Value Added Graduates: UoY Forum 40, Summer 2016

8/16/2019 Value Added Graduates: UoY Forum 40, Summer 2016

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ISSUE 40 | SUMMER 2016

Graduate employability

Genuine experiences

Authentic learning

Value addedgraduates

enabling our students to

be successful


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2 Forum |

Contents

For a large print,black and white textversion, please contactlearning-and-teaching-

[email protected]

Forum is published biannually by the Learning and Teaching Forum at the University of York

Editor Claire Hughes [email protected]

Sub-editor Phil Robinson-Self [email protected]

Editorial Committee Helen Bedford, Glenn Hurst, Sara Perry.

Design and print Design and Print Solutions york.ac.uk/design-print-solutions

Front Cover image Ran Xia

Editorial

Welcome to the new look Forum. Thisissue of the magazine is linked to

the University of York Learning

and Teaching Conference which is organised

annually by the Learning and Teaching Forum

committee and this year is taking place on 7

June (2016). The theme of the conference and

this issue of Forum is Value added graduates:

enabling our students to be successful. The Higher

Education Academy lists graduate employability as one of the ‘topical

themes of recurrent interest within HE’ and places it ‘at the centre of the HEagenda’. Ensuring graduate readiness to take on rewarding careers and

make an important contribution will, no doubt, be something that we are all

thinking about.

Most of the articles you will come across in these pages have been

written by authors who are either presenting or leading workshops at the

conference. Our Feature article by Lorraine Dacre Pool (keynote speaker

at the conference) lays the foundations for this issue by exploring the key

components of graduate employability. Following on from this you will ind

a wealth of examples of good practice in embedding these components into

curricular and co-curricular activities, and employer engagement. This tellsus that employability is already an important part of our agenda here at York

and that we are working hard to ensure that our graduates are prepared for

success after university. Nevertheless, two Viewpoint articles also highlight

ways in which we could further enhance the employability of our graduates

by promoting the development of ‘thinking graduates’ (Cecilia Lowe, p8), and

‘help students reach their full potential’ by creating stronger links between

societies and academic departments (Thomas Ron and Chris Wall, p7).

We hope that these articles and the conference activities to which

they are linked will provide inspiration to develop new and innovative

ways to continue helping the graduates of your programmes to become‘value added’.

Claire Hughes

Editor

3 News

4 A practical model ofgraduate employability

7 The holistic student

8 Thinking at the core ofemployability

9 Articulate

10 The @Work Programme– embeddingexperience

11 Improving the studentexperience through

working with industry12 Chemical

Communicationprojects – inspiring theteachers of the future

14 Making learningauthentic

16 Apps for graduates

17 PIPped at the Post

18 Blogging in humanitiesteaching

20 Making a drama out oflearning

22 Introducing groupstudent-led researchprojects

24 GRASPingopportunities forour postgraduateand undergraduatestudents

27 Valued graduatescommunicatetransculturally

28 Enabling studentsuccess through peerassisted learning

30 Learning fromExperience

32 Calendar of Events


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news

Innovative Language Teaching and

Learning at University Conference

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Network

On Friday 17 June 2016 theDepartment of Languageand Linguistic Scienceand Languages for Allwill be hosting the 6thannual conference in theInnovative Language

Teaching and Learning at

University series. Followingon from the great success

in Newcastle 2011,Bristol 2012, Manchester2013, Leeds 2014 andNottingham 2015, in2016 the main theme ofthe conference will beEnhancing Employability.

The Innovative LanguageTeaching and LearningConference provides anopportunity for professionalsinvolved in the teachingand learning of ModernForeign Languages to share

their expertise on current

challenges in the HigherEducation sector.

This year’s aim is toengage in productivecollaboration that will enablelanguage professionals tofurther equip students tosucceed in our ever-growingmodern intercultural societies.

The central topics of

discussion are connectedwith the role that languageskills and content themesplay in enriching students’learning experiences toenhance their employabilityand professional capabilities.

Jocelyn Wyburd, Directorof the Language Centre atthe University of Cambridgeand Chair of UCML andLizzie Fane, Founder andCEO of Third Year Abroad.com will be the Keynote

Speakers at York. Jocelyn

Wyburd has confirmed thather talk will focus on thesubject of employability bothof graduates of languagesdegrees and of graduateswho take institution-widelanguage programmes.

This year’s conferencewill include presentations ofcase studies and projects on

innovative ways to enhanceemployability throughteaching and learningModern Foreign Languages atuniversity, including Englishas a Foreign Language,covering the following areas:

n The use of technology

n Content and LanguageIntegrated Learning CLIL

n Intercultural awareness(support and development)

n Curriculum (re)design

and assessment

The Scholarship of Teachingand Learning Network(SoTLN meets regularlythrough term time to discussin an open and criticalway the research behindteaching and learning

in higher education. Thegroup comprises a mix ofacademic, teaching andsupport staff with a sharedinterest in developing aninformed awareness of theevidence base for goodeducational practice. Eachmeeting takes a particulartheme and explores itthrough a close reading ofselected published scholarlywork. The aim is to both

evaluate the robustness ofthe research itself and themethodology chosen, andto consider its relevance

for our own teachingpractice. Themes looked at sofar include:

n Deep, Surface andStrategic Approachesto Learning

n Learning from Mistakes:student response to failureand getting things wrong

n Student Engagement

n Peer Assessment andPeer Feedback

The SoTLN also providessupport and development forstaff who want to undertaketheir own scholarship orresearch into teaching andlearning. On 17 June 2016,

Jerry Wellington, Professorof Education from theUniversity of Sheffield, willlead a workshop where

participants will be providedwith close guidanceand practical advice ondeveloping their pedagogicalresearch and scholarshipprojects. The Autumn Termwill also see the launch of

the internal York Scholarshipof Teaching and Learningjournal which will providea platform for staff todisseminate in an academicformat the findings of theirscholarship.

The SoTLN is open

n Learning and teachingmethods

n Project based andcollaborative work

n Autonomous learningand motivation

n Development ofprofessional skills

n Year Abroad

Registration will beopen until Friday 3 June2016. Details on how tosubmit an abstract andfurther information isavailable from http:// innoconf2016.weebly.com.

InnoConf 16 will be heldat the University of YorkExhibition Centre on Friday17 June, Heslington, York,YO10 5DD UK. ConferenceOrganisers: CarmenÁlvarez-Mayo and Dr Elia

Lorena López

to anyone at York whoteaches, supports teachingand student learning orotherwise has an interestin finding out about highereducation learning andteaching research. For more

information, including howto join the Network and gainaccess to its resources, visitthe website at www.york.ac.uk/sotl . To book onto theJerry Wellington workshop,email [email protected]

See back page for

more upcoming events


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4 Forum |

Models of employability provide aframework for enabling studentsto reach their full potential

and become successful ‘value-added’

graduates. The CareerEDGE model ofgraduate employability was introduced in2007. Since that time it has been receivedextremely positively, both nationallyand internationally. The original article(Dacre Pool & Sewell, 2007) published inthe journal Education + Training, has beendownloaded almost 30,000 times andthe model has featured in a number ofpublications from other authors.

Other models of employability werein existence before the introduction ofCareerEDGE but were considered eithertoo elaborate to be practically useable or

too simple to capture the meaning of thissomewhat elusive concept. CareerEDGEhelps to ill this gap by acting as a clearframework for employability developmentthat is useful for academic staff, careersstaff and any other practitioners involvedin employability activities. It also allowsus to explain to students what we mean byemployability development without cloudingthe issue in complexity. In the context ofthis article it provides a framework fordiscussing the key components of graduateemployability development.

IntroductionThe mnemonic CareerEDGE is usedas an aid to remember the ive lower

A practical model ofgraduate employability

Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge,understanding and personal attributes that make a

person more likely to choose, secure and retain occupationsin which they can be satisied and successful.”

DACRE POOL & SEWELL, 2007; 2012

Lorraine Dacre Pool (University of Central Lancashire) discusses the key components of

graduate employability development through an exploration of the CareerEDGE Model.

tier components of the model and it issuggested that students should be provided with opportunities to develop all of thesecomponents. CareerEDGE highlights

that it is essential that students are givenopportunities to relect on and evaluatethese experiences, to develop higher levelsof self-eficacy, self-conidence and self-esteem; crucial links to employability.

