Workshop overview

Overview and context of the unit LSC3112 Industry Practice

How the unit schedule works

Week by week activities including the use of PebblePad tools explicitly linked to assessment items

Professional Practice Showcase

Student feedback on using PebblePad and their ‘work-readiness’ confidence at the completion of placement/unit

Page 3: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

LSC3112 Industry Practice 3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit

Unit Description: This unit provides a professionally supervised, work integrated

learning experience in the event, sport and recreation industries. It emphasises the practice and application of theoretical knowledge in areas such as programming, leadership, project management, planning, marketing, research and management as required for the students' future progression as a professional industry manager. The focus of the unit is on the personal and professional development of the individual student in extending their current level of knowledge and competence as a manager or potential manager.

Page 4: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

LSC3112 Industry Practice 3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit

Unit Learning Outcomes: 1. identify the personal and professional skills required to succeed as

a professional industry manager;

2. design and organise a professionally supervised, work integrated learning experience that enables application of personal and professional skill development (in areas such as programming, leadership, project management, planning, marketing, research and management) in the event, sport and/or recreation industries;

3. explain and demonstrate application of the business ethics and industry protocols relevant to the host organisation;

4. present evidence of the application and development of personal and professional skills relevant to the event, sport and/or recreation industries.

Page 5: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

LSC3112 Industry Practice 3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit

In a ‘nutshell’… Students undertake 100-160 hours practical work experience in a sport,

recreation/leisure or event setting of their choice.

The WIL experiences are organised around a specific project or job role which the student works on (under supervision), with a range of benefits to both the host agency and the student alike.

Students set four personal and professional (technical) skill learning outcomes and present evidence of their achievements through an eportfolio & poster presentation to industry representatives.

The eportfolio is also individually assessed by the unit lecturer.

Page 6: Adding employability value to an eportfolio
Page 7: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Example of Learning Outcomes

Page 8: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Unit Schedule: During the 13 week semester students attend four seminars and the Professional Practice Showcase held in the final week. The remainder of the time is spent completing their placement hours.

WEEK 1: Introduction to the unit - How to get started, filling out forms, getting approval

WEEK 2: Introduction to the eportfolio – Getting started with PebblePad

WEEK 7: Mid-placement progress reports and eportfolios revisited

WEEK 11: Progress reports; poster preparation tips; eportfolio updates

WEEK 13: Professional Practice Showcase

LSC3112 Industry Practice 3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit

Page 9: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

WEEK 1: Introduction to the unit - How to get started, filling out forms, getting approval

The week 1 seminar is a class-room based session which introduces

students to the unit, provides an explanation on how to negotiate and what is required of their placement, and outlines the requirements in terms of getting placements approved. Students are informed of the assessment requirements of the unit (pass/fail) which include:

1. The Project Proposal Application for the placement

Students design and set four learning outcomes for their placement experience. These learning outcomes are linked to pieces of evidence which they need to present in their eportfolio to show their achievements.

2. The eportfolio

3. The Professional Practice Showcase

Students are introduced to the PebblePad software through the link embedded in their Blackboard site and encouraged to have a 'play' with the site, but no formal learning activities are presented.

Page 10: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

WEEK 2: Introduction to the eportfolio - Getting started with PebblePad

The week 2 seminar is a 'hands-on' session. Students are introduced to three features of the software:

1. Completing the Week 2 Reflective Practice Activity with verbal presentation to class

2. Designing and using an Activity Log

3. Using their LSC3112 Workbook

Students are given a set of tutorial notes to guide them through these activities in class.

They are informed that once their placement has been approved they are to commence and complete regular weekly entries in their Activity Log which will be submitted to the coordinator in their week 7 class.

Students are finalising and commencing their placement hours in weeks 2-7 so there are no scheduled seminar classes.

Page 11: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

WEEK 7: Mid-placement progress reports and eportfolios revisited

The week 7 seminar is a mix of a class-room and a 'hands-on' session including:

1. Conducting a peer-assessment of another classmate's learning outcomes

2. Completion of Week 7 Reflective Practice Activity with verbal presentation to class

3. Submission of their Activity Log (& using tagging) and re-visiting the LSC3112 Workbook to enter their learning outcomes and learn how to upload their evidence pieces

4. Review of WebFolio exemplars

They are informed that for the Week 11 class they should have made substantial progress towards the completion of their Workbooks

Students are completing their placement hours in weeks 7-11 so there are no seminar classes

Page 12: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Example of Peer Assessment Task

Page 13: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

WEEK 11: Progress reports; poster preparation tips; e-portfolio updates

The week 11 seminar is a mix of a class-room and a 'hands-on' session including:

1. Re-visiting the requirements of the Professional Practice Showcase.

2. Completion of Week 11 Reflective Practice Activity and then, in pairs with another student, they 'interview' each other.

