* Employer Engagement Toolkit: workflows, protocols and risk assessment *,
06 [b] Employer Engagement and the Undergraduate Curriculum
Case study of Employer Engagement work linked to a STEM Subject
The STEM Employer Engagement Toolkit includes a series of case studies of HE STEM focused collaborations including
employers and universities and/or colleges. The aim being to showcase activity that could be emulated or inspire new
research focused employer engagement activity.
Short Descriptor of the STEM focused Employer Engagement activity
This project involved the creation of a professional Web Site for a local Art Gallery by a group of five Foundation
Degree Computing Degree students. The Project Management framework used by the students, the Agile/Scrum
Project Management framework, is used extensively in many of the largest Computing companies e.g. Google,
Microsoft, and IBM. It is in the process of becoming a part of the mainstream (various figures exist: roughly 54% of
Computing and IT Companies now use the framework) and is considered current industry ‘best practice’.
Academic influences upon this framework include Lave and Wenger’s Situated Learning, Argyris’ Double Loop Learning,
Senge’s argument for the Learning Organisation, and Nonaka’s research into the importance of the Learning Space
and of the management of tacit knowledge i.e. it is based on reflection, and on the construction and management of
knowledge.
How did the activity originate and how has it developed?
As the Programme Manager for the FdSc Computing course I was approached by the Red Earth Art Gallery at Bickleigh
in Devon. The owner of the Gallery had heard, through ‘word of mouth’, that Foundation Degree students were
encouraged to work with local businesses. He explained the requirements of the project and asked if the construction
of a site was a possibility. I explained to different groups of students that this project would provide them with an
excellent opportunity to become involved in a real world project that would, in turn, provide them with valuable
experience. The group of students who decided
to accept the project study Part Time and only
attend formal lessons at the College for one
day a week - they travel to the College from
various parts of Devon: one from Sidmouth,
one from Ilfracombe, one from Hartland, one
from Barnstaple, and one from Bideford.
During timetabled sessions these students
worked on the project for 3 hours per week.
(the project began in October 2011 and was
completed in May 2012). The initial design (Fig
1) was forwarded from the Red Earth Gallery in
October. The students began the project full of
enthusiasm - what was interesting was that this
enthusiasm did not wane.
Fig 1 – Initial design forwarded by the
Employer
One of the most interesting developments during the lifetime of the project was the students’ use of ‘the Cloud’ to
work outside of the confines of the timetable and of the classroom. The online tools Google Groups and SkyDrive were
used extensively to facilitate group communication and to support the sharing of research information. These
students needed no encouragement to use these online collaborative tools and viewed the use of them as the obvious
path to take. Noticeable during the project was the impetus and the desire to complete the project to a high standard,
and to complete ‘on time’. The site now meets most of the requirements asked for. Some of the students are
investigating the possibility of forming a small Web Company to continue to develop the site.
Key contribution from the employer/s
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* Employer Engagement Toolkit: workflows, protocols and risk assessment *,
The Project Management framework used by the students encourages the use of small self-organizing teams of 5 to 7
people and also places an emphasis on the importance of extensive employer interaction. Regular meetings were
arranged, by the students, at intervals of four to six weeks. During these meetings the students demonstrated the
progress of the project and encouraged the employer both to provide feedback and to suggest improvements to the
original requirements specification. The final demonstration of the working software to the employer took place in
May. Below is one example of the extensive email communication between the team member whose job it was to
interact with the customer, and the customer:
Hi Jon
I prefer the single line (your 2nd example), but we will look and see how it looks once the images have been loaded.
What I did notice – when click on the thumbnail and it expands on the new page, it appears to be sitting low on the
screen and I have to scroll down to read the information. Would it be possible to have the image sitting a little higher
on the page. I appreciate that if some images are longer you will need to scroll down, but the images that are
currently on i.e. Alicia Merrett’s work the images are quite square. If this will cause a problem, what do you think
about putting the title at the top of the image?
Thanks
Julia
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------From: Jon Ward; Sent: 03 April 2012 17:48; To: steve.paramor
Cc: Julia Paramor; foundationdegreecomputing@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: Changes and File names
Hi Steve,
A couple more questions if I may..
Should images be sorted by Artist? We can sort by full name i.e. first name/last name, by last name, by name
then title – we could even sort so that the images are categorised by medium as long as medium were always supplied.
Could you look at the examples below and tell us how you prefer the tooltip to be formatted?
Regards
Jon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From: foundationdegreecomputing@googlegroups.com [mailto:foundationdegreecomputing@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of steve paramour; Sent: 03 April 2012 09:09; To: Jon Ward; Julia Paramor; Cc:
foundationdegreecomputing@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: Changes and File names; Importance: High
Hi Jon
Your points
1) The text on the bulletin is fine, though the red text above should be removed as the submissions are now closed,
Julia can suggest some wording to go in here for the next event. Title of the exhibition is fine.
2) The lightbox looks very good, when you open the exhibition page it would be better if you see only one thumbnail
from each artist with their name, this then links through to the lightbox with all of their images or to there artist page
where all of the thumbnails of that artist will be displayed. As there are 30 odd artists for this exhibition with between
3 and 5 images each the page would get far too big otherwise. I notice that some images in the lightbox have forward
and some have back buttons, can they all have forward and back as for most people this is an easier way to navigate?