Employment and employability arenot interchangeable conceptsOne intention of developing the model was to avoid the mistaken belief that when we use the term ‘employability’ we are just concerned with ‘employment’ or are just talking about developing the ‘skills’that many employers now expect to see

in graduate recruits. Although these areimportant aspects of employability theyare not the complete picture. Using themodel can be helpful when explaining thatemployability is involved with the much broader development of students intograduates who feel ready and preparedfor whatever life holds for them beyonduniversity. As Hallett (2012) states,

‘It is refreshing to think that ‘employability’might grow into something broader than aparticular set of skills and competencies, intoa richer idea of graduate readiness …’ (p30).

CareerEDGE – the key componentsExploring the key components ofthe CareerEDGE model allows us to

highlight what we consider to be themost important facets of ‘employability ’,including career development learning,experience, degree subject knowledge,

skills and understanding, generic skills andemotional intelligence.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING CDL

CDL in the context of Higher Educationhas been described as being ‘… concernedwith helping students to acquire knowledge,concepts, skills and attitudes which will equipthem to manage their careers, ie their lifelongprogression in learning and in work.’ (Watts,2006, p2).

Learning a selection of ‘job getting’skills, such as writing an effective CV,completing a job application or presenting

yourself in an interview, is incorporated inthis element but in itself forms only oneaspect of CDL. By providing students withsupport and guidance that enables them todevelop their self-awareness, who they areand what they want from their future lives,and to consider what opportunities (local,national and global) are out there for them, we will help them to make more informeddecisions. Included here could be activitiesthat encourage students to consider ifself-employment is something they might wish to explore. We can also help them toprepare for a competitive graduate labour

market by ensuring they know how bestto articulate how their time within HE hasenabled them to develop both personally

feature


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feature

The Career EDGE Model of

Graduate Employability

EMPLOYABILITY

REFLECTIONAND EVALUATION

Self-efficacy

Self-esteem

CareerDevelopment

Learning

Experience(Work and Life)

Degree SubjectKnowledge,Skills and

Understanding

Generic Skills EmotionalIntelligence

Self-confidence

Career Development LearningExperience (Work and Life)Degree subject knowledge, Understanding and SkillsGeneric SkillsEmotional Intelligence

and professionally into the graduate

recruits potential employers are lookingfor. As with all elements of CareerEDGE,CDL is an essential component. A studentmay gain an excellent degree classiicationand develop many of the skills employersare looking for, but if they are unable todecide what type of occupation they wouldind satisfying or are unaware of how toarticulate their knowledge and skills to aprospective employer, they are unlikely toachieve their full career potential.

EXPERIENCE WORK AND LIFE

Another element from the lower tier of the

CareerEDGE model is that of ‘experience’.This includes work experience but,importantly for many students, other lifeexperiences too. Harvey (2005) contends

that, in particular, younger, full-time

students who have not had signiicant workexperience as part of their programmesof study often leave university with verylittle idea of the nature and culture ofthe workplace and consequently canind it dificult to adjust. There is alsoresearch which suggests that graduates with work experience are more likely togain employment upon graduation thanthose without (Pedagogy for EmployabilityGroup, 2006). Other research has foundoverwhelming evidence for the value of work-based and work-related learningexperiences in promoting the employability

of graduates (Lowden, Hall, Elliot &Lewin, 2011). The necessity for studentsto gain work experience now seems to beaccepted by employers and most HE staff

alike. Indeed this was one of the major

points made by the Wilson Review ofBusiness-University Collaboration (2012).Most universities have recognised thisthinking and have staff dedicated tohelping students to engage with someform of work-related learning. For manystudents this will not only allow them todevelop the professional skills expectedin all graduate recruits, but may alsoallow them to think about how the theoryand knowledge they are gaining throughtheir degree studies can be related tothe real world. They will also be able toincorporate these real-life experiences

into their studies and hopefully see howthe theory and real-world experience cancontribute to their overall understandingof their academic discipline.


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feature

Lorraine Dacre PoolLorraine is a CharteredPsychologist and SeniorLecturer in Employabilityat the University of CentralLancashire, based in theCentre for Excellence in

Learning and Teaching. Recognising theneed for a clear, practical model of graduateemployability, she designed and publishedthe CareerEDGE model and later developedthe Employability Development Profile,both of which have appeared in a number

of publications and are in use in manyuniversities nationally and internationally.She has particular expertise in the subject ofEmotional Intelligence and the role this playsin graduate employability.

DEGREE SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND UNDERSTANDING

This has always been and remains at theheart of CareerEDGE. Students cometo university to learn about a particularsubject – some with a view to gaining work within this ield, others purely becausethey are passionate about developingtheir knowledge and understanding ofthe subject. It is arguable that we all wantour students to gain the most from theirstudies, to develop a love of learning andgain the best degree classiication they can.

GENERIC SKILLS INCLUDINGENTERPRISE SKILLS

Although it has been argued that the skillsapproach alone is insuficient to do justiceto the much broader concept of graduate

employability (eg Tomlinson, 2012),employers do understand the language ofskills and are often quite speciic aboutthe skills they expect to see in graduaterecruits. As they also attempt to measurethese in their recruitment and selectionprocesses, it is dificult to argue that weshould not be providing our students withknowledge of these requirements together with opportunities to develop these skills whilst at university. Many of the genericskills listed by employers as vital ingraduate recruits, such as communication,team working, problem solving, digital

literacy and many more, including thosesometimes classiied as ‘enterprise skills’such as creativity and innovation, are alsoskills that will help students to make themost of their academic studies. As such,they can often be developed within theHE curriculum; but students do need to be made aware of when this is happening, which can be done through ensuring theseare included as learning outcomes. This way students are able to see how they aredeveloping the skills and competenciesemployers are looking for and will be ableto offer evidence of these when applying

for work experience opportunities and/orgraduate jobs.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

This might have been one of the morecontroversial elements within CareerEDGE but all of the feedback received since 2007has been distinctly positive. EmotionalIntelligence ability is something that hasa signiicant effect on relationships and well-being (eg Mayer, Roberts & Barsade,2008) and as such deserves a place withinany model of graduate employability. Itis also a desirable attribute for potential

leaders (Walter, Cole & Humphrey, 2011) which many graduates aspire to become.EI ability is concerned with how peopleperceive, understand and manage emotion;

a graduate who is unable to pay attention totheir own and others feelings, understandthose feelings and manage them effectivelyis likely to experience dificulties in

their personal relationships and theirprofessional relationships with colleagues,managers and customers. Therefore it isimportant to make students aware of thisand help them to develop their ability inthis area. Again, activities to help with thiskind of development can be, and in manycases already are, incorporated into thecurriculum. Any activities that encouragestudents to work together, communicateeffectively, negotiate with each other andrelect on their learning experiences,can be used to develop EI ability. Thereare many opportunities to include suchactivities in most HE curricula andresearch has demonstrated that it ispossible for students to improve their EIability together with conidence in thatability (Dacre Pool & Qualter, 2012). It canalso be helpful to include activities in otherrelated areas such as diversity and culturalawareness, both of which require us toconsider how our words and actions canimpact on the feelings of others.

Relection and evaluationProviding students with the opportunitiesto gain the necessary skills, knowledge,understanding and personal attributes

through employability related activities isobviously of great importance. However, without opportunities to relect on theseactivities and evaluate them, it is unlikelythat this experience will transfer intolearning. This type of relective learningoften takes the form of written learninglogs or relective journals but could alsoinclude audio, video and e-portfolios.Relection can help a student to gainemployment by providing a means by which they can become aware of andarticulate their abilities. But additionallyit is an ability that will help them in

their employment (many roles now callfor relective practitioners) and as acontributor to lifelong learning skills;as such it is an essential element bothin relation to HE learning and in theemployment context (Moon, 2004). It isalso through the process of relectionand evaluation that our students areable to develop their self-eficacy, self-conidence and self-esteem – crucial linksto employability.

The CareerEDGE model is helpful forexplaining the concept of employabilityto students, enabling them to take

responsibility for their own employabilitydevelopment. It can also be helpful toinform the planning of programmes andstructured interventions by providing clarity

of information about what needs to beconsidered and included. Importantly, it canserve as a clear, practical framework to helpall who work in HE to unite in their common

objective of supporting students to developinto well-rounded, employable graduates.

REFERENCESDacre Pool, L. & Qualter, P. 2012. Improvingemotional intelligence and emotional self-efficacythrough a teaching intervention for universitystudents. Learning and Individual Differences, 22,306312.

Dacre Pool, L. & Sewell, P. 2007. The key toemployability: developing a practical model ofgraduate employability. Education + Training, 494,277289.

