Student documentation for Placements

PLACEMENT ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTATION

STUDENT’S GUIDE 2011 Student’s Name:

____________________________________________

Placement Employer: ____________________________________________ Placement Supervisor: ____________________________________________ Placement Tutor:

____________________________________________

Placement Start Date: ____________________________________________ Course:

BA/BA BA/BA BA/BA BA/BA

(HONS) (HONS) (HONS) (HONS)

Communication with PR Publishing with Journalism Journalism Media Studies

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PLACEMENT REGISTRATION FORM 2011

Please complete the information required on these two pages as soon as you commence your placement. Retain a copy for submission with your learning contract but return the originals to the Placement Office promptly.

James Robertson, Placement Manager

Course: Name of student: Name of placement organisation: Address of organisation:

Student’s Placement Tel No.: Student’s Placement Email: Student’s Job Title: Placement Supervisor: Placement Supervisor’s Job Title: Placement Supervisor’s Tel No.: Placement Supervisor’s Email: Placement Start Date: Placement End Date: Student Signature:

Date: Placement Office, Aberdeen Business School, The Robert Gordon University, Garthdee II, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7QG Tel: 01224 263837 – Fax: 01224 263333

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PLACEMENT HEALTH & SAFETY INDUCTION FORM STUDENT’S NAME: PLACEMENT PROVIDER: ADDRESS:

EACH ITEM MUST BE MARKED WITH A TICK IF COVERED (otherwise it will be assumed the item has not been covered) 1. Introduction to Business, Department and Workplace

General health & safety precautions (cont’d)

Introduction to Supervisor/Manager

Smoking policy explained

Relationship sections

Housekeeping rules explained

between

departments/

Timekeeping and recording

Shown location of toilets

PPE (Personal Protective rules – Clothing Eye protection Hearing protection Foot protection Head protection Hand protection

Accompanied tour of the workplace

First Aider and First Aid facilities

Tea/meal breaks and facilities Introduction to colleagues

2. General precautions

health

&

safety

Reporting of accidents & safety issues

Fire alarm system explained

3. Job introduction

Nearest means of escape identified

Main findings of job-specific risk assessments explained

Assembly point identified

Other safety protocols & rules explained* (detail at 4 below)

Action to be taken on discovering fire Location and equipment

use

of

fire

Equipment)

fighting

Reporting faults

4. Additional comments:

I have received information, instruction and training as shown above.

Signature of student

Date

Signature(s) of person(s) responsible for carrying out induction Date NOTE: PLEASE RETURN TO THE PLACEMENT OFFICE IMMEDIATELY ON COMPLETION

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INTRODUCTION DOCUMENTATION This will comprise: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Learning Contract Recommendation for Award Appendix 1: Placement Evaluative Report Guidelines Appendix 2: Mid-Placement Review

THE LEARNING CONTRACT Agreeing a Learning Contract gives each party a clear understanding of the work expectations and opportunities available.

Your supervisor1 will identify what your role will be in the organisation. At some point during the first week (although preferably on day one) you should get together with your supervisor to draw up your Learning Contract. In doing this, you should hopefully identify objectives for your placement experience which will reveal the learning opportunities available. These objectives should be challenging but realistic. The development of these objectives should enable both yourself and your supervisor to formalise and develop an understanding of what you expect from the organisation and what the organisation expects in return.

It is vitally important from the outset that you have a clear understanding of your work objectives and responsibilities, as your performance throughout the placement experience will be measured against these. When setting objectives, we would expect you to identify tasks and procedures that will allow you the opportunity to develop your personal and work related skills. Therefore the objectives should identify the specific goals which you have to achieve to contribute to the organisation and to your own personal development.

Your progress against the objectives should be reviewed by your supervisor on a regular basis and by your visiting lecturer at about the midpoint of the placement. Feedback should be sought, preferably on a weekly basis, from your host supervisor throughout the placement period to check you are meeting your objectives, help you do your job more effectively and help you in your professional development.

At the end of the placement experience, your supervisor will review your achievements against the objectives as part of your formal appraisal.

There will then be an opportunity for you to comment. The discussion should be both open and frank. The outcome of the meeting should be recorded in the comments section at the end of the Learning Contract and this will be included as an Appendix to your Final Report.

Remember it is your responsibility to ensure a final review takes place - please be proactive in organising time for this.

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1

The term ‘supervisor’ refers to the in-company member of staff who has responsibility for overseeing your placement. The term ‘tutor’ refers to your academic tutor appointed by the Aberdeen Business School.

