How should MSc Placements be assessed? Gathering the views of students to inform assessment

How should MSc Placements be assessed? Gathering the views of students to inform assessment

By michaelkilmister Comment Closed

 

By: Paul Jenkins, School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences, p.jenkins@reading.ac.uk
two women sitting on stairs having a conversation
Image credit: Buro Millennial on Pexels.

Overview

The School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences (PCLS) offers several postgraduate degree programmes, nearly all of which include a placement element.  Getting the assessment right is an important challenge to fairly evaluating students on placement.  As part of an ongoing review of programmes with placement components, a piece of work was commissioned to look at how placements should be assessed within PCLS.

Objectives

The primary aims of this project were to explore:

  • What elements of placements MSc students felt were important to assess; and
  • How MSc students felt these elements should be assessed.

Context

As a ‘taught’ component of the course, any assessment needs to be carefully planned and contribute “directly to learning and skill development” (UoR, 2023).  Student feedback indicated that the current method of assessing placements, which comprises a written report of what was done and learned on placement, was unsatisfactory.  For instance, students felt that it did not reflect the amount of work put in over the course of the placement and that the final grade was too reliant on one piece of written work.

It was felt that gaining insight into current students’ views would be helpful to inform future changes to the way(s) in which MSc placements might be assessed, making this process proportionate and more useful for students.

Implementation

In February 2023, a grant from the UoR T&L Initiatives Fund was awarded to address the question of how MSc placements should be assessed.

A focus group discussion was conducted in June 2023, with participants recruited from PCLS MSc students. The focus group lasted around 45 minutes.  In addition, a 1:1 interview was held in July 2023 with another individual who wanted to share their views on the subject, and this is included to add detail to the data obtained from the focus group.

To frame the focus group and interview, open-ended questions were developed to explore participants’ experiences, opinions, and thoughts regarding placement and its assessment. The facilitator (a member of staff within PCLS) was present to encourage a relaxed atmosphere and supplement prepared questions with prompts to gather participants’ views and pursue themes relevant to the research questions.  The following is a sample of the questions asked during the interview:

  • What are the important elements of an MSc placement to be assessed?
  • How do you think MSc placements should be assessed?

The focus group was audio-recorded and the facilitator also kept notes to help keep track of themes and provide a more holistic picture of the discussion (Kornbluh, 2023).  The students were also given a document on different types of assessment and an exemplar of how a placement might be assessed to act as ‘stimulus material’ to prompt detailed discussion of their views on assessment.

Impact

The findings of the discussions provided insight into how students think placements should be assessed.  In terms what students considered important to be assessed, several different themes emerged:

  1. Assessing what was learned

Students talked about the importance of assessing what was learned, as opposed to a more cursory assessment of the time or activities spent in placement; for instance if: “technically, you put in the work but you didn’t actually apply it to anything”.  They reflected on the different environments and services within which placements took place, such as some being online and others being conducted in-person, and the importance of asking students “to prove” that they have engaged with placement.  The importance of certain skills (e.g., teamworking, presentation skills) learned on placement was highlighted, and also how such skills relate to students’ futures.

  1. Reflecting on one’s own development

Several students commented on how they have developed over the course of placement, and how this could be included in the assessment.  For instance, one student suggested that assessments could cover “what skills are we learning and how much are we able to apply it… and how we’re changing”.  Another noted discussions they have with their supervisors, whereby they “don’t just talk about what I do… [but] also some sort of reflection,” and that this brings in “reflection of how you see yourself”.

  1. Capturing diversity of experiences

The discussion also covered the reality that students will have different experiences of placement and how it can be “a very subjective experience,” including different types and levels of supervision.  For instance, one student commented that “the difference between person to person doesn’t always end in […] what they’re doing but also where they started from, because we also came into the programme with very different experiences”.  Students also highlighted differences in effort put in by those on placement, sharing the perception that there were some students “who are doing everything they possibly can” and others who “slowly move to the back… waiting for things to be handed to them”.

As part of the project, students also discussed how these skills and elements of placement should be assessed and, again, several themes arose:

  1. Continuous assessment

Students discussed having the opportunity to reflect ‘as they go’ and potential problems with a unitary, retrospective assessment.  Whilst they felt that having a reflective piece is “a nice idea,” one student commented how a lot of experiences gained on placement are difficult to recall at the time of submission.  They were also wary of having too much overlap between pieces of assessment, such as a reflective report and report of activities, and one student suggested being “forced to keep track of what you have been doing… in a detailed manner”.

Having been offered a list of potential assessment types to review in the focus group, one student felt that Reflective Diaries could be a better approach, perhaps used alongside an hours log.  Another suggested that Learning Logs with “certain points to learn about” could be helpful, perhaps covering “small reports on small things”.  Another suggested a “spaced out diary… or some form of input from our supervisor” could be of use, although also stated that they were unsure “how feasible that would be”.  It was also suggested that a website (or blog) could be used to help students log experiences and remain accountable.  Of note, some students chose to do this independently, with one saying: “I keep a log for myself”.

  1. Oral presentations

Many students mentioned advantages of an oral presentation over written work, including being “better able to express what I’m doing when I speak”.  Another commented that “when you write, you downplay” what was done on placement and that an oral form of assessment can be less constrained by “academic rules”.  Another student agreed, saying that a presentation would “let someone express [their experience] much better” and another concluded: “I think just talking would be better [than a written assignment]”.