Hallett, R. 2012. The Rhetoric of Employability.Bridging the University – Employer Divide.Available at: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ cgi-bin/webadmin?A2EMPLOYABILITYDEVELOPMENT;37330c08.1209 (retrieved 24.2.16

Lowden, K., Hall, S., Elliot, D. & Lewin, J. 2011.Employers’ Perceptions of the Employability of New

Graduates. London: Edge Foundation. Available at:http://www.edge.co.uk/media/63412/employability_ skills_as_pdf_-_final_online_version.pd f (retrieved9.3.16

Mayer, J.D., Roberts, R.D., & Barsade, S.G. 2008.Human Abilities: Emotional Intelligence. AnnualReview of Psychology, 59, 507536.

Moon, J. 2004. Reflection and employability .Learning and Employability Series 4. York: Learningand Teaching Support Network.

Pedagogy for Employability Group 2006.Pedagogy for employability . Learning andEmployability Series 1. York: The Higher EducationAcademy.

Tomlinson, M. 2012. Graduate Employability:A Review of Conceptual and Empirical Themes.Higher Education Policy, 25, 407 – 431.

Walter, F., Cole, M.S., & Humphrey, R.H. 2011.Emotional Intelligence: Sine Qua Non ofLeadership or Folderol? Academy of ManagementPerspectives, 251, 4559.

Watts, A.G. 2006. Career development learning andemployability . Learning and employability, SeriesTwo, York: The Higher Education Academy.

Wilson, T. 2012. A Review of Business – UniversityCollaboration. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32383/12610-wilson-review-business-

university-collaboration.pdf (retrieved 24.2.16


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viewpoints

Our employability landscape

At York, we spend considerable timeand energy on the issue of graduateemployability. That said, irst year studentsregularly do not think about employabilityand it was remarkable that this year was theirst one where they made up a signiicantproportion of Careers Fairs. Our experienceas students tells us that there isn’t alwaysconsistency of approach from academicstaff in dealing with employability:some are promoting it, talking about it,embedding it and making it part of thecourse experience, whilst others are relyingon Careers and, as a result, on students

making an early and proactive attempt totackle the complicated employment andemployability space. Furthermore, and as aresult of a traditional academic approach,many of the skills learned through courseinteraction are academic in nature, focusingon solving problems or helping studentsembark on a research career, rather thanlooking at industrial work. This could putthe University at a signiicant disadvantage:as students have become savvy about the value of an industrial placement, they’remore likely to make the decision not toapply or to put York as their irst choice.

What employers are looking for We all know that employers today areincreasingly looking for ‘more than adegree’ and in some cases are no longerconsidering undergraduate attainmentin and of itself. What this actually meansis that they are looking for a roundedindividual that has grasped the universityexperience, has undertaken a part-time job, been in or lead a club or a society,represented other students, or completed aplacement. Employers want graduates whohave got knowledge about a subject, but also

skills and experience that they can applyto accomplishing different tasks and jobs.These skills include but are not limited to:

n Leadership and teamwork

n Effective communication

n Self-management

n Problem solving

n Commercial awareness

How Academic Societies buildthese skills Academic societies provide a basis for theseskills and much more. Students who engagein their academic society are often involvedin organising events; this in itself requiresstudents to exercise a range of skills. Forexample organising a speaker event for thecommittee will require liaising with othermembers of the committee to consider whothey should book, budgeting for the event,engaging with external contacts, and somuch more – all providing opportunitiesto develop skills outside the degree.Balancing all of this with their studies alsodemonstrates excellent time management.These skills are ones we do not alwaysreceive from traditional study or at least donot get the chance to apply pragmatically in

a safe environment.Involvement in an academic society

also provides evidence that an individualis engaged beyond their degree and wantsto learn more holistically and perhapsindependently. The fact that they coveradditional course material is also a beneitto the students who ultimately have chosentheir degree because they enjoy it. Allowingthem to explore areas which they enjoycontinues their interest and encouragesthe independent learning culture we arelooking to promote at York.

Examples where departments andsocieties have worked well togetherIt is notable that many departments thathave 'bucked the trend' on employabilitytend to have a strong working relationship with their Academic Societies. One suchexample is the Law Society who have built very close links with senior lecturers in theLaw School as well as a close association with their Employability Teaching Fellow.These links have allowed the Society to bringin leading Law irms to multiple events andthose irms end up leaving with plenty ofprospective interns. The connection has

been there from the inception of the LawSchool and the Law Society and has allowedthem to work with each other and maintainLaw as a school that does well. Another good

example is ShockSoc, who have been highlyinvolved in helping students do independentlab work and promoting ideas withinElectronics. This has helped students engagein collaborative work, a trait which is highlysought after with employers. Electronicshelps this by fully subsidising membershipin ShockSoc for all Electronics students.Therefore, as the club is free at the pointof use at any point in time it has a large

membership of Electronics students whomake the club strong and help with the softskills employers are looking for while thedepartment can get on with the businessof teaching.

Ideas for further links

n Departments and Academic Societiesshould work together more in orderto derive the greatest mutual beneitand ensure they complement oneanother fully.

n The incentives and help that somedepartments provide should not be the

exception, they should be the rule.n Furthermore, these incentives should be

provided with benchmarks for the societyto meet, so that the investment has anobvious quantiiable return.

n Therefore, we would welcome working with departments to create aframework for providing incentives as well as ensuring societies keep up totheir commitments.

Thomas Ron is the AcademicOfficer of YUSU for the

academic year. He has longbeen an advocate for studentengagement and has heldpositions in YUSU since 2013.He is particularly passionate

about involving students in making changesto their course. He has piloted methods ofinvolving students in all areas of university lifeand bringing academic societies into academicdecision making. He can be contacted [email protected]

Chris Wall is the ActivitiesOfficer of YUSU for this andthe last academic year. Inhis role he has had overallresponsibility for societies

and our charitable activities.He is particularly passionatefor societies to develop into new roles andways of providing for students. He can becontacted at [email protected]

The holistic studentThomas Ron and Chris Wall discuss how linking societies and

academic departments can help students reach their full potential.

We get lots o f pe ople sa ying th ey wa nt to make t he wo rld a bette r pl ace ha ve you g ot a fu lly costed bus in ess pl an?


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viewpoints

The employability agenda is certainlyat the forefront of current debateconcerning the purpose and value

of higher education, whether in relationto ensuring graduates have the key skillsneeded to compete in the modern jobmarket or the ‘soft skills’ necessary to build a multi-job career (Atkins, 1999;

Knight & Yorke, 2004; Yorke, 2006). Thisis not surprising as not only are societies,governments and businesses strugglingto survive in a fast-moving, highlycompetitive and increasingly unpredictable world, graduates are also facingoverwhelming amounts of informationand data, work and workplaces which aremore mobile and less time-bound, andrequirements to be ever-more lexibleand adept in the face of change anddisappearing career structures.

If we look to research into employabilityskills to guide us in how to prepare our

graduates for such demands, we may be disappointed: multitudes of lists ofattributes, abilities and skills have beenproduced (Yorke, 2006), resulting in aconfused and confusing picture. What I would like to suggest in this article is that while due attention should be given toconative and affective skills, such as teamworking and modes of communication, weneed to ensure we don’t forget the primaryskills universities were designed to fosterand nurture – the cognitive skills involvedin critical thinking.

There is certainly evidence that

the most sought after skill for today’s‘knowledge worker’ is the capacity toactivate subject knowledge through criticalengagement, but there is also evidencethat this is the ability that employersoften ind lacking (Arum and Roksa, 2014;Korn, 2014). Looking at critical capacities,Dede (2010) highlights the importanceof graduates having the capacity toenquire, investigate, and continuouslycreate new methods of discovery through what he terms ‘thinking scientiically’. Additionally, in a disordered environmentof information overload, he proposes that

‘thinking skills’ foster the ability to rapidlyilter increasing amounts of incoming datato extract information that is valuable fordecision making. Similarly, in discussing

Thinking at the core of employabilityCecilia Lowe , Head of Learning

Enhancement, considers the

value of critical thinking skills

in graduate employability.

managing the complexity of the modern world, Reich (2002) describes a new classof workers – the ‘symbolic analysts’ whoare happy to experiment and analyse bydeining the parameters of problems,seeing the path from abstract principlesand models to concrete situations, and

thinking through a system from its partsto its whole. These will be the most soughtafter people in the modern workplace andtherefore will be the ones with the powerto deine their own future. The question is:are these the graduates we are producing?

