Paper No: WGPDP/13/6
In your role as placement tutor do they think that PDP supports placement?
(PDP is not to be confused with the online PACE system which supports the PDP process)
If yes … can you give an example of how it is supported
If no …can you provide an example of how you would like PDP to support placement.
The following Schools/ Faculties responded to the request:
Faculty of Computing and Engineering: Schools of Engineering, Computing and Intelligence Systems,
Computing & Information Engineering
Faculty of Arts: Languages and Cultures, Creative Arts
Faculty of Art, Design & Built Environment: School of Built Environment, Art & Design
Faculty of Social Sciences: School of Communication, Sociology and Applied Social Studies
Faculty of Life and Health Sciences: School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Biomedical
Sciences, Ulster Sports Academy
Ulster Business School: School of Accounting, Finance and Economics,
Themes Emerging:
There is still confusion between personal development planning (PDP) the process and the online
system PACE, and this system is sometimes still referred to as PDS. There is also a perception that
there are too many systems available which adds to this confusion.
Managed placements in professional environments such as those provided by Social Work or
Pharmacy students engagement with PDP is well supported and demonstrates how the student has
progressed as a result of their reflective activities. Other placements such as those provided for
students in disciplines such as Engineering, Modern Languages, Computing, Music and Sports, it was
also felt that PDP processes support placement as they engage their students in various activities to
support reflective practice.
Typical activities that students are engaged in – mock interviews, CV preparation, Identifying skills,
modules on preparation for placement, reflective portfolios and tutorials with staff. Some Schools
don’t refer to PDP explicitly but do engage in PDP activities (e.g., Communication).
Support requested:
Development of online portfolio
Seminar on PDP
Greater knowledge/training of pdp resources for staff and students
It has been suggested that PDP should be more prominently displayed on the Portal.
Individual Responses from Schools are detailed below:
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Individual responses from Schools:
Faculty of Computing and Engineering:
Engineering (well supported process through employability and placement preparation modules)
1. The ability of any student engineer to achieve a good Industrial Placement depends on their
knowledge of the marketplace, of themselves and of the pathway to success. Their realisation of
these components is at the heart of their Personal Development Planning.
2. To facilitate and encourage (even require) this process starts at induction in Year 1, they are
advised to see their progress in study as leading to summer internship, placement and a satisfying
career.
3. Within Year 1 module MEC101, Professional Studies, student engineers are required as part of an
assignment to engage with several features of PACE which help them identify their skills which an
employer will require.
4. In Year 2 (pre-placement) student engineers are prepared for seeking, acquiring and conducting
their Industrial Placement through a preparation programme.
5. Their PDP is embedded within modules in Year 1 and 2 and encourages them to take
responsibility for it as the rewards of a good Industrial Placement are worth having; this is their
incentive.
Computing and Intelligence Systems: (Well supported process – employability, placement
preparation modules)
In year 1 our students are registered for PDP104 and PDP105. These modules are delivered by CDC staff
(Moira McCarthy) and are used to help students prepare their CV for year 2 placement applications.
In year 2 placement preparation is carried out as part of COM417 Professional Issues. This module is
shared between staff from the school and CDC (Moira McCarthy). CDC also conduct mock interview
practice in semester 2.
Having PDP modules explicitly supporting placement is beneficial in areas such as CV preparation,
developing work skills and in particular interview skills etc.
Computing & Information Engineering: (employability, placement prep modules)
First year students at Coleraine take a PPD104 which helps with CV prep - this is delivered by Sean G
of careers. Second year students at Coleraine take PPD120 for placement preparation. This is
delivered mostly by staff within School of CIE but Sean G of Careers helps with mock interviews.
Faculty of Life and Health Sciences:
Social Work: (well supported process via tutorial, reflective logs)
The PDP system underpins the placement process within the social work programme. Students have
an initial tutorial which facilitates the completion of placement documentation required for the
placement allocation process. This also includes the discussion of any individual circumstances
under DDA legislation that needs to be taken into consideration at the point of placement allocation.
Following the allocation of their placement, students have a follow up tutorial to complete an
individual learning plan with their tutor. This provides an overview of the students previous
professional experience and educational qualifications. The student identifies the knowledge, skills
and values that they have pre placement and those that they wish to develop during the placement.
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This forms a discussion point during the first placement meeting between the tutor, student and
practice teacher. The student and the practice teacher use it as a working document throughout the
placement.