Students suggested that oral presentations offer a chance to “talk through your experience” and also to field questions (e.g., “What do you think you specifically learned?”), which “makes you reflect a lot more”.  They also commented on the advantages of having other individuals present.  A student noted that presenting in a group means that you “get to see what other people have been doing [and] how they’ve developed their skills” which could even “change your perspective”.  It was commented that this approach can be “helpful to your peers as well, not just you”.

In a similar vein, one student suggested a viva voce (a one-to-one oral examination) whereby students “talk to our supervisors… and have that discussion” about their experiences.

  1. Assessing the thoroughness of the experience

One student suggested that having written assignments can limit introspection, and get one “writing it for the sake of having a reflective piece to submit” rather than discussing “how much have I grown”.  By contrast, they suggested that, in oral presentations, “flow is better – easier – and it really gives you cause to think about how you have developed”.  Further reflecting on oral presentations, one student commented that “it’s up to you how you present it and how you convey how much you’ve learned, what you’ve learned, how much you’ve grown” and “how you justify what you’ve done in your placement hours”.

Reflections

The insight gained from this work has proved invaluable when formulating assessment for the coming academic year.  Students’ views on the possibility of interpersonal assessment has informed the structure of oral presentations where students are given the opportunity to discuss an aspect of placement in front of their peers.  The marking criteria have been developed to incorporate some of this feedback, such as inclusion of autonomy, personal development, and showing relevant skills.

Whilst it only represents a small study, some practical suggestions could be proposed.  For instance, when evidencing and discussing their placement experiences, students were clear that oral presentation offers several advantages over written methods (a more common approach to work-based assessment; Ferns & Moore, 2012).  The importance of assessing skills development over time was highlighted, which could be considered when setting and providing structure for both formal and informal assessment (e.g., Bates et al., 2013).  Finally, it is perhaps also important for educators to keep in mind that students begin placement with different experiences, variation which has the potential to impact both their learning and achievement.

Follow up

The summer of 2024 will be the first-time oral presentations have run for several ‘placement’ modules.  We shall continue to refine the assessment itself (and marking criteria) based on further feedback and look into whether concerns about the written reflective piece remain; if so, an assessment that relies more on continuous engagement could be considered.

References

  • Bates, J. et al. (2013).  Student perceptions of assessment and feedback in longitudinal integrated clerkships.  Medical Education, 47, 362–374. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.12087
  • Ferns, S., & Moore, K. (2012).  Assessing student outcomes in fieldwork placements: An overview of current practice.  Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 13(4), 207–224.
  • Kornbluh, M. (2023).  Facilitation strategies for conducting focus groups attending to issues of power.  Qualitative Research in Psychology, 20, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2022.2066036
  • University of Reading. (2023, December).  Assessment and the Curriculum Framework.  https://sites.reading.ac.uk/curriculum-framework/assessment/
“Making it OUR Year Abroad”: A student-staff collaboration to support the Year Abroad experience for Languages students

“Making it OUR Year Abroad”: A student-staff collaboration to support the Year Abroad experience for Languages students

By michaelkilmister Comment Closed

 

By: Dr Chiara Ciarlo, School of Literature and Languages, c.ciarlo@reading.ac.uk
Screenshot of UoR Italian Year Aboard Facebook group
Screenshot of the private Facebook group created by students for their Year Abroad

Overview

In this blogpost, Lecturer in Italian Language Chiara Ciarlo illustrates how four Department of Languages and Cultures (DLC) students with experience of the Year Abroad (YA), collaborated with staff on a PLanT-funded project to help fellow Part 2 students deal with the difficulties and anxiety of preparing to study abroad in the post-Brexit era, by creating a successful network of support including a student-led Facebook group and a useful video-guide with tips on life abroad. This project demonstrates the power of student partnership for building belonging and engagement in ways that are meaningful and authentic to learners.

Objectives

The primary aims of this activity were:

– to enhance communication among students across year-groups in DLC;
– to encourage current and returning students to share their YA experience in an inclusive way, and Part 2 students to proactively seek help while preparing to go abroad;
– to identify key aspects which required more support for Part 2 students;
– to create online YA resources on these aspects that could easily be accessed by current and future students.

Context

Due to recent economic and political changes, students preparing to study/work abroad as part of their Languages degree, have had to deal with complex bureaucratic processes (e.g., visa application) and unforeseen problems (e.g., increasing difficulties in finding accommodation), which have caused them undue stress and anxiety. During her time abroad, Jess Mant, one of the student partners in the project, had the original idea of setting up a network for fellow students to offer support on the issues she had experienced when preparing to leave and while in the foreign country. This subsequently became a PLanT-supported project.

Implementation

The project was based on the students’ YA experience in Italy. After an initial planning meeting with staff, two of the student partners, Jess and Francesca Greatorex (Finalists), set up a student-led private Facebook group as a space for the Italian students to find out more about the YA. It was agreed that this group should have only students as members (i.e., no staff were allowed on it) to allow freedom of discussion. Past and present students of Italian were invited to join the group, and this was a great opportunity for alumni to contribute to the discussion and offer advice on different destinations. All student partners initially introduced themselves via videos, shared their experience and pictures, and used polls to encourage members to vote on topics to discuss. This worked particularly well and stimulated participation when Part 2 students had to choose their destinations, as questions on specific cities could be addressed.

Once the Facebook group was up and running, the other two student partners, Anna McTiernan and Rosa Lockwood-Davies (Year Abroad students), created videos on topics that had become popular in the Facebook discussions and in YA preparation meetings with staff and Part 2 students e.g., tips on the visa application based on own experience, finding accommodation, and how to make friends in a foreign country. These videos were later uploaded on the Facebook group and were liked by members. Despite having individual roles, student partners collaborated in both areas of the project, sharing ideas and reviewing each other’s work.