Surely as a research-driven university we should have no worries about sucha question. However, all too easily aseducators we can feel the pressure tocover the enormity of our discipline in theclassroom, or feel pushed into focusingtime and energy on introducing an ever-expanding set of transferable skills, and

therefore lose sight of the more nebulouscritical skills in our module design andour classroom practice. As a result,students on our programmes may gain theimpression, or make the strategic decision,that they just have to learn what is put infront of them and compartmentalise theirknowledge in order to survive.

In this situation, giving considerationto how we produce graduates who think,question, challenge, analyse and debateand who are therefore curious, rigorousand adventurous in their approach to the world may take a backseat. The workshop

session at this year’s Learning and Teachingconference – An academic approachto employability: or ‘How thinkingenvironments can produce thinking

graduates’– will provide participants withspace to consider exactly what we mean bya ‘thinking approach’, what we value aboutit and how we can provide an environment which supports the development of criticalawareness and skills. Colleagues from Physics,Psychology (Edinburgh Napier) and Health

Sciences will contribute examples of practice.

REFERENCESArum, R. and Roksa, J. 2014 Aspiring Adults –Tentative Transitions of College Graduates. The Universityof Chicago Press.

Atkins, M.J. 1999 Oven-ready and Self-basting:taking stock of employability skills, Teaching in HigherEducation, 4:2, 2672.

Dede, C.2010. “Comparing frameworks for 21stcentury skills”. In 21st century skills: Rethinking how

students learn, Edited by: Bellanca, James and Brandt,Ron. 5176. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Knight, P and Yorke, M. (Reprinted 2006 Embeddingemployability into the curriculum.

York, Higher Education Academy.Korn, M. 2014 Bosses seek Critical Thinking, But WhatIs it? The Wall Street Journal October 22nd, p. B6.

Reich, R. B.2002The future of success. London: Vintage

Yorke, M. 2006 Employability in higher education: whatit is and what it is not. HEA Learning and EmployabilitySeries 1

Cecilia Lowe is a HEASenior Fellow and Head ofthe Learning EnhancementTeam. Her main interest is insupporting academic staff,students and support staff in

creating challenging learningenvironments. Before joining the university,she worked in the higher education sector inboth Sri Lanka and Turkey. [email protected]

and whe n you leave some wi ll be a ccou nt-ants, some wi ll be merch-ants a nd some wi ll be civ il s erv-ants … follow you r dream


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| Forum 9

best practice

The increase in the number of studentsexpecting to secure industrialplacements and attain graduate

level employment, as well as enhancedcompetition from other universities for jobs and placements, led us to relect uponour resources for student support. We have worked together with the Higher Education Academy (HEA) to produce a Competency

Framework and a tool box that we can useto help make our students ‘work ready’.

The Mysterious Language ofCompetency FrameworksThrough our engagement with placements,employability and graduate education, wehave recognised that many students at alllevels are unfamiliar with the concept ofcompetencies. They are often unsure howto articulate their competencies and unsurehow to describe the development of thesecompetencies across their education, workexperience and extra-curricular activities.

We have offered undergraduate andMaster’s placements for a number of yearsand have recently started a programmeof PhD internships (Jones and Warnock,2015). Our recent work with studentsrevealed that the levels of competencies between undergraduate, Master’s and PhDstudents often differ greatly.For example, undergraduatesmay have an understandingof what makes a good leaderand Master’s students would be starting to develop theirleadership skills, whereas aPhD student will be project

managing, beginning tolead their own research andshould be receiving trainingin leadership. To relect thesedifferences in competencies, we needed to improve oursystem of preparing studentsfor placements, furthereducation and jobs, movingaway from a ‘one size itsall’ approach towards a moretailored preparation for eachlevel of student education andlife experience.

In order to achieve this, we

Articulate Dr Lorna Warnock and Dr Amanda Barnes present a tool boxto help you support students in the game of understanding and

articulating their competencies.

were stimulated to write a CompetencyFramework for Bioscience students inconjunction with the HEA to relect thecompetencies that are valued by employersin this sector. The Framework, importantly,also includes the levels of competenciesthat are expected from undergraduate,Master’s and PhD students respectively – which may be very different.

The Competency Framework wasdeveloped with input from employers andthe initial competencies identiied for theframework were:

n Teamworking, working with others

n Leadership and management potential

n Communication skills

n Self-management, motivation andprofessionalism

n Commercial responsibility and businessdevelopment

n Professional development

n

Ethical and sustainable practice n Scientiic skills

The levels of each of the skills aredescribed in relation to the trainingstudents have received through theircourses along with work experience and

student activities outside of university.The skills are placed into three studentcategories – undergraduate, Master’s andPhD – and the published Framework is

available online (Jones and Warnock 2014). We have introduced the CompetencyFramework at a number of workshops, andparticipants agreed that though designedoriginally for the Bioscience sector, theFrameworks can be easily adapted for anydiscipline and level of student education.The Competency Framework formsthe starting block, and used as a tool tocreate bespoke Competency Frameworks,can be designed with input from otherstakeholders to provide a focus for a closer working relationship with employers.

Contents of the tool box We have continued to work with the HEAon phase 2 of the study, which has recently been published (Jones and Warnock 2016).

This toolbox provides video case studiesin which students, employers and academicsarticulate competencies. We also introducean interactive Competency FrameworkPDF, enabling students to create their ownCompetency Framework, and provide aninteractive PDF Internship Planner to chartindividual professional development. Thisresource also provides session plans for workshops on ‘The mysterious languageof competencies’, ‘Talking about yourcompetencies at interview’ and ‘Developing your competencies in the workplace’. Youcan add the video case studies and theinteractive PDFs to the workshops providinga real ‘pick and mix’ toolbox of materials with which to engage students.

We believe this moretailored support will allowour students to compete inthe work place as ‘Value addedgraduates’, able to successfullyarticulate their competenciesto employers.

REFERENCESJones, H.M. and Warnock, L.J. 2014.‘Towards a Competency Frameworkfor Student Work-Based Learning.HEA. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ resource/towards-competency-framework-student-work-based-

learning

Jones, H.M. and Warnock, L.J. 2015.When a PhD is not enough. HigherEducation, Skills and Work-BasedLearning, 53, 212227.

Jones, H.M. and Warnock, L.J.2016. ‘The Mysterious Languageof Competencies: Helping your stu-dents to understand and articulate

their professional competencies.’HEA. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ resource/mysterious-language-competencies-helping-your-students-

understand-and-articulate-their

TEAMWORKING, WORKING WITH OTHERS

Undergraduate Undergraduate students gain teamworking experiencethrough various group work projects that form part of theirdegree. Those that have completed an internship, workexperience or extra-curricular activities may have furtherdeveloped these skills, understanding the importanceof clear communication and delegation and challenginginappropriate behaviours.

Master’s Master’s students develop further teamworking experienceas part of a group project, building on their undergraduateexperience. They may also have received training andfeedback relating to their performance as part of a team.Master’s students are likely to have had the opportunity tochallenge inappropriate behaviours or courses of action.

Doctorate PhD students should have extensive and well-developed team-working skills on top of their previous experience – particularlywhen part of a large research group. They should also havean awareness of their integration into their team and theirpreferred role, strengths and weaknesses. At this point intheir career, PhD students should be giving thought to howthey would be developing their own team in the future.They may also undertake training in teamworking/buildingand personality types. Many PhD students are involved with

committees and professional bodies, further exposing themto teams and their function. As part of their research, PhDstudents are likely to have to negotiate over use of resourcesand to offer or draw support to/from others. : An excerpt

from the Framework


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Work based learning is a method forengaging students with employers,developing employability through

experience of the workplace and encouraginglearning through the relection on concreteexperience. Traditionally work based learningassumes the student will be fully immersed inthe workplace.

This article will explore the @Work modelof short team focused experiences for itspotential to offer work based learning atscale within the existing curriculum. Canthis model offer an alternative to placementlearning and enable students to be conident

in their ability to understand and articulatetheir competence in transferable skills upongraduation?

What is @Work?The @Work programme, set up in 2010, offersproject based experience to teams of studentsfrom the arts, humanities and social sciences,engaging 200 students annually in around 35‘live’ projects each summer term. Each projectis designed to deliver a tangible outcome, which is valuable to the partner organisation;these include employers, charities and localgovernment, as well as offering students a

real, relevant and challenging experience.1Projects have included assembling a radio

show with the BBC about York’s war time

best practice

role2; creating an awareness raising ilmfor the Joseph Rowntree Foundation aboutdementia-friendly practice for businessesand developing a report on the future ofindependent book shops based on in-depthinterviews in the sector.