We do not want to show the price. We may want to at some time in the future when we have the capacity to sell of the
site
3) Sorry about the file names that is now sorted and I will be uploading some images as soon as Julia forwards them to
me together with an amended spreadsheet with the new filenames, I hope by this evening.
4) Thanks for the notes on file sizes in your previous email we now understand this and Julia will resize them
accordingly.
One other point, on my screen in Devon the main centre image that rotates sits exactly where it should on the screen,
on my screen in London a normal 19inch monitor(1280x1024) the image is kicked down below and I have to scroll right
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* Employer Engagement Toolkit: workflows, protocols and risk assessment *,
down to see it, as with the exhibition page. It needs to display in its correct position please as a lot of people will use
these older style square monitors.
Steve
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From: Jon Ward [mailto:jonw4rd@gmail.com]; Sent: 02 April 2012 22:00; To: steve paramor; Julia Paramor
Cc: foundationdegreecomputing@googlegroups.com
Subject: Changes and File names
Hi Again Steve,
We have been making a few changes. Can you confirm you are happy with the text that has been entered on the
bulletin ahead of the exhibition?
- You will see under the Exhibition link we have changed the text to read “Spring 2012 Exhibition” instead of just
“Spring 2012” as it previously read.
- Are you happy that the light show only showing the medium, dimensions and price?
- We propose removing “artist_name” from thumbnail view so it only displays the title.
- The lightshow display to include title | artist | dimensions | price (shown as TBA – without any true pricing info)
Finally a couple more things that have cropped up;
File names need to be consistent. Some of the images that we received. A mix of hypans and underscores seem
to have been used. They need to be as follows: my_file_name
Could you avoid putting _copy in the file names – I noticed a few images that had this in the name.
The file extensions must also be consistent. Not a mix of .jpeg and .jpg – please try and stick to jpg.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Jon
Key impact/s for STEM research and development
This project raised some interesting questions: Is there a ‘correct way’ to manage the ‘space’ between current
industrial practice and formal education practice? Does the apparent mismatch between Industry and Education exist
because of the natural evolution of each of these separate sectors? How do we define the management of knowledge
within each of these sectors? Is it correct to view Industry, with its greater emphasis on the use of existing knowledge,
and Education, with its emphasis on the transfer of knowledge, as separate entities? What is the best way to manage
knowledge for the benefit of both sectors, and for the next generation of the workforce? Are Industry and Education
two disparate groups – do they have to be?
Key impact/s for staff development
There is a need for Lecturers to be given the space and time to continuously update their skills, and to interact
frequently with industry. In this case the project methodology had to be explained firstly to the students and then to
the employer. This could not have happened if the Lecturer had not been provided with funding (in this case by Help
CETL at Plymouth University) and had become knowledgeable about the current Project Management methodology
used in industry.
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* Employer Engagement Toolkit: workflows, protocols and risk assessment *,
Key impact/s for the student experience
What became noticeable during this project was that the use of this project management methodology with its
emphasis on working in a self-organising small team, on the development of good communication skills, and on the
necessity to get things done, enthused the students, and that the combination of theory and real world practice
increased the learning taking
place.
"working with a real world
project gave us the opportunity
to practice our professional
skills and use the new skills we
have learnt from our
foundation degree course"
Michelle Westlake
Fig 2 Google Groups - Part time
FdSc Computing.
“I’m a part time student who travels sixty miles each Wednesday to attend lectures in Barnstaple. I therefore only
meet the other members of my group once a week, I have found it has been essential to use tools such as Google
groups and SkyDrive which allow us to collaborate and continue working during the week outside of college.
The use of Google Groups
has allowed us to help
each other learn new
things from home. Team
members have helped
each other learn new
skills from home such as
the use of PHP and CSS.
SkyDrive is a cloud based
file sharing tool it has
helped us centralize
Fig 3: SkyDrive - Part Time FdSc Computing.
shared documentation for our group project so we can all have access to them where ever we are (at home college or
on the road from smart phones). It has also meant we have a place to store our sprint burn down charts so at any time
during the project members of the team can check for themselves how well we are performing and if we will meet our
targets.”
Jon Ward
Key lessons learnt and or transferable practice
Students habitually expect traditional modes of educational practice and need to be encouraged to discover and
accept new ways of learning.
Lecturers need to constantly develop their skills, especially in the use of new technologies.
The pace of change in industry (especially in technology companies) seems to be continuously increasing.
Lecturers need constant interaction with industry and need to develop an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses
of current practice.
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* Employer Engagement Toolkit: workflows, protocols and risk assessment *,
Lecturers need to be aware of the importance of finding the correct balance between ‘academic rigour’ and work
based practice. In this case the industry practice taught and used was the Agile/Scrum Project Management
methodology; students were given an opportunity to work and learn as actual employees. Different disciplines have
their own examples of ‘best practice’.
Useful references and links
 Senge P (2006) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation, Random House
 Takeuchi H and Nonaka I (1995) The Knowledge Creating Company, Oxford University Press.
 Lave J & Wenger E (1991) Situated Learning, Cambridge University Press.
 Healey, M. and Jenkins, A. (2009) Developing Undergraduate Research and Enquiry York: Higher Education
Academy.
 http://www.scrumalliance.org

martin.rowe@petroc.ac.uk
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