Screenshot from student created video
Screenshot from student created video

Impact

Aim: To enhance communication among students across year groups in DLC.
The Facebook group created by the student partners is a permanent space that Italian students of all year-groups can join. This year, the group will welcome the new Part 2 cohort and the administration will be taken over by the remaining student partners of the project.

Aim: To encourage students returning from the YA to share their experience in an inclusive way, and Part 2 students to proactively seek help in preparing to go abroad.
This aim was achieved through posts and videos (and the use of captions in the videos, which helped students focus on the content). Videos on some more sensitive topics (e.g., making friends) were carefully planned to include all types of personalities. Polls were particularly effective in stimulating members to ask questions and contribute.

Aim: To identify key aspects which required more support for Part 2 students.
The use of polls and discussions in the Facebook group, and the participation of student partners at YA preparation meetings, helped create a pool of topics to cover in the video-guide.

Aim: To create online YA resources on these aspects that could easily be accessed by current and future students.
The Facebook group became “the space” were all material could be found in one place by members: this included the videos and several useful links which were recommended by student partners during preparation meeting and immediately posted in the group. This will remain a great source of information for future cohorts.

In a survey carried out during the summer, Part 2 students commented particularly on the usefulness of this material and its ease of accessibility.

Screenshot from student created video
Screenshot from student created video

Reflections

The success of the activity lies in the determination and creativity of the student partners. From the very beginning, they all took on their role with great enthusiasm and were driven by the will to pass on their knowledge to make the YA an enjoyable experience for current and future cohorts of Languages Students. Additionally, other students who were on the YA found the initiative very stimulating and began to give their contribution, both in group discussions and by posting extra material that they had created to document their experience abroad e.g., a written guide on the student experience in Padua.

Student partners encountered some difficulties while creating and running resources, namely in making students interact in online exchanges and in producing videos whose format would appeal to peers. To overcome these issues, they came up with creative ideas, like the use of polls and the creation of shorter videos, to encourage viewings. For staff, having the input of the student partners was invaluable, as every activity was designed with the students and their needs in mind.

Follow up

Two of the student partners, Finalists in 2023/24, will continue with the administration of the Facebook group (possibly creating also an Instagram account to complement it), and will encourage this year’s Part 2 students to join. With the contribution of other members, who have also returned from the YA, information will be regularly updated, discussions will be stimulated, and new material for the video-guide will be produced, making this a permanent and dynamic space for Languages students to meet and share their YA experience.

A special grazie/thank you goes (in no particular order) to Jess, Francesca, Anna and Rosa for the time, dedication and enthusiasm they all put in creating these resources, and for demonstrating that the Year Abroad is an invaluable experience that needs to be preserved and shared with others.

Links

Link to the “UoR Italian Year Abroad” private Facebook group.

 

Using student feedback to make university-directed learning on placement more engaging

By aaroncooper Comment Closed

Anjali Mehta Chandar: a.m.chandar@reading.ac.uk

Charlie Waller Institute, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences

 

Overview

Our vocational postgraduate courses in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy include University Directed Learning (UDL) days that are completed within the placement setting (e.g. their NHS trust). A qualitative student feedback survey allowed us to collaboratively adapt this format, with favourable outcomes in how interesting, enjoyable and useful the students found the day.

Objectives

Our objectives were as follows:

-To ascertain how interesting, enjoyable and useful the UDL days were, as perceived by the students, based on pedagogical findings that students engage best and are most satisfied, if these characteristics are met (e.g. Ramsden, 2003).

-To make improvements to the UDL days based on qualitative student feedback.

-To ascertain whether our improvements had made the UDL days more interesting, enjoyable and useful, as perceived by the next cohort of students.

Context

The Educational Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) and Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) programmes are one-year vocational postgraduate courses. The students are employed by an NHS trust, local authority or charity, and study at UoR to become qualified mental health practitioners.

UDL days make up a small proportion of the teaching days. They are self-guided teaching days, usually containing elements of e-learning, designed to complement and consolidate face to face teaching (live or remote). A combination of learning methods, including e-learning, is shown to be effective in increasing clinical skills (e.g. Sheikhaboumasoudi et al., 2018).

UDL days had been poorly received by our two 2019/2020 cohorts, according to feedback in the student rep meetings and Mentimeter feedback after each UDL e.g.  comments included: ‘there was too much [content] for one day’, ‘I felt pressured to fill [the form] out rather than focussing on the readings themselves’ and ‘[the reflective form] was too long and too detailed’. Whilst this gave us some ideas on changes to make, I was aware of the low completion rates of the Mentimeter feedback. Therefore, to hear from more voices, we decided to create a specific feedback survey about the UDLs to help us make amendments in a collaborative way.

Implementation

We started by creating a survey for the current students to ascertain their views on how interesting, enjoyable and useful the UDL days were. We also had qualitative questions regarding what they liked and disliked and ideas for specific improvements.

I then led a meeting with my course team to explore the key findings. We agreed to make several changes based on the specific feedback, such as:

– variety of activities (not purely e-learning, but roleplays, videos, self-practice self-reflection tasks, group seminars run by lecturers, etc, to provide a more engaging day)
– fewer activities (we aimed for one main activity for every 1-1.5 hours to manage workload demands)
– an option to complete the programme’s reflective form (designed to be more simple, by asking them to provide their own notes on each task) or provide their notes in a format of their choice (e.g. mindmaps, vlogs, etc) to increase accessibility.
– share these reflections on a discussion board for other students and the lecturer to comment on.