Each one is designed to link to potentialcareer paths and encourage the applicationof the wide range of transferable skills andattributes developed in the curriculum:teamwork, critical analysis, and self-motivation to name a few. Incorporatingthis project model in the curriculumcould further demonstrate to students the

interconnected nature of academic contentand the workplace.

What can students gain?Through @Work, students report higherconidence in their skills. The introduction ofthe risk associated with a live brief, offering both the potential for failure but also theoffer of success, enriches the potentiallearning experience for the student. Thisgenerates an emotional engagement withthe experience that is dificult to simulatethrough classroom based exercises. Beckett(2002) describes this as a ‘holistic approach

to learning engaging the whole person,accounting not just for intellect, but alsoemotions and values.’3

The challenge for us is ensuring thatstudents recognise the learning experience,engaging with relective practice so theycan better articulate their skills, as well astheir values and attributes, by drawing uponconcrete experience. From this perspective,embedding a project in the curriculumprovides the incentive for the student to fullyengage in relective learning.

Can projects have measurable learning

outcomes?In considering how to embed a project basedexperience in the curriculum, we can learnfrom US practice in Service learning. For

example the Homewood Centre for SocialConcern assesses the students’ preparation,relection and evaluation of the experiencerather than the activity itself.4 This could bemapped onto the current programme model with assessment at key stages.

In the current model project teams aresupported in their learning, by a seriesof skills based workshops, a project pitchevent and personal relection through theUniversity’s online Employability Tutorial.This provides an opportunity if developed inthe curriculum to assess learning in writtenrelective journals, presentation of plans andgroup discussion on the process.

Where next?The @Work model is aimed primarily at irstand second year undergraduates. Following

participation in @Work we often see studentsusing it as a stepping stone to differentprogrammes or leading their own initiatives.Could it help to build student conidenceand motivation to engage with additionalexperience or a placement year? I will explorethis further at the Learning and Teachingconference and consider if we could embedprojects with assessments, whilst retainingquality, consistency and parity.

Endnotes1 www.york.ac.uk/careers/@work

2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBYXlLOJCTI&fe

ature=youtu.be3 Beckett D. 2000 ‘Making workplace learning explicit:

An epistemology of practice for the whole person’ Westminster studies in Education 23 pp. 191206.

4 http://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/socialconcern/ community-based-learning/

The @Work Programme –embedding experienceSarah Leith , Experiential Learning, Careers, explores the potential

for embedding live community based projects in the current three

year curriculum structure.

Sarah Leith is a volunteeringproject officer based inCareers at the Universityof York. She is responsiblefor coordinating a rangeof community placementsand projects for student

volunteers, including the @Work programme

in partnership with academic departments.She also works alongside the employeevolunteering charity York Cares, engagingbusiness volunteers in community andeducation projects. [email protected]

Working with anexternal organisation

was the most importantaspect of this for me as itmade it more of a meaningfulachievement rather than justa University based project.”

NATIONAL TRUST INTERPRETATIONMATERIAL PROJECT

A fantastic experienceoverall and I feel I have

learnt a lot, while I also have a great sense of pride that I havebeen able to share my passion forhuman rights with a huge groupof children who responded with

such enthusiasm.”STORIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS

WORKSHOPS PROJECT


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n April 2015 a team of three York students, Yiran Hou (BScManagement), Yuting (Juno) Zhu

(BSc Accounting, Business Financeand Management) and Jane Fieldsend(BA History) made it all the way to theUK inals in the prestigious L’OrealBrandstorm competition, held atL’Oreal’s head ofice in London. L’Oreal’sBrandstorm student competitionrequires high levels of creativity andinnovation as students address real-life business challenges in relation to one ofL’Oreal’s global brands.

Last year, our students saw offcompetition from over 50 other teamsof students based at UK Universities to

reach the inals. The students impressedL’Oreal executives with a proposal fora new retail experience in the travelretail arena for L’Oreal’s Lancôme brandaimed at attracting new customersat major international airports usingdigital media. At the inals, the studentsexperienced a signiicant employer-engagement experience spending timeat L’Oreal’s UK head ofice, meetingsenior managers, and networking withemployees. The students presentedtheir work to a senior L’Oreal judgingpanel made up of Michel Brousset

(Managing Director UK&I), AnthonyRankin (General Manager, Luxury Alternative Brands, UK&I), CatrinRoberts (Recruitment Director, UK&I)and Mike McKenna (Creative Director,TAG Agency).

Following their success and graduationfrom York, Yiran set up her owncosmetics company in China, Juno joinedthe MSc Global Marketing at The YorkManagement School (TYMS), and Jane became a graduate placement student with L’Oreal UK. Following this success,the University of York is now an oficial

partner of L’Oreal in the Brandstormcompetition, which is now embedded into both the MSc Global Marketing and thenew BSc Marketing degrees.

The right support We see our experience in this competitionas an example of good practice in termsof the embedding of employability skillsdevelopment in programme design, a keyobjective of the University Strategy 2014-2020. Keys to the success of this employer-engagement effort were the high-levelability of the York students coupled withthe speciic support provided by TYMS tochannel that ability in the right direction.Students were given access to specialisedsenior marketing academics in the School,Dr Fernando Fastoso and Professor BobDoherty, as well as having the personalsupport of our Placement Co-ordinator,Nicola Clemmit, who accompanied the

students throughout the process as wellas to the UK Finals in London. TYMS alsoemployed a professional trainer to help thestudents to maximise their presentationskills and several staff from the Schoolattended a practice presentation and gavethe students useful feedback. Overall,our Brandstorm 2015 success was a realteam effort from TYMS which helped thestudents to achieve this high accolade.

We measure the success of thisexperience at different levels. Theexperience was successful in terms ofthe students’ personal development, as

they all proceeded to take a promisingnext step forward in their careers inthree different ways – entrepreneurship,postgraduate study, and work experiencecareer development as an employee withL’Oréal’s graduate internship programme.Further success is relected in the factthat the competition presented us asa School with a great opportunity toincrease the employability skills ofour students. Finally, the Brandstormexperience was also a success in terms ofdeveloping stronger links with industry,a key criterion for prospective students

selecting their university of choice.In the 2016 Brandstorm competition,

a total of 11 teams of York students havesubmitted their work to the irst phase of

the competition out of a total of 36 teamsUK wide. Again this year, a team of TYMSstudents from our MSc Global Marketing

programme – Juliana Akrobetu, OliviaBatty and Meg French – made it to theinals in London on 5 May and won! Weare very proud of all our students and lookforward to the competition next year.

Improving the student experience

through working with industryCASE STUDY OF THE L’OREAL BRANDSTORM COMPETITION

Dr Fernando Fastoso (Senior Lecturer inMarketing), Professor Bob Doherty (Professorof Marketing), and Nicola Clemmit (PlacementCoordinator) are based at TYMS and supportedthe students throughout the Brandstorm

competition. Juno Zhu is a graduate of TYMS,one of last year’s finalists in the Brandstormcompetition and currently studying for an MScGlobal Marketing at TYMS. Lead author emailaddress: [email protected]

best practice

Fernando Fastoso , Bob Doherty , Nicola Clemmit and Juno Zhu

from The York Management School discuss how University of York

students succeeded to the L’Oreal Brandstorm UK Finals 2015.

| Forum 11


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E veryone remembers an inspirationalteacher from their school days.I irmly believe that we should

encourage our most enthusiastic andgifted students to think seriously aboutteaching, so that they can inspire thenext generation. For the last ten years

the Department of Chemistry has giveninal year BSc students the opportunityto choose a project in ChemicalCommunication, rather than taking a

Chemical Communication projects –

inspiring the teachers of the future

SCHOOL BASED PROJECTS

Students have to spend at least ten full days in (usually) a secondaryschool. A teacher mentor organises their timetable and advises themon a day-to-day basis. The students take part in lessons delivered bya range of teachers, to get as broad an experience as possible. Whilsttheir main focus is in the science department, we encourage studentsto visit lessons in other disciplines, as so much can be gained fromobserving different approaches to teaching and learning. Studentsshould experience the full range of age groups and abilities, spend timewith pupils who have special needs and make the most of any extra-curricular opportunities, such as field trips and science clubs. Studentsadopt the role of teaching assistant, helping small groups and individualpupils. As they grow in confidence and skill, students begin to prepareparts of lessons, which they team-teach alongside the regular teacher. Inmany cases students teach entire lessons, with the usual teacher in thebackground for support.