3. How to put their WebFolio together and re-visiting their Workbook

There is an optional seminar in week 12 for students who require further assistance with their eportfolio &/or poster

Page 14: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

WEEK 13: Professional Practice Showcase

At this event, all students present their eportfolio & a poster of their placement experiences and achievements, and are individually interviewed by three industry judges.

The best two students, as judged by the industry panel on a standard set of criteria, are awarded the Dr Heather MaGowan OAM Prize for Professional Practice.

Once the interview process has been completed, all the industry supervisors, other industry representatives, university staff and current students are invited to attend for morning tea to meet the LSC3112 students and hear about their experiences, and to network with industry professionals.

Final assessment for all students is completed by the lecturer’s review of the eportfolio.

Page 15: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Dr Heather MacGowan OAM Prize criteria

Page 16: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Using PebblePad to manage their learning experiences: The positive

‘PebblePad is awesome and I would definitely like to use it in the future’

‘PebblePad has a great structure to let me arrange my every log relevant to my placement, it is very convenient to record time & submit documents’

‘PebblePad has allowed me to keep track of my hours and display my experiences in such an efficient and simple way. Instead of hand writing all my hours and experiences PebblePad has templates asking for specific information so I therefore do not need to include any irrelevant information’

‘PebblePad has helped me managed my learning experiences for my placement because I was able to write down what I had achieved and got out of my placement to show that I was furthering my learning and successfully improving my skills’

Page 17: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Using PebblePad to manage their learning experiences: Some issues

‘PebblePad has been useful, but it took a while to be able to handle the program efficiently’

‘PebblePad is a useful tool to use in comparison to writing up a report or presenting a presentation, because everything that is required to complete this unit is set out and structured in a particular way. I found it difficult to understand the concept based on how to use the program, but now that I have gone through it and eased myself into it, I understand how to use it’

‘PebblePad was a great way to keep everything together and can be, at times, quite intuitive in how it links different parts of the folio together. There were a few problems I experienced from things not saving, and my evidence links not working all the time, and I found that by the time I got to nearing the end of my placement it was hard to find all the different documents I thought I had saved. I think the use of folders in the asset store would be very helpful to ensure everything is organised and easy to find’

Page 18: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Using PebblePad to manage their learning experiences: Opposing views

‘PebblePad was a great tool to track my hours and my experiences each day during my practical placement. To be able to record my experience and attach relevant documentation to the experience gives a great portfolio of evidence to show a potential employer within the sport and recreation industry key tasks I undertook and key skills I learnt’

‘PebblePad has been useful to store all of my activity log entries and completed hours in the one place - but this could also have been achieved in a Word document (which is an easier format to work with!). I don't think I will be using PebblePad in the future because the way that it saves workbooks etc is not easy to work with and you cannot export the entries into other formats. Additionally, I still like my hardcopy display file’

Page 19: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

‘Work-readiness’ confidence at end of placement: An improvement

‘I believe I have gained some confidence from the planning, running and evaluating of the National Championships’

‘It has definitely improved and I am feeling a lot better about working in the event, sport and recreation industry’

‘After completing my hours at my placement I feel that I am more confident in being able to succeed in my chosen industry and having improved my personal and professional skills and goals I am ready to work in my chosen industry’

Page 20: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

‘Work-readiness’ confidence at end of placement: An improvement but still much to learn

‘I believe it is the same ranking. I look back and think my previous ranking was perhaps naive. I had several expectations, and many were met. However there was much more to working a role similar to mine than I had perceived. I have developed greatly since the prac, and look forward to the continual development’

‘In Week 2 I also ranked my confidence at level 6, but I think I should have initially selected 4 or 5. I certainly now have a better understanding of what is required to work in the industry and I think I still need a little bit more practical experience before I can select 7 - I will gain this experience by completing the rest of my internship which finishes in July’

‘I still believe I have a lot to learn. However, I believe majority of the learning will come from the hands on work and learning from industry people.

‘My rating has increased as practical experience has now been gained which is a key requirement that employers look for. While I do not have extensive experience, at least 100 hours is a starting point to help with future endeavours’

Page 21: Adding employability value to an eportfolio

Thanks for attending & participating

Any further questions?

Dr Ruth Sibson

([email protected])

School of Business

Edith Cowan University

Perth, Western Australia