We were unable to implement these changes to the current cohort as they had finished all their UDL days in the timetable, so made the changes for the following cohorts in 2020/2021.

We then sought their feedback via a new survey to ascertain their views on how interesting, enjoyable and useful the UDLs are, with additional questions relating to specific feedback on the new elements.

Impact

The survey results for the newer cohorts were much more positive than the original cohort, after changes were made to the UDL format.

There was a significant increase in how interesting, enjoyable and useful the students found the days.

The trainees also largely agreed that the UDLs had an appropriate workload, e.g. one task per 1-1.5 hours.

They also largely agreed that UDLs included interactive and varied tasks. This finding is in contrast to some of the aforementioned literature of the importance of e-learning, and it must be remembered that too much e-learning can be less engaging for trainees.

The students also praised the simple reflective form as a helpful tool, and many appreciated the option to submit notes in their own preferred way.

Although we neglected to explore the role of the lecturer feedback in the new UDL survey, research shows that this makes for a more engaging e-learning session (Dixson, 2010), and may explain why the UDLs were now more favourable.

Moreover, the process of collecting data from the students via a feedback form seemed effective, in that we used feedback to adapt the specific teaching method, thus improving student satisfaction. Pedagogical research shows the importance of using qualitative questions (instead of, or as well as, quantitative methods) to elicit student feedback (Steyn et al., 2019).

Reflection

Overall, this redesign was successful, which may be down to the fact we used the student voice to make meaningful changes. This is in line with Floden’s (2017) research that student feedback can help to improve courses.

Furthermore, the changes we have made are in line with effective practice amongst other courses and universities, e.g. appropriate workload (Ginn et al., 2007), student choice of discussion format (Lin & Overbaugh, 2007), accessibility of resources (Mahmood et al., 2012) and lecturer interaction (Dixson, 2010).

There is a possible limitation in this case study, in that our more recent cohorts are generally happier on the course, and therefore may be more positive about the UDL. In future projects, it would be useful if we can notice themes within module evaluation/student rep meetings earlier, to then elicit specific survey feedback earlier in the course and make amendments sooner, allowing feedback from the same cohort.

In future variations of the survey, I would also wish to explicitly ask how trainees find sharing reflections on the Blackboard discussion groups, as this is one change we had not elicited feedback on.

Follow Ups

We have continued to utilise these changes in the UDL format with future cohorts,  e.g. reduced workload, variety of activities, simplified forms, choice of discussion format and lecturer interaction. We no longer receive concerns about these days in the student rep meetings since the original cohort. The Mentimeter feedback at the end of each UDL is generally positive, with one person recently commenting: ‘this was a very engaging day’.

References

References:

Dixson, M. D. (2010). Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students find engaging?. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1-13.

Flodén, J. (2017). The impact of student feedback on teaching in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(7), 1054-1068.

Ginns, P., Prosser, M., & Barrie, S. (2007). Students’ perceptions of teaching quality in higher education: The perspective of currently enrolled students. Studies in higher education, 32(5), 603-615.

Lin, S. Y., & Overbaugh, R. C. (2007). The effect of student choice of online discussion format on tiered achievement and student satisfaction. Journal of Research on technology in Education, 39(4), 399-415.

Mahmood, A., Mahmood, S. T., & Malik, A. B. (2012). A comparative study of student satisfaction level in distance learning and live classroom at higher education level. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 13(1), 128-136.

Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education. Routledge.

Sheikhaboumasoudi, R., Bagheri, M., Hosseini, S. A., Ashouri, E., & Elahi, N. (2018). Improving nursing students’ learning outcomes in fundamentals of nursing course through combination of traditional and e-learning methods. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 23(3), 217.

Steyn, C., Davies, C., & Sambo, A. (2019). Eliciting student feedback for course development: the application of a qualitative course evaluation tool among business research students. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(1), 11-24.

Links

CWI website: https://sites.reading.ac.uk/charlie-waller-institute/

Developing practical and employability skills through an inclusive and structured placement programme by Dr Wing Man Lau and Sue Slade (MFRPS11)

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Background

The UK pharmacy regulator, General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), sets Standards for all UK Pharmacy Schools. The Standards stipulate that the undergraduate programme (MPharm) must provide students with practical experience in working with patients, carers and other healthcare professionals. This has led to a need to expand experiential learning within the pharmacy curriculum across the nation.

However, the GPhC does not provide specific guidance on how to achieve experiential learning so pharmacy schools are left to arrange practical experience and plan their own learning outcomes.

Placements bridge the gap between theory and practice. They allow students to learn and practise various clinical and communication skills integral to being a competent pharmacist in dealing with patients in real-world situations. Previously, the typical MPharm curriculum traditionally included off-site short placements, where the pharmacist in charge was responsible for supervising the students. The placement itself was not required to be structured in a particular way though guidance was often issued by the pharmacy schools to the placement provider as to certain learning outcomes that schools were looking to achieve.  Students were often issued with a workbook with tasks they could complete during their placements. Under the circumstances, it was difficult to ensure that the placement provider would deliver the learning outcomes as designed or to provide all students with equal learning opportunities. Some studies have indicated that students regarded such placement arrangements as more like a day out than a vocational experience. 1-4

When we revised the MPharm curriculum at University of Reading to meet the new University Curriculum Framework and the GPhC Standards, we needed to expand experiential learning in our programme. Previously, students in Year 3 had been given the option to carry out a week’s placement in a hospital. Not all students opted to take the opportunity. Those who did were given a workbook detailing expectations and tasks to carry out whilst on the placement. The learning experience was variable even among those who undertook the placement, as it relied heavily on the willingness and capability of the pharmacists as well as the students. Furthermore, the students did not always feel they could put theory into practice.