During the first few weeks of the placement students look forpotential project areas, discussing their ideas with their teacher mentorand academic project supervisor at the University. The project shouldbe something that can be evaluated, involve a reasonably substantialamount of literature research and ideally something of lasting benefitto the school. Previous examples have included differentiated practicalscience investigations for pupils with a wide range of disabilities andspecial educational needs; supporting non-English-speaking pupils inmainstream science lessons; targeted maths interventions for A-levelchemistry students; and investigating the impact of lab practicals on the

deep learning of science theory. The experiences, observations and take-home messages from every lesson attended by the student are recordedin a structured log-book, which forms part of the placement assessment.

OUTREACH PROJECTS

A team of three students plan and run a fullday outreach event hosted in YSOC (theYork Science Outreach Centre). Each studentchooses an area of York chemistry research,spending time with members of that researchgroup to find out as much as they can aboutthe cutting edge science. They then createan hour-long session for Key Stage 3 or 4students (the project students can choosethe year group that they would like to invite).The session must include hands-on activities,contain material that is based in the NationalCurriculum but extended to show the relevanceof school science in a wider context. Groundingthe activities in York research provides anopportunity to showcase our work and supportsthe “impact” element of the REF (ResearchExcellence Framework) assessments.

The University’s Widening Participation teaminvites three school groups to take part in theOutreach event. The groups rotate around allthree activities, giving each project student theopportunity to assess and improve upon theirown performance. The students devise feedbackforms to evaluate the event. The students are

observed delivering each session by members ofacademic staff, with the observations formingpart of the assessment process.

Annie Hodgson celebrates the successes of Chemical Communication

project students and explores the far-reaching beneits of this scheme.

lab-based project. Since 2006 the schemehas evolved and undergone continuousimprovements and so far 73 students have beneitted, many of whom have become very successful teachers. It could be arguedthat those students would have pursued acareer in teaching even in the absence of

the project. However, some students whooriginally had their sights on a differentcareer enjoyed the experience so much thatthey decided to train as teachers.

School or outreach?The original programme, developed from the Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme (UAS)1,places students in schools. In 2012 we introduced a parallel scheme in which studentsorganise and run a major outreach event for visiting school groups.


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Annie Hodgson completeda PGCE at York and taughtin an 11 to 18 school beforereturning to the Universityto begin her DPhil in theDepartment of Chemistry,where she has remained ever

since. Annie teaches a Year 1 Skills module,

runs the Chemical Communication projects, isthe Schools Liaison and Outreach Officer forthe Department of Chemistry and edits the fullcolour A-level magazine ‘Chemistry Review’[email protected]

The ‘right stuf’ Whilst we are not looking for fully formedteachers to embark upon the projects, it would be unfair to set anyone up to fail.Only students who demonstrate that theyhave the potential to develop the requiredskills are accepted onto the scheme. Thereis a rigorous selection process to ind thestudents with the ‘right stuf’. Candidatesdeliver a ive-minute talk for 14-15 year

olds on a GCSE chemistry topic. They arenot allowed to use a computer, but areencouraged to use visual aids.

The presentations are delivered to apanel of school teachers and a member ofthe Chemistry Department. The studentsare asked about their experiences andtheir motivation for choosing this typeof project. They are also asked to prepareanswers to eight questions (of which they will be asked two), dealing with issuesand situations that they might encounterin a secondary school. All of the studentsreceive detailed written feedback from

each of the panel members, providingsome excellent advice for improving theirteaching skills.

These interviews take place on theirst day of term, to allow suficient timefor the necessary Disclosure and BarringService (DBS) checks to be carried out before the successful applicants start theirschool placements.

Training and supportPrior to the students beginning theirplacements they have an intensive trainingday. Additionally, to encourage them to

think carefully about using appropriate vocabulary when describing scientiicideas, they have to prepare written answersto questions that young inquisitive pupils

might ask. There are regular meetings with the academic supervisor andstudents are encouraged to form theirown support network to discuss their

ideas and experiences.

AssessmentThe projects are assessed in three parts –the school placement or outreach activity(25%), a project report (50%) and a 20minute presentation with 20 minutes ofquestions (25%), delivered at a ChemicalCommunication symposium. A schoolplacement is assessed using detailedfeedback from the teacher mentor, theproject supervisor’s observations of thestudent delivering part of a lesson (orsimilar activity), and the logbook.

Successes and legaciesThere are many success stories, withstudents gaining places on PGCE courses,having conidently discussed educationaltheory in their interviews and talked atlength about new teaching materials theyhad developed. One student so impressedher school that she was offered a teaching job for the following year. After a greatdeal of thought, she decided to go downa more conventional route and within acouple of years of completing her PGCEshe was a head of chemistry. Anotherstudent, who was applying for graduate-

entry medical courses withdrew from theprocess and decided to become a teacher,as he (unexpectedly) enjoyed being in theclassroom so much. A former ChemicalCommunication project student is nowone of our teacher mentors. He recognises what the scheme gave to him, so he isdetermined to support current and futureproject students.

Students really make a difference in theirplacement schools, leaving resources thatcan be used again and again. But their truelegacy will be the next generation of sciencestudents inspired by these enthusiastic and

engaging teachers of the future.

ENDNOTES1 http://uas.ac.uk


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best practice

MotivationMy initial ideas for designing ‘real-world’assessments were inspired by a recentMusic Technology PhD graduate whoreturned to York to talk to our studentsabout working in the audio industry. Oneof the main reasons, he thought, that hesecured a highly sought-after role as adigital signal processing engineer was because he had spent much of his free-

time on hobby programming projects, which he posted online, thus joining anever increasing online community ofsoftware programmers.

If this kind of activity is vital in helpingto secure employment in a competitiveaudio engineering industry, it seems logicalto design some assessments which involveactive and authentic learning and whichcan form part of a wider online portfolioof work that students can use to showcasetheir skills to potential employers. It alsoseemed that any assessments designedto combine active and authentic learning

would not only add validity tothe learning experience, butmight also be fun!

Background contextDesigning the MSc in Audioand Music Technology, aprogramme based in theDepartment of Electronics but which shares some taughtmodules with the MA MusicProduction programme inthe Department of Music,gave me the opportunity to

develop a number of ‘real-worldassessments’, some of whichinvolve student work spanningacross more than one module. Music

technology is an inherently interdisciplinarysubject and as such our masters students hailfrom diverse backgrounds in terms of theirprevious education. Some have engineeringor science degrees, complemented by skillsin music performance or recording. Othershave music or music technology degrees andare able to demonstrate an aptitude for thetechnical content of the programme – usuallythrough ‘hobby’ projects in electronics,

programming or ‘tinkering with technology’.In designing ‘real world’ assessments

the key was to combine active learning which would foster further innovation andcreative skills with the reinforcement ofcritical thinking and problem solving skills,expecting students to work not just on‘authentic simulations’ but to get their ‘handsdirty’ in real-world tasks.

The Real World Assessments1 MUSIC TECHNOLOGY SCHOOLSTASTER EVENT

Students designed, organised and delivered

an interactive demonstrationon a music-technology topicof their choice (eg. studioprocessing, room acoustics,levitation via ultrasound) with the aim ofinspiring and engaging the next generationof music technology and audio engineeringstudents. They were asked also to producea paragraph of marketing blurb and atweet that the Widening Participation

Team used to market the event to schools.On the day, the MSc students managed

the event, delivered the demonstrationsand answered school pupils’ questions.This component of the module wasassessed through a self-relectivereport of the work undertaken, bothindividually and as part of the team, and by an appraisal of the event itself, whichstudents were ask to evidence throughphotos, audio recordings, notes of teammeetings, team diaries, feedback fromthe schools who attended and any other

relevant means.

2 SELFPROMOTION VIDEO ANDMARKETING LEAFLET

Student Work: As part of the Autumnterm transferable skills module,student work and discussion focusseson ‘getting into the industry’, whetherthis means working freelance or asan employee. There are sessions onnetworking skills, self-promotion,entrepreneurship, marketing oftechnology and some (usually dificultand eye-opening) relection ontheir own online presence: ‘Google

yourself, see what comes up irst, isthis what you’d like your potential

employer to see?‘ Assessment: we ask students to present

Making learning

Jude Brereton discusses how to improve employability and add value

for postgraduate students, through course work assessments which exist

outside of the campus and have life beyond the programme.

‘REAL WORLD’ ASSESSMENTSFOR MASTERS LEVEL STUDY

authentic

Lesson plan produced by student group for theschool’s taster event


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their skills and competencies in an eye-catching and engaging way; more than justa CV, this piece of work could form the basis of a student’s approach to their ownfocused self-promotion.