During the placement the students come back into university for what we call "recall days" and are
provided with individual/ group tutorials to discuss the assessment requirements on placement and
their progress to date.
A mid-point meeting takes place half way through the placement between the tutor, student and
practice teacher and the individual learning plan is reviewed as part of the meeting.
In second year the tutorial process is repeated but links are made in tutorials between the first
practice teachers report on the students first placement in terms of the students future
development needs. These are then fed into the updated individual learning plan for the final
placement.
Pharmacy: (Well supported process – reflective journals, tutorials, preparation modules)
MPharm students’ hospital placements.
We don’t explicitly link with students PDPs. We do ask students to do reflective records on their
interactions with patients and healthcare professionals, with a focus on improving their
communication skills.
Community pharmacy placements on the MPharm. I do think PDP supports placement and in
pharmacy we refer to PDP as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) which is a professional
and ethical requirement for registration as a pharmacist. MPharm students are encouraged to
become reflective learners rather than surface learning for the purposes of assessment
by introducing students to the concept of CPD through the means of maintaining a reflective
portfolio adapted to each individual students developmental needs.
The portfolio is mainly used on community and hospital placement where the student is encouraged
to reflect and record on how a piece of learning builds on their previous learning, how it is relevant
to the student’s future role as a pharmacist and where possible its implications for the safe care of
patients. It is currently in paper format in a ring bound folder.
An introduction to the requirement and importance of CPD is provided in PHA102 PHARMACY
PRACTICE 1, and further developed throughout the pharmacy practice modules. In PHA102
Pharmacy Practice 1, and PHA 306 Pharmacy Practice 2. Students will complete CPD cycles which
are submitted as coursework, in addition to being presented orally to their peers. The cycle is
assessed summatively by academic staff against the criteria applied by the Pharmaceutical Society of
Northern Ireland.
Students have engaged well with the process and feedback has been positive. It has been heartening
to see some examples where students have commented on how useful the reflective activities have
been in helping them gain a better understanding of topics that they previously found quite difficult.
Biomedical Sciences: (engagement in employability modules)
The input of Mr. Norman Hagan in the Careers office at Coleraine is very much appreciated in
delivery of the PDP programme and supporting my role as a Placement Tutor. In particular his input
into the production of appropriate cover letters, CV’s and attendance at mock interviews for
students planning for placement is very important. He also covers other areas relating to interview
preparations.
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Sports: (well supported process - (engagement in employability modules)
In our ‘preparation for placement and employment module’ (optional) all 2nd year students have the
opportunity to complete the CPPD module PPD104 ‘Developing Skills For Work’. The assessment of
this PPD module is a mock interview with the Careers Centre, myself as placement coordinator and
possibly some employers (still TBC). I wanted to include the opportunity to complete this module
within this optional module to give all second years the opportunity to enhance their employability
and give them a chance to get formative feedback on their interviewing skills.
Faculty of Arts:
Modern Languages (well supported process via reflective logs)
PDP is a fundamental part of the placement year abroad. Students complete monthly reflective logs
and these are submitted to a course area on BlackBoard Learn (LAN301 and LAN302). Information
provided in the monthly logs is reviewed by placement tutors in my School to determine progress
with the process of language learning. The information that students provide in their logs can also
serve as useful early-warning system if students are experiencing adaption issues during their
placement year.
Music: (well supported process – use reflective journal)
We use the journal facility on PACE in Music placements: the students are assessed on the depth and
quality of reflection represented in it.
Faculty of Social Sciences:
Communication: (don’t refer to PDP but do engage in PDP activities)
In theory, yes, but in our School, not really. We don’t tend to explicitly refer to personal
development planning. However, we do various things that help our students who are going out on
placement, but we don’t necessarily refer to them as PDP. We avail of Careers modules that
contribute to EDGE. There is a lot of emphasis on problem solving, teamwork, reflection,
communication skills etc. in our modules. There are quite a lot of opportunities for our students to
engage in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
Ulster Business School:
Economics: (PDP encouraged through reflective diaries)
PDP probably supports our placement in an opaque rather than an explicit way.
I suspect that ordinarily students don’t really engage in PDP because they don’t see the way it
relates to their programme of study and staff buy-in is also very problematic.
So, we have snuck it onto them if they do placement by having a reflective diary which (from this
year onwards when responsibility shifted to Elaine Courtney, myself and Gillian McCallion) has very
explicit advice in what we want to see – we looked at other peoples from UU and elsewhere and
adapted what we saw to our needs and aspirations.