Developing the best placement programme collaboratively

We believe that real-life patient contact and workplace experience is irreplaceable. Therefore, we set out to develop an extensive programme to give every student a structured placement experience. The programme would cover the main sectors of pharmacy practice in the first 3 years of the course. The aims were:

  1. To provide students with first-hand workplace experience and field-specific knowledge and skills that increase their employability
  2. To provide a spiral structured learning experience, starting from “knowing how” to engage with patients and progressing to finally participating in all aspects of patient care.
  3. To implement an inclusive placement programme where all students achieve the same learning outcomes and are well-supported by placement staff in managing complex and difficult situations.
  4. We have set up a Pharmacy Placement Team to design and develop a new inclusive placement programme, working collaboratively with various departments and teams across the university to engage external partners. The team is led by me (Pharmacy Placement Lead), and consists of Mr Dan Grant (Pharmacy Programme Director), Mrs Sue Slade (Hospital Lead), Mrs Caroline Parkhurst (Community Lead), as well as members of the Careers & Employability team, Student Applicant Services, Legal Services Department, and the University of Reading Medical Practice. We have also enjoyed the support of a number of NHS trusts across England and various local community pharmacies as external partners.
Team member Roles and responsibilities
Dr Wing Man Lau Oversee the whole placement programme; student facing role; student support; programme design; student workbooks design; student application and allocation.
Mr Dan Grant Strategic role; student application and allocation
Mrs Sue Slade Internally supervise placement programme (ISP) Hospital Lead; supervise and run all ISP visits
Mrs Caroline Parkhurst ISP Community Lead
Careers & Employability team General administration support; external liaison; student queries; contracts
Student Applicant Services Student support with DBS and health declaration submission; student queries related to submission
University of Reading Medical Practice Occupational health support for students

 

 

The new pharmacy placement programme

We have now introduced compulsory experiential learning into all years of the MPharm programme at University of Reading. For placement learning, students experience both community and hospital pharmacies very early on in the course. The program has been designed in helping our students develop professional attitudes and competencies by exposing them to real situations that demand satisfactory clinical, professional and communication skills that are essential to effective professional practice in any general pharmacy setting.

 

Credit hours Internally supervised placement Externally supervised placement
1st year 4 (community and hospital) –
2nd year 8 (hospital) 8 (community)
3rd year 8 (hospital) 37.5 (hospital or community)

Internally supervised placement programme (ISP)

Our ISP spans years 1–3 of the MPharm programme and addresses specific, achievable learning objectives that spiral throughout the 3 years. It has been designed according to Miller’s triangle of competence and Kolb’s experiential learning theory. The hospital training is based in a local NHS hospital and is run in-house by our Hospital Lead, Mrs Sue Slade, and two Placement Tutors who all have dedicated placement roles on my MPharm programme. The staff-student ratio averages 1:4. This ensures a high quality learning experience because the tutors can build rapport with the students, evidence the students’ improvement individually, and tailor the teaching to suit the students’ needs.

The 1st year community training is based in a local community pharmacy and run in-house by our Community Lead, Mrs Caroline Parthurst. Students learn about the community pharmacist’s roles and the specialist services available in this sector. They are given the opportunities to reflect and compare how the roles differ between hospital and community pharmacy settings.

As students progress through the programme, they continually practise new-found professional skills under supervision and apply them in real-world situations – on real patients. Such skills include patient counselling, taking a medication history and performing medicines optimisation. Students are required to complete a workbook and write a reflection on each visit, which are summatively assessed in Year 3 as part of their personal development portfolio. Transferable skills are formatively assessed on three of the five placements and summatively assessed through OSCE exams in Year 3 and Year 4.

Externally supervised placement programme (ESP)

Building on from their first year community pharmacy experience, year 2 students go to a different local community pharmacy, unaccompanied by university staff or peers, for a whole day. The students are given a detailed workbook and an introductory lecture to guide their learning. Students are reminded closer to the placement through email detailing expectations and tasks to be completed during the visit.

In Year 3, the ESP placement lasts for a week and students choose between a hospital placement or a community placement based on their own interest. The hospital option is usually overwhelmingly popular, so despite being able to offer a large number of these placements, we simply cannot accommodate the demand for it. Therefore, we have put in place an application process, whereby the students are required to submit an application form indicating what attracts them to the hospital placement and why they should be selected. They are also asked to support their application with a reflection on previous placements to identify exactly what further skills they aim to gain. This process is similar to job applications in the real world (for example, the application for pre-registration pharmacist positions), so the students are able to practise this aspect of job seeking and familiarise themselves with the job application process throughout the MPharm programme.

Again, a workbook detailing tasks that build on from previous placements is provided for the students. The pharmacists in charge at the respective pharmacies supervise our students on these visits. We brief the supervisors prior to the placement with details of the placement objectives, learning outcomes with a copy of the student workbook to standardise the student learning experience. The supervisors provide written feedback to the students on each visit to allow them to reflect from their learning.