3 ACOUSTIC SURVEY UPLOADED TOFREELY AVAILABLE RESEARCH RESOURCE

Student work: In small groups studentsare required to ind an interesting indoorspace (concert hall, church, lecture theatre)and to undertake an acoustic survey,capturing and measuring the acousticcharacteristics of the venue, using skillsthey have practiced in laboratory sessions.

Assessed via a group presentation and

a review of the completeness of the resultsuploaded to the publicly available researchresource database www.Openairlib.net

4 RESEARCH BLOG

Student work: the capstone of the MScprogramme is in individual researchprojects culminating in a writtendissertation. The summer term projectdevelopment module sees studentscompleting a traditional literature survey, but also blogging weekly about theirresearch project and its progression.Students are encouraged to make this blog

open to the general public, and to followeach others blogs and to comment on themas relevant.

Assessed via: Selection of six best blog

posts which are assessedusing a protocol which ispublished to the studentsin advance.

Embeddingemployability skills Whilst problem- based learning isgaining popularityin undergraduateEngineering courses (Clark& Andrews 2012), I really wanted these assessments not only toharness innovation and creativity, but alsoto produce work that students could keep(and develop if wanted) beyond the endof the masters programme. In particularthey were designed to couple academicsubject knowledge and understanding withtransferable and employability skills. Theaim was to bridge the gap between subjecttheory and practice, asking students tosolve real ‘real world’ problems, not merely‘authentic simulations’, thus developingpersonal and professional skills throughcombining authentic and active learning.Real world assessments can be more costlyin terms of staff contact time, additionalneed for careful guidance from staff as well as clearly articulated assessmentcriteria, marking protocols and detailedfeedback on student performance.

There is some concern that authentictasks involve higher levels of variabilitymeaning that “all performances and claimsare individual, making it expensive toachieve the minimum tolerable levels ofreliability when the assessment purpose issummative” (Knight and Yorke 2003 p103).In addition, some real world tasks thatinvolve students undertaking unsupervised work off campus will need careful riskassessment and planning. Here again is anopportunity to build in planning for risk asstudent work and learning.

The majority of the ‘real world’

assessments included in the programmefurther both degree subject knowledgeas well as more generic skills, and allincorporate directed relection andevaluation, serving to build students’ self-conidence, self-esteem and self-eficacy,the “crucial link between knowledge,understanding, skills, experience andpersonal attributes and employability”.(Dacre Pool and Sewell 2007, p19). Indeedthe initial terror shown by some students– for example in preparation for hostingthe schools event – was followed by a hugesense of pride in what they had managed

to achieve. They relected on challengesovercome through team-work and gaineda deep understanding of what they hadlearned and how much they had developed.

ConclusionReal-world authentic assessmentsencourage active learning where studentscan see the real connections between what

they learn in the lecture hall and lab andthe world of work beyond campus.The real-world assessments included in

the programme were well-received by thestudents, who engaged well with the tasksand gained not only subject knowledge, but increased their own personal eficacyand grew in conidence, given the extraimpetus that the work produced for theseassessments would also exist beyondcampus in the ‘real world’. At the end ofthe year one student commented thatthey felt they “had developed personallyand academically more this year than anyother in their life”; I do believe that activelearning and innovative assessmentsplayed a part. I encourage academiccolleagues to consider whether they couldalso include authentic learning experiencesand real-world assessments in theprogrammes they design and deliver.

REFERENCESClark, R & Andrews, J 2012, ‘Engineering the future:CDIO as a tool for combating retention difficulties’.in M Rasul (ed.), Developments in EngineeringEducation Standards: Advanced Curriculum

Innovations: advanced curriculum innovations. IGIglobal, pp. 143155.

Dacre Pool, L & Sewell, P J, 2007, ‘ The key to

employability: developing a practical model ofgraduate employability’. In Education and Training,49 4.277289.

Knight, P. & Yorke, M., 2003. Assessment, learningand employability . Society for Research into HigherEducation, Maidenhead.

Jude Brereton is a LecturerT&S in Audio and MusicTechnology and programmeleader for the new MSc inAudio and Music Technology.She is also Chair of thedepartment’s Equality

and Diversity committee and is dedicated

to encouraging diverse engagement inengineering, especially in inspiring increasedparticipation by female students, throughworking towards a fully inclusive engineeringcurriculum. [email protected]

Screenshot of Self-promotion marketing lealet

Acoustic Survey uploaded to publicly availableresearch resource

Example of student research blog


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Apps everywhereThere is a wonderful pair of pictures (NBC,2013) that sums up how much society hasrecently adopted portable computing devices by comparing the same public place in 2005and 2013. So what caused this change?

The public’s response to the iPhone’sintroduction in 2007 is widely seen as theturning point in the adoption of smart-phones. When Apple introduced the AppStore in 2008 the software industry wastransformed, as users instantly downloadedfree or cheap ‘apps’. By daring to open uptheir development kit and programmingenvironment to anyone, Apple effectively

launched a new industry sector. Their 2009slogan “There’s an App for that” showedthat these little software packages werenot limited to utilities or games, but had become essential marketing tools for allindustries. A new breed of programmers,often individuals or very small companies,emerged to provide rapid app developmentfor everyone who wanted one.

iOS modules and audioIn 2011 we decided to introduce ourstudents to iOS programming skills, but using the niche application area of

interactive musical and audio processing.Students learn the basics of coding, quicklydevelop their own apps on iPhones andiPads, then work towards creating their ownmusical instruments or sound processingapps. We teach 3 modules; one for 3rd year BSc students, one for 4th year MEngstudents and another for our MSc in Audioand Music Technology (MSc AMT). Theyshare the same core lectures, but haveindividual computer practical labs and thenassignments at the appropriate level.

There is a good deal of material online(from Apple and third parties) for learning

iOS, and we give a reading and video list tothe students several months ahead of themodule, so they can gain familiarity withthe concepts and be more prepared to start

DEVELOPING SKILLS FOR INDUSTRY

Andy Hunt obtained Rapid Response Funding to

create new audio app development material forhelping graduates with marketable programming

skills. This article relects on how graduates not

only learn, but shape and contribute to programmes.

conidently in the irst computer labs. Audiogeneration or musical control is not covered well in the online material, and that has become the main focus of our modules. Inthis way we utilise external resources, but bring our own in-house expertise to offer aunique selling point for our modules.

For the irst two years the modulesran well, but we were limited to twoprogramming resources for audio; 1)

AVAudioPlayer (Apple, 2014a), which is asimple – but limited – way of triggeringpre-recorded sounds, and 2) CoreAudio(Apple, 2014b), a complex low-level codingenvironment, ultimately more lexible but

extremely challenging to cover in a shortmodule.

Graduate innovatorsNick Arner is a graduate from our MSc by Research in Music Technology, with ainal project in iOS audio user interfacing.On leaving York he co-founded AudioKit(2016), which has become the missing linkin our programming resources. AudioKitallows users to work with sound playbackand synthesis and thus bridges the gap between AVAudioPlayer and CoreAudio. It isa continually developing resource that is

gaining international acceptance and praise.Nick is now a professional app developer andis working with Google.

Graduate developers Whilst AudioKit offered tremendouslexibility, it was still daunting for thosenew to programming. That’s where theRRF funding came in. This allowed us toemploy another recent graduate (of our four year MEng in Electronic Engineering withMusic Technology Systems programme).Sam Beedell worked with us on producinga guided set of tutorials for AudioKit that

formed the basis of the labs that we ran forthe irst time this year. Sam’s tutorials have been well received by the latest studentcohorts, and the experience has also been

of direct use to Sam. As well as offeringhim some immediate post-graduationemployment, this has enabled Sam to workfreelance on app development, and he isalready working with several clients and becoming known for the quality of hisaudio app work.

SummaryThis has been a relection on involvinggraduates in state-of-the-art softwaredevelopment and teaching:

n How we can help graduates from diverse backgrounds to become programmers.

n

How one graduate went on to changethe industry by developing a newprogramming kit.

n How another graduate helped us developthat kit for use in our teaching labs.

n How all of these graduates have beneitted in their careers by thisprocess.

