Rachel Cox - International Business Development Manager

Carolina Salinas – International Placement Manager

Aston University, UK

International Internships’ search and preparation: The Importance of student Peer-to-Peer Interaction

Session Objectives

Share our experience of using peer-to-peer student interaction in internship preparation

Invite your thoughts and experiences from your own institutions

Agenda

Introduction to Aston University (AU) Background to AU Placement Programme

NumbersAU Placement Team

Focus on peer-to-peer supportPlacement Event & International FairWhy peer-to-peer? Issues and challenges Future developments

Aston University

Aston University, founded in 1895, is a long  established research-led University known for its world-class teaching quality and strong links to industry, government and commerce

Based in the centre of Birmingham, over 60,000 students and one of Europe’s liveliest and most welcoming cities Rank in the ‘world’s top 50’ Universities (2012 the Guardian and international rankings agency QS)

Aston University

Four Schools of Study;Aston Business SchoolEngineering and Applied SciencesLife and Health SciencesLanguages and Social Sciences

Aston Business School is among 1% of the business schools worldwide who hold a triple accreditation from AMBA, AACSB and EQUIS

Our Programme

“Aston University had the highest percentage of all UK Universities with students enrolled on courses involving integrated sandwich placements (internships) or year abroad programmes”. (HESA PI data 2010 and 2011).

“Not even Oxbridge can boast a higher proportion of students gaining graduate level jobs on departure. Aston’s 87.7% is bettered by just four institutions and shows a clean pair of heels to the likes of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Durham.” (Sunday Times University Guide 2012).

Background to Aston University’s Placement Programme

One of the largest internships programmes in the UKEstablished for over 30 yearsBetween 800 and 1000 undergraduates on an internship each yearOver 150 of those must do an international internship250 on international internshipAdvertise around 3000 opportunities each year, 600 of those based overseas15 –strong central Placement Office, 5 staff purely dedicated to support international internshipsWork and study placements overseasUK, Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia

AU Internships Figures 2011/12

ABS EAS IDS LHS LSS Grand Total0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Placed abroad - 2011/12

Placed UK - 2011/12

AU Internship Targets 2012/13

ABS EAS IDS LHS LSS Grand Total

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Overseas Target - 2012/13

UK Target - 2012/13

ABS Internship Numbers

2004/5 2005/6 2006/7 2007/8 2008/9 2009/10 2010/110

100

200

300

400

500

600

UK

International

The Placement Team

The International Placement Team

Student Peer to Peer Support

Open Days Briefing Sessions with EmployersStudent Reports/Profiles/VideosFacebook GroupsPeer Mentoring The Placement Event (UK & International internships)The International Placement Event (Only International internships)Poster Events

The Placement Event (UK and International)

Unique event – no employersDifferent from standard Careers/Placement FairsAttendance – 1st years as well as 2nd yearsInvite finalists to share their placement experiences Other organisations taking part:

International partner institutions – exchange studentsCareers and Employability CentreJob shopGraduate AdvantagePeer MentoringLibrary

Plan

OVERSEAS PLACEMENTS

PARTNER INSTITUTIONS and EXCHANGE STUDENTS

MKTG

HR

Mentoring

Placement OfficeAdvice

IT Finance

GENMAN

Jobshop

Careers

STAGE STAGE

Library GraduateAdvantage

EVENTS

The International Fair (Only International)

Unique event – no employers, only studentsDifferent from standard Careers/Placement FairsAttendance – 2nd years and Final YearsInvite finalists to share their international internship experiencesMaterials with different country information are available (i.e. country guides, job descriptions, university partner information, etc.) Round table discussions are organised by country and language, for the second half of the event

Plan

Welcome desk (international background music)

SPANISH SPEAKING INTERNSHIPS

(Spain & Latin America)

GERMAN SPEAKING INTERNSHIPS

(Germany, Austria, Switzerland,etc)

FRENCH SPEAKINGINTERNSHIPS

(France, Canada, Belgium, etc)

Why Peer to Peer?Benefits highlighted by research:

Students may feel more comfortable learning from a peer

Students may benefit from the bonds they form with fellow students, and from participating in each others learning

relatively low cost way of engaging students, increasing their knowledge, informing their decisions and encouraging reflection about choices

“Student discussion has been identified as a key component of interactive, learning environments, (…) researchers agree that this is where the "real" learning takes place” (Ertmer et al, 2007)

“It is the dialog among community members that promotes learning” (Cunningham, 1992)

Why Peer to Peer cont…

The use of peer feedback (…) offers a number of distinct advantages including: increasing the timeliness of feedback, providing new learning opportunities for both givers and receivers of feedback, humanizing the environment, and building community (Corgan et al, 2004).

By engaging students in the feedback process, meaningful interaction increases—interaction with peers and interaction with the content of the discussions—which subsequently promotes students' satisfaction with the course (Richardson & Swan, 2003) and with the instructor (Fulford & Zhang, 1998).

It has the potential to increase the quality of discourse, and thus the quality of learning.

Issues and Challenges

Student engagementStudent goodwill

Finalists’ commitmentsExchange students

Facebook privacyTimingReliability - according to Palloff and Pratt (1999), "the ability to give meaningful feedback, (…) is not a naturally acquired skill" Students have a tendency to either inflate or deflate scores (Topping, 1998). Furthermore, Topping suggests that learners may perceive the peer feedback they receive to be invalid, leading them to refuse to accept negative feedback as accurate.

Student Videos

http://www1.aston.ac.uk/current-students/careers-centre/students-graduates/placements/overseas-placement-videos/

Future Developments

Facebook developmentsPod/VodcastingUse of incentivesTwitterStudent Ambassadors

Any questions??

BibliographyErtmer, P. A, Richardson, J. C., Belland, B., Camin, D., Connolly, P., Coulthard, G., et al. (2007). Using peer feedback to enhance the quality of student online postings: An exploratory study. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(2), article 4. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue2/ertmer.html

Black, A. (2005). The use of asynchronous discussion: Creating a text of talk. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 5 (1). Retrieved October 3, 2005 from http://www.citejournal.org/vol5/iss1/languagearts/article1.cfm

Cunningham, R. D. (1992). Beyond educational psychology: Steps toward an educational semiotic. Educational Psychology Review, 4, 165-194.