Placement Learning (2004/05)
Contents: Process | Pre-Placement Support and Communication | Staff Support to Students and Industrial Supervisors | Communications and Documentation | Visits | Placement Conferences | Feedback
The topic chosen by the Quality Assurance Committee for internal academic audit for 2004/5 was ‘Placements’. The Audit teams used QA6, ‘Placement Learning’, as a premise for the review. The procedures for internal academic audit can be found in QA54. Audits were undertaken in:
- Department of Chemical Engineering (all undergraduate programmes)
- Department of Chemistry (all undergraduate programmes)
- Department of Psychology (MSc Health Psychology, MSc Science, Culture & Communication, BSc (Hons) Psychology)
- School for Health (BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science)
- School of Management (BSc (Hons) Business Administration)
Reports of the audits were considered by the Department and relevant Faculty / School / Division Teaching and Quality Committee, as well as by the Quality Assurance Committee.
The Learning and Teaching Committee agreed that these should be disseminated to Departments and Directors of Studies and be published on the web.The audits identified a number of areas of good practice, which are summarised below:-
Pre-Placement Support and Communication
Pre-placement briefings and induction for students going on placement were identified as good practice within the School for Health. In the Department of Psychology, the guidance and paperwork to support students and academic and host organisation supervisors involved in the placement experience of students were acknowledged as exemplary.
Staff Support to Students and Industrial Supervisors
The Department of Chemistry was noted for having a successful mentoring scheme for the academic staff due to make their first placement visits. This department was also reported to provide clear guidelines to industrial supervisors involved in assessment of student work. Generally the high quality support and guidance throughout both placements was observed within the School of Management. The close and dedicated spirit of the Placement Team of staff helped to embed the support to students on placement within Chemical Engineering, which was further enhanced by the provision of a dedicated email address which ensured that students could always obtain any support they might need.
Communications and Documentation
Students on placement in Chemical Engineering appreciated and commended the effort made in maintaining a dynamic, up-to-date Placement notice board. The Departmental information on the web pages was clear and informative within Psychology. Both the School of Management and School for Health used the Blackboard system as an aid to communication, support and an assessment tool. Many departments audited were commended on their documentation and paperwork including Health and Management. Psychology was noted for having clear and detailed guidance in both their undergraduate & MSc programme handbooks.
Visits
The visiting of students on placement, whether by academic or support staff, was valued by the staff, students and the company supervisors, as this practice maintains excellent continuity of the link with industrial contacts within Chemical Engineering. All students in this department are visited twice while on placement, usually by the same member of staff. Another department’s (Chemistry) commitment to ensure that all academic staff make visits to students on placement to ensure that wide experience amongst the faculty of placement opportunities so that they can advise Year 1 students was observed to be great value.
Placement Conferences
Placement Conferences were highlighted as good practice within three academic areas audited, namely Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Health. Building on this good practice, the Department of Chemistry actually video records the placement conference presentations for future reference by students considering undertaking a placement. The placement conference was used in Chemistry to give the opportunity to Year 1 students to meet with students on placement and their supervisors and thus helps maintain good relations with placement providers for the future.
Feedback
By way of feedback to students, Directors of Studies within the Department for Chemical Engineering currently inform them if their placement year is considered to have been completely successfull before the final year summer programme board. The School for Health had refined its assessment methodology, to focus on PDP and reflective learning, to make it more appropriate to the objectives of the placement year. Finally, the placement programme within the School of Management was noted for its good integration of its placements into the academic programme.