REFERENCES(Apple, 2014a) AVAudioPlayer: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/AVFoundation/

Reference/AVAudioPlayerClassReference/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40008067

(Apple, 2014b) CoreAudio: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/MusicAudio/

Conceptual/CoreAudioOverview/Introduction/ Introduction.html

(AudioKit, 2016 http://audiokit.io

NBC, 2013 http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/14/17312316-witnessing-papal-history-changes-with-digital-age

for Appsgraduates

Professor Andy Hunt isDeputy Head of Department(Teaching) in Electronics,and is a Senior Fellow ofthe HEA. He has taught anddeveloped Music Technologyand interactive computing

courses at York since 1988. He is author of“Managing Your Project”, a guide for all finalyear students and supervisors, available fromKindle Direct Publishing: amazon.co.uk/dp/ B0164RXKLI. [email protected]


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| Forum 17

The Biotechnology and BiologicalSciences Research Council(BBSRC) recently introduced three

month Professional Internships for PhDStudents (PIPS) as part of their four year PhD programmes. The aspiration ofthe internship is to give students non-

academic work experience opportunities(currently only 14% of PhD studentspursue academic careers), enablingstudents to explore the context of theirresearch, investigate the range of careeropportunities open to them followinggraduation and to demonstrate how theirresearch and professional skills canmake a positive contribution to scienceand society outside of academia. In acompetitive job market this vital workexperience allows our students to graduate with a breadth of professional skills, givingthem an extra edge.

Twelve Biology students have currentlyundertaken internships in a variety ofsettings ranging from museums, charities,hospitals and research institutes toinvestment banking. The internships takeplace in the third year of the PhD, and inaddition to the valuable work experience, we have seen that the 3-month respite fromtheir PhD research allows our studentsto return to their studies with increasedconidence and different perspectives ontheir work. A number of students have alsosecured employment with their PIPS hostsafter completing their PhDs.

Student led internships Although we have set up many internships by approaching host organisations,students choose the type of internshipthey undertake. The internships providea stipend which allows students toundertake placements across the country,in a variety of settings, with hosts suchas charities and local councils whichpreviously may have been unable to offerinternships due to the expense. Althoughthey can involve performing research,the internship must not be linked to

the student’s PhD research area, andmany have really pushed the boundariesand opted for placements that are notacademically linked.

PIPped AT THE POST

Dr Amanda Barnes and Dr Lorna Warnock from the Employability

Team in the Department of Biology share the beneits of undertaking

an internship during a PhD.

Dr Lorna Warnock isScientist turned EmployabilityManager for the Departmentof Biology and works withindustry, research institutesand other universities tosecure new jobs, placements

and internship opportunities for bothundergraduate and postgraduate students, post

docs and research staff. Lorna also teacheson the Postgraduate Research Skills TrainingProgram and delivers Professional DevelopmentTraining throughout the Department. Lorna ispassionate about professional development andintegrating work based learning [email protected]

Dr Amanda Barnes worksas Employability Officer forthe Department of Biology,alongside her role as anETERM Research Fellow inthe Cell Biology Laboratories.Amanda provides training

and guidance in applications and interviewsto both undergraduate and postgraduate

students, in addition to running regular eventsfor researchers in the department, showcasingthe variety of the potential career routes opento those with a background in [email protected]

best practice

Professional internships for PhD students

A student perspectiveKeir Bailey, a White Rose BBSRC Doctoraltraining partnership PhD student spenther three month internship in Widnes ata branch of Croda, a speciality chemicalmanufacturing company. ‘I joined theBiotechnology Research and Development

team that work on products derived fromthe fermentation process. Croda had beencarrying out a speciic process in which the yields were variable for almost ten years.My project aimed to scale down the plantprocess such that it could be carried out inthe lab to investigate different variables ofthe fermentation’.

‘Whilst on my internships I enjoyed working with a kind, friendly andsupportive team, and the challenge oflearning to use new lab equipment, suchas 5L fermenters. The PIPS enabled me tofurther develop my problem solving and

time management skills in an industrialsetting, provided a welcome break frommy PhD research and a great insight intoindustry helping me form clearer views onmy future career’.

Philippa Furnival, Keir’s supervisor atCroda, comments: ‘It is a great opportunityfor both Keir and Croda to complete a threemonth placement. For Keir, it provides her with the chance to get a taste of workingin the chemical industry/industrial biotechnology. It is rewarding to see howfar Keir has come in the last few months interms of progressing her project and itting

comfortably into the team. For Croda, itallows us to work on smaller, shorter termprojects that we often don’t always havetime to address fully. Croda also gets a freshpair of eyes, knowledge and contacts to bring into the business.’

The PIPS initiative will enable studentsto take greater responsibility for theircareer choices and employment, and alsostrengthen the relationship between theUniversity of York and Industry. Otherresearch councils are now also introducinginternships into their PhD trainingprogrammes to prevent their students from

being PIPed at the post.The authors would like to thank Philippa

Furnival and Croda for hosting Keir, andour other internship providers.

Keir Bailey at the Croda Widnes Plant

REFERENCESJones, H.M. and Warnock, L.J. 2015,”When a PhDis not enough”, Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 5 3, 212227.


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18 Forum |

best practice

Do the beneits of blogging

outweigh the risks?The literature on blogging and studentlearning is still in its infancy, andcurrently most often takes the formof individual case studies that explore what did or did not work for individualpractitioners. Although there seems to be a general consensus that bringinglearning technology and social mediainto teaching practice is worthwhile,many of these studies are characterised by the language of fear and risk. Onesuch study by Yakaboski (2011), whichlooks at introducing blogging into

feminist teaching, mentions the beneitsof collaborative learning but mediatesthis with consideration of the risk of judgement and fears around putting work in such a public space. Macduff(2009), in an article on using blogs as ateaching tool in negotiation, concludes

with an overwhelmingly negative focus,identifying six risks around blogging:miscommunication, enclave formation, becoming too technology-driven, theneed for a certain level of comfort withtechnology, student reticence and theamount of time sunk into the activity by

both educators and students. While thereare, of course, always going to be risksassociated with this kind of public-facingteaching practice, it is striking that many

blogging case studies conclude with a warning about the risks rather than acelebration of the beneits and successes brought about by blogging.

One of the key risks identiied byMacduff (2009) centres on teaching becoming too driven by technology:as such he views blogging as a time-consuming practice that can in factinhibit dialogue and encouragemiscommunication rather than supportstudents. These fears ly in the face of what we know about good teachingpractice. Barnett (2007) argues thatstudents must venture into “anxiety-provoking places” as part of higher

education (p.147). Additionally, research by Jonassen (1996) and Dede and Kremer(1999), has shown that the kinds ofactivities that make the most of onlinelearning methods (like blogging) and

Blogg Emily Bowles discussesthe risks and beneits ofincorporating blogging intoour teaching.

in humanitiesteaching

IntroductionBlogging and social media areincreasingly part of the landscapeof Higher Education, from proile building for postgraduates andacademics to the role they can playin developing graduate skills andsupporting student learning. Theskills that can be fostered through blogging and social media, from

digital marketing to tailoring contentfor different audiences and levels, can be built into modules in a way thatreinforces existing learning outcomesand subject-speciic skills. It can alsoextend learning within modules byincorporating careers development.This adds value for Humanitiesstudents by preparing them forsome of the most common areas ofgraduate employment.

use them as a complementary teachingenvironment can assist students indeveloping a different set of skills andsupport those students who are lessconident in the seminar format, enablingthem to express themselves in new

ways. Blogging also acts well as a lippedlearning model, encouraging students tolead the discussion based on the researchthey have conducted – and that the otherstudents have read – beforehand. Whileinevitably it takes some time to set upa blog, students can be encouraged totake ownership of the platform and postcontent themselves rather than submitting work directly to the tutor, minimising the

time the educator has to spend managingthe site once it is established. One of thegreat beneits of creating blogs is that theycan be added to year on year, increasingthe value for new cohorts of students.


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| Forum 19

best practice

Using blogging to support studentlearning and developmentThe introduction of blogging does nothave to lead to the complete redesignof modules and degree programmes.

Although it has been successfullyincorporated into the ‘Skills, Knowledgeand Independent Learning’ module in the

York Computer Science Department, andother universities including Liverpool JohnMoores run social media skills modulesas an option in the English Department,it can simply be used to support existingmodule outcomes and incorporatedas formative assessment. This worksparticularly well in the Humanities,

where blogging can complement theskills students are developing as part oftheir degree. For example, blogging can be used as a way of measuring students’understanding of threshold concepts(which can be measured by assigning eachstudent a key term to write a post about);

as an exercise in independent research, where each student is asked to ind anacademic article or pri

Value Added Graduates: UoY Forum 40, Summer 2016

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