 

Benefits and Outlook

To our knowledge, our structured, integrated and inclusive placement programme is unique among pharmacy schools in the UK. The placement programme has been time-consuming to set up and run, and has required careful organisation and planning for each visit to be successful and valuable. Preliminary evaluation suggests all students have found the placement experience positive and valued the structured and inclusive placement format as it helps develop their sector knowledge and skills in real-life situations.

Close collaboration with various University departments and external partners has been crucial to the running of the placement programme. We are committed to continued collaboration as a team, comprising diverse roles, in supporting our students to become competent and highly employable graduates by developing their professional, clinical and communication skills.

A full evaluation of our placement programme is under way. We will update you shortly.

 

1 Sosabowski M. (2008) Pharmacy Education in the United Kingdom. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 72(6):130.

2 Talyor K and Harding G (2007) The pharmacy degree: The student experience of professional training. Pharmacy Education. 7(1): 83–88

3 Nation L and Rutter P (2011) Short communication piece on experiences of final year pharmacy students to clinical placements. Journal of Health and Social Care Improvement. 2:1-6

4 Diack L et.al (2014) Experiences of Supervision at Practice Placement Sites. Education Research International. 2014:6

Development of a History Education module

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Dr Elizabeth Matthew, School of Humanities
e.a.e.matthew@reading.ac.uk
Year of activity: 2012/13

Overview

A collaborative project between the Department of History and the Institute of Education developed an innovative module in History, History Education (HS3HED), allowing Part Three students to test and develop their interest in teaching by undertaking and reflecting on a two-week subject-specific placement in a local secondary school. The module has been successful in improving students’ employability, and has been highly praised by students and external examiners.

Objectives

  • Enable students to test and develop their interest in careers in History Education by applying their skills and communicating their knowledge in local schools.
  • Enhance student employability by giving students an advantage in the competition for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) places, while developing a wide range of presentational, organisational and interpersonal skills highly valued in other areas of graduate employment.
  • Broaden students’ academic experience by introducing pedagogy outside their own discipline.

Context

Recent changes within secondary education have increased demand for well-trained teachers of History. The module has encouraged students to take advantage of this opportunity. A third of University of Reading History graduates in further study now enrol on PGCE courses.

Implementation

The module was developed through collaboration between the Department of History and the Institute of Education, with an awareness of the skills that need to be demonstrated when competing for an ITE place and the requirements of secondary schools.

The Institute of Education contacts local schools to seek placements for students. The number of placements that are able to be offered determines the number of students able to be enrolled on the module. As a result, unlike a typical module within the Department, recruitment to HS3HED is conducted by interview. All applicants who complete the application process receive an interview. Regardless of outcome, applicants are offered the opportunity to receive feedback on their interview.

In pre-placement seminars, students are introduced to lesson-observation skills, secondary teaching strategies, and pedagogy characteristics of ITE, with these sessions being highly participatory. Seminars led by staff from the Institute of Education provide students with information on getting the most out of their placements, lesson planning, and the current secondary curriculum.

Originating in a Faculty of Arts and Humanities Teaching and Learning ‘Think Space’ funded project undertaken by Elizabeth Matthew (Department of History) in 2011 to enhance employability in History, the module was further developed in collaboration with Richard Harris and Elizabeth McCrum (Institute of Education), who contributed their knowledge of secondary education and awareness of the skills that need to be demonstrated when competing for an ITE place.

The Department of History seeks placements for students through the Institute of Education’s contacts with Initial Teacher Education Coordinators in schools in Reading and the surrounding area. The number of placements offered each year determines the number of students able to be enrolled on the module. As a result, unlike a typical module within the Department, HS3HED has selective recruitment. All applicants who complete the application process receive an interview. Unsuccessful applicants are offered the opportunity to receive feedback on their interview.

In pre-placement seminars, students are introduced to the organisation of the module, lesson-observation skills, secondary teaching strategies, pedagogy characteristic of ITE, and the assessments for the module. Highly participatory seminars led by staff from the Institute of Education advise students on the secondary history curriculum, lesson planning, and how to get the most out of their placements. Post-placement seminars in the Department of History provide additional advice on assessment.

On placement, students observe and assist the delivery of lessons. To increase the variety experienced by students, partner schools are encouraged to include a wide range of year groups, and a few lessons in subjects other than History on the students’ timetables. Schools help students identify a topic and target class for an independently researched and planned lesson, for shared delivery with the student’s placement supervisor. The supervisor also gives each student an hour’s mentoring support each week.

Students are assessed by: a placement log, in which they analyse their lesson observations; a report on their independently researched and planned lesson; and delivery of an oral presentation on their placement experience and its impact on their career development. In addition, students are graded by school supervisors in four aspects of performance on placement, with this assessment being given least weighting to prevent disparities in grading standards from skewing final results.

Impact

Results on the module have been consistently high, though this is partly a reflection of its selective nature. Greatly encouraging is the enthusiastic feedback received from students on the module: in 2014-15 11 out of 12 student rated it as being ‘Excellent’ in formal feedback collected by the Department, while students also give positive feedback through informal channels. The module has been praised by external examiners for its innovation and quality of assessment feedback. In improving student employability in education the module has been similarly successful: 6 out of 7 students applying for ITE after taking the module in 2012-13 were successful in gaining PGCE or School Direct places.

Reflections

The selective recruitment to the module means students experience participation in a selection process. As interviews are a key aspect of the application process for ITE places, as well as for wider graduate employment, this is a valuable skill to develop, and the feedback offered supports this.