Therefore we emphasise that:
•Reflection is an exploration and an explanation of events – not just a description of them.
•Genuinely reflective writing often involves ‘revealing’ anxieties, errors and weaknesses, as well as
strengths and successes. This is fine (in fact it’s often essential!), as long as you show some
understanding of possible causes, and explain how you plan to improve.
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•It is normally necessary to select just the most significant parts of the event or idea on which you’re
reflecting. If you try to ‘tell the whole story’ you’re likely to use up your words on description rather
than interpretation.
•It is often useful to ‘reflect forward’ to the future as well as ‘reflecting back’ on the past.
to try to get them to develop as individuals and add value to them both socially and in terms of
employability.
Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Strategy (PDP encouraged through reflective reports)
The answer is “yes”. The whole concept of PDP underpins the ‘Marketing Me’ module on year two
the BSc (Hons) Marketing degree and informs the assessment for the module, which is a skills audit
based on self-review and reflection which provides the basis for identifying future areas for skills
development and self-improvement.
I think the UBS placement year assessment process certainly supports PDP, students are required to
set objectives, review progress throughout the year. At the end of the year they also have to
consider how their placement experiences will shape their future career plan. Further, some
students choose to complete a reflective report rather than a project which will include a more in
depth review of skills and how they evidenced/developed skills during the placement period.
The process that support this in UUJ is paper based and hopefully colleagues in Magee and Coleraine
will be able to confirm if they use PACE during the placement year.
Accounting (there is some confusion about PDP boundaries and the different information sources)
The answer is yes in that Seamus McConomy is very good at answering any questions I have
regarding placement but I feel that there is a lack of knowledge on my part on who deals with whatthere is a bit of confusion of where the boundaries are. I think students are also confused by the
many different avenues to information.
Faculty of Art, Design and the Built Environment:
Quantity Surveying (issues with number of online systems though there is engagement in PDP)
I’m all for supporting students in obtaining employment and highlighting their employability (soft +
hard) skills, but the number of interfaces we are expected to be proficient in is too broad. The
university needs to streamline the number of initiatives down to something much more
manageable. I’m involved in the group that is developing the new on-line placement support
package for placements and Rob has demonstrated that the existing system do facilitate most of our
needs, but there are too many of them, so we end up using spreadsheets etc. to do it ourselves.
We provide our students with PDP based upon our professional body’s membership route /
requirements. I haven’t used the PDP system yet.
Textile and Fashion Design: (lack of understanding re. PDP, though I think there is confusion here
with the online system)
Chatted to my placement hopefuls this afternoon (about 15 students) and they did not believe that
PDP supported placement. This seemed to be more to do with their lack of understanding of PDP
and engagement in the PDP process. They felt that a small focused seminar demonstrating PDP may
be useful.
Support requested:
Community pharmacy placements on the MPharm: request for development of online portfolio
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I would be keen to move this reflective portfolio to an online version that I am sure is being used in
other courses such as nutrition and would be grateful for any support that the PDP group could
provide me with in doing so.
Biomedical Sciences: request for support in introducing CV prep for 1st year
I am not sure if it is possible but one aspect which might be worth considering is introducing some of
the key aspects like CV preparation for year 1 students.
This would enable year 2 students to hit the track running when they come back in September. At
this stage placement opportunities are already starting to appear and sometimes students may be ill
prepared in my experience.
Communication: request for knowledge on resources
I would welcome a greater understanding of PDP resources that lecturers can avail of and a greater
awareness of what students can avail of.
Music: request for training and knowledge on resources
We use the journal facility on PACE what might be useful preparation for that is a session provided
centrally, by PDP experts, on techniques and resources for that kind of reflective process.
Quantity Surveying: request for PACE training
I’d like the PDP system (or preferably a BBL module that would do the same thing – hosted within
the SUR318 QS Placement module) to log the competencies expected of a chartered Quantity
Surveyor and allow the students to start populating it with examples of the work they are doing to
demonstrate to employers that they are developing these competencies + CV + anything else you
would find helpful to the student employability.
Textile and Fashion Design: request for demonstrating PACE
Chatted to my placement hopefuls this afternoon (about 15 students) and they felt that a small
focused seminar demonstrating PDP may be useful.
Economics:
I think some top-down push (e.g. on the Staff portal, PDP and Edge are tucked in a box on the far
right hand side of the screen and I can’t see PDP unless I scroll down - if it were moved somewhere
else it might register more at least subliminally with staff which is the key to get it promoted to
students).
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