The different forms of assessment ensure students engage with the module, learn in depth, and develop the skills to demonstrate this. Having students complete a placement log requires students to learn about and reflect on a number of key aspects of teaching and learning, while their report on their independently researched and planned lesson requires them to reflect upon how they have applied their learning. The oral presentation allows students the opportunity to demonstrate their critical thinking, and also the communication skills central to the role of teacher. By having their school supervisors grade them, students receive clear and informed feedback on their performance in school. All elements of assessment promote their full engagement on placement.

The principal benefit of the module is that it develops students’ employability skills, specifically those that will give them a competitive edge in competition for ITE places. Through their placement experience students discover how interested they are in pursuing a career in secondary school teaching, and this can be highly beneficial in shaping their plans beyond graduation.

Additional benefits are that the module provides a USP for student recruitment, and has extended the Department of History’s links with local schools, enhancing outreach activities. HS3HED has also created a blueprint for the development of other innovative placement-focused modules, both within History and more widely across the University.

Although contact hours are less onerous, offering this module is labour intensive for the Department of History in terms of coordinating student selection, matching students to placements, liaising with the individual placement providers, marking coursework and examining oral presentations. But given the benefits to students, who enjoy, engage with, and perform well on the module the Department of History believes that it is more than worthwhile. It is hugely appreciative of the vital continuing role played by the Institute of Education in the pre-placement training, and of the support provided by partner schools, particularly the placement supervisors. Their willing and generous participation has been crucial.

Embedding a virtual placement and professional mentoring in an MSc module to support student employability

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Dr Sarah Cardey, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development
s.p.cardey@reading.ac.uk
Year(s) of case study activity: 2012-13

Overview

9397A virtual placement was created with the C4D Network, allowing student taking Communication for Innovation and Development within the Graduate School for International Development and Applied Economics (GIIDAE) to benefit from professional mentoring and networking, improving their employability as a direct result.

Objectives

  • Set up a placement opportunity for students taking Communication for Innovation and Development.
  • Enhance the employability of students after graduation through developing their skills.
  • Give students experience of networking with professionals in the field.

Context

Students on degrees within GIIDAE had asked for internships and opportunities to gain experience with development practice, which would in turn enhance their employability after graduation. While this was a goal shared by GIIDAE, the workload of students and logistical factors with regards development practice made it difficult to implement a physical placement scheme. As a result, a virtual placement and access to professional mentoring were sought as a practicable alternative.

Implementation

The C4D Network is a community of professionals working in the field of communication for development. Through the C4D Network a “virtual placement” was created, with a communication portal run out of Oxford, allowing students to collaborate on development projects and network with communication for development professionals.

Prior to the mentoring sessions, a focus group discussion was held with students to assess what they were hoping to get out of the mentoring sessions so these could be tailored to best meet student needs and expectations. In the sessions with Jackie Davies, the founder and Executive Director of the C4D Network, students were assisted with the creation of profiles on LinkedIn and the C4D Network, and also in tailoring CVs for certain roles or organisations, reflecting the needs students had oriented.

The students also attended a networking event, and were given specific tasks so that they were active participants in the event. Students were specifically introduced to people, giving them the opportunity to learn how to network and present themselves in a professional light.

The final activity was for students to create material that could be featured on the C4D Network website. Two creative pieces were set as assignments, with the idea being that once these had received feedback they would be revised to make the pieces suitable for online publication.

Impact

Student employability was definitely improved by the scheme, with many students having received employment in communication and development roles, and one student having been headhunted through the LinkedIn profile they created as a result of the scheme. Incorporating a professional mentoring and virtual placement scheme has allowed students to develop skills in areas which central to their finding employment beyond graduation.

Reflections

Students provided positive feedback on the scheme, and responded particularly well to the mentoring sessions. Beyond the direct benefits to students, the monitoring sessions were beneficial as they allowed skills that students developed in the classroom to be highlighted as skills that should be presented on their CVs, and also identified areas in which the curriculum could be enhanced in order to better develop these employability skills.

The networking event was valuable, as in feedback students expressed appreciation of the opportunity to meet people who worked in organisations in which they were interested. There was, however, a reticence among students to introduce themselves and make connections, and during the debrief session students reflected that it was difficult to network, and that they had missed good connections because of their reticence. While learning that they needed to be more proactive when networking was an important lesson for the students, this suggested that more networking support was required.

The creation of material to be featured on the C4D Network website was ultimately unsuccessful. The nature of the class makeup was such that students did not have experience of writing a blog post, and the final content of the assignments reflected this. Whilst, from an academic perspective, having students conduct an unfamiliar task was beneficial, for the goal of publishing material on the C4D Network website the assignments were of insufficient quality. With student workload within GIIDAE being high, it was not feasible to have students make necessary revisions while expecting them to complete other assignments. As a result, it would be necessary to make changes to this aspect of the scheme.

Follow up

The virtual placement and mentoring scheme has continued to be offered within GIIDAE. In addition to the virtual placement, there are now a number of physical placements in Oxford with the C4D Network available to students.

As a result of having run the scheme more than once, it has been possible to make changes to the curriculum to reflect student needs that were made apparent during the pilot year, and has brought forward the inclusion of material. To overcome student reticence, networking has become a more focal aspect of the curriculum, as has engagement with different forms of media, including social media.

Assessment on the course has been better adapted to the workload of the students. Rather than having students produce blog posts, students now produce a research paper, with the opportunity for developing this for external publication.

Running the scheme has made it more apparent which skills industry requires from University of Reading graduates in the field of international development. As a result, it has been possible to create workshops to improve these skills, and ensure that Communication for Innovation and Development remains a relevant and current degree programme.

Linked Academic Placements: solving a problem by Dr. Cindy Becker

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

In the Department of English Literature all of our Parts 2 and 3 modules are available as placement modules, allowing a student to identify (with our help) a suitable placement provider and work with the module convenor and me to craft a placement project or activity which links to the learning on their chosen module. The placement report then replaces one element of the assessment (usually the assessed essay) for the module. This seemed to us to be a neat way to embed placement learning within our curriculum and to ensure that students were offered the widest possible range of placement experiences.

We had, however, overlooked one factor: students vary. Whilst the system works for many, some students are hugely ambitious and so try for placements with highly prestigious providers, who can take weeks to reply to every query; others are late bloomers and only think of a placement several weeks into a module. This caused some nasty glitches in the system. We require students to confirm their placement by Week Five of the term in which the module is taught, but we found that some students were missing that deadline and so could not carry out an embedded placement as part of the module assessment (indeed, some were unable to confirm a placement until several weeks after the module had completed). We also realised that students who were keen in the first week or so of term would assume that they had ‘missed the boat’ by Week Four and so simply gave up.

We found one solution to the problem earlier this year, when we relaxed our rules to allow students to undertake placements before a module has begun: working with convenors, they could then arrange a placement in the vacation before the module was taught. This allowed students to begin thinking about a placement months before they would undertake it, solving the problem of students starting to plan a placement too late. What it did not solve was the problem of placements which, sometimes unexpectedly, take an age to arrange. Continue reading →

Online resources for physical and life sciences students by Helen Williams

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

Even more online support has been made available for students here at Reading seeking work placement and graduate employment. A new online tool dedicated to helping students find opportunities within the life sciences industry has been launched this month by the Biopharma Skills Consortium (BSC), which is led by the University of Reading and comprises seven universities from across the southeast.

Students can readily access advice on how to make stronger applications for work placements and employment. The resources, available on the BSC website at http://www.bsc-biopharma.org.uk are designed to help students further their understanding of the industrial environment and highlight how to make a rapid impact when starting a new job.

The new resource is timely as a High Fliers report released on 14 January 2013 found that a third of jobs will be filled by graduates who have already spent time at a company, through work experience or industrial placements during their degree.

Orla Kennedy, Associate Dean for the Faculty of Science here at Reading explains: ‘The recent High Fliers report shows just how important work placements are for securing graduate employment. This website allows students access to audio clips that provide insights in to working in the bioscience sector and contains guided web links to useful web sites and training materials.’

James Gazzard, Professor of Workforce Futures at the University of East Anglia added ‘in a globally competitive job market university students and recent graduates need support to help them to effectively engage with employers. It is vital that universities develop platforms to support students to articulate their skills, particularly higher level competences gained through work placements.’

Presenting the brand new Placement Guide for staff by Em Sowden

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

managing placements 3The new placement guide has been written for all University staff involved in managing student placement options, internships, work placement programmes and volunteering schemes in and outside of the curriculum.operational processes involved in managing placements, alongside the details of key people within the University who can provide support. The guide also refers to national guidance on managing student placements, in accordance with the QAA and the University Code of Practice on Placement Learning and has useful templates and downloadable materials for you to use.

http://www.reading.ac.uk/closed/managing-placements/mp-about-this-guide.aspx

Placement Community of Practice

We will be holding our first Placement Community of Practice  of the year on March 5th 12.15pm-13.45pm in HumSS room 44 – lunch will be provided. It is expected that anyone with a placement remit should attend this community of practice to ensure we are sharing best practice across the University. Please contact CSTD to confirm your attendance.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Placement and Development Manager, Em Sowden e.l.sowden@reading.ac.uk ext. 8354

Anna Walter talks about her academic placement (English Dept)

By edwardwhite Comment Closed

 

Way back in October 2011, at the beginning of the Autumn Term, Parts 2 and 3 English students were told about a fantastic opportunity. We were now able to go and seek experience beyond the university and go on a placement as part of any module in our year. This would be an integral part of our degree and the placement report would substitute the end of term assessed essay. I eagerly took up this opportunity. I felt I wanted some experience outside of the university environment, something extra to add onto my CV and a chance not to have to write yet another assessed essay.

I am one of very few students who took up the opportunity; I sent off emails to possible opportunities and, eventually, I was accepted to go onto an academic placement at ‘Shandy Hall’ in Yorkshire. It was the home of the author Laurence Sterne and linked with my Eighteenth Century module perfectly as we were studying Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey. ‘Shandy Hall’ is in the very tiny village of Coxwold: there is one pub, one tea room and one church. I organised a placement at the beginning of my Easter holidays. I arranged accommodation in the only B&B in the village and ran the pub asking if I could have dinner with them every evening.

This was a nerve-wracking time. I did not know what to expect, I had launched myself into the unknown but it was also very exciting. The placement could not have been more successful. Everyone looked after me and I have had the most valuable and varied experience. I spent a day restoring the first editions of Laurence Sterne’s books, another day I identified moths and another I discovered the experience of a digital Opera.

I will look back on my placement as an extremely positive experience as I have made friends and contacts now for the future that may help after my graduation in July. I have discovered another beautiful part of the country and I am currently writing up a report that includes all my combined experiences and reflects my enthusiasm for the academic placement I went on. I would recommend this opportunity to any student: it is not often you get this chance.

The Laurence Sterne Trust

Shandy Hall Coxwold York YO61 4AD: Registered Charity 529593

www.laurencesternetrust.org.uk