There are basically four broad categories to be covered in the objective setting process and these are as follows:1.

2.

3.

4.

People Skills Self-Reliance Skills General skills Specialist skills

The types of knowledge and skill which we expect in broad terms to be developed and enhanced during the placement experience within each category are as follows:(These are simply suggestions which may not be relevant to each individual placement and they should not therefore be treated as a checklist).

People Skills •

• • • •

Communication: Displays an effective expression in group and individual situations, both orally and in writing. Willing to ask for clarification and direction when unsure.

Able to listen to, reflect on and take account of others' points of view. Has developed ability to challenge in a constructive and non-threatening manner.

Teamwork: Works effectively within teams by actively contributing to the accomplishment of goals.

Treats team members with mutual respect and professionalism.

Interpersonal: Integrates positively with superiors and colleagues. Demonstrates empathy, develops and maintains tactful and positive relationships with colleagues, other departments and/or organisations.

Customer Orientation: Demonstrates the ability to establish a confident and flexible relationship with people important to the placement host. Is welcoming, friendly, caring, approachable, constructive, accommodating, tactful, diplomatic, tolerant..

Cultural Awareness: Shows awareness of other cultures and their impact upon work environment. May demonstrate specific language skills, cultural awareness, international experience, written and oral expertise, sensitivity.

Self-Reliance Skills •

• • •

Attitude to work: Displays a level of maturity and confidence consistent with the position held. Willing to help with tasks not within job scope. Displays a positive attitude and brings positive energy to the workplace. Sets high goals and ethical standards for personal performance. Is a self-starter with a pro-active attitude to work and self-development.

Willingness to learn: Has ability to accept constructive comments and criticism in a positive light and learn from them. Shows willingness to learn and works to develop new skills and abilities, e.g. computing skills. Takes care not to repeat errors.

Personal development: Is able to evaluate personal development needs and to find, evaluate and effectively use resources for self development and continuous learning Ability to plan work: Displays good time and resource management and efficient prioritisation in meeting deadlines. Keeps superiors and team members updated in terms of progress.

Anticipates problems and/or issues.

Requires minimal supervision.

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•

Appearance: Displays a professional appearance and dresses appropriately for the workplace.

General skills • • • • •

Problem solving: Comes up with innovative solutions to problems. Has developed ability to “think outside the box”.

Multitasking: Has developed ability to work on several tasks or projects simultaneously, without compromising the quality or timing of output and results.

Attention to detail: Pays attention to detail.

Checks work and proofreads documents. Quality controls tasks and sees them through to completion.

Business Etiquette: Conducts self well in business situations and responds to different environments appropriately and with maturity and confidence.

Easily obtains a cultural fit.

Commitment: Shows an interest and dedication to the placement, project, activity etc. Dedicated, trustworthy, conscientious, reliable, loyal, punctual, knowledgeable, experienced

Specialist skills • • • • •

Knowledge of work: Has developed a level of understanding to perform job function in a satisfactory manner.

Knowledge of organisation / sector : Demonstrates understanding of the operation and values of the placement organisation.

Relation to academic knowledge: Is able to apply technical and academic knowledge to work environment.

Responsibility: Is willing to take an appropriate level of responsibility for tasks from beginning to end, including when given feedback.

Ability to work under pressure : Has developed ability to work under pressure without compromising the task or work. Remains calm, thorough and methodical under pressure.

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AIMS OF PLACEMENT To provide students with the opportunity to apply academic and practitioner knowledge and skills to a workplace related to their particular area of study.

LEARNING OUTCOMES On completion of this module, the student is expected to be able to: • • •

perform, demonstrate and explain a range of appropriate workplace skills and tasks, taking account of practical and managerial criteria for performance relate the theory of formal study to a particular working environment demonstrate effective self-evaluation in terms of practical and written communication skills whilst on placement (in an analytical report).

As stated previously, at the end of the placement experience your supervisor will review your achievements against the objectives set in the Learning Contract as part of your formal appraisal.

As placement is an academic module, we ask that Supervisors recommend grades as follows.

Pass grades: A Excellent Performance: excellent performance and achievement overall.

The work of the student has much exceeded the threshold standard. The student has demonstrated: • a thorough grasp of the role • a very high ability and originality in applying key process skills • a very high ability in analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problem-solving (higher cognitive skills) • very high order ability over the specified range of subjectspecific/professional practice skills.

B

Very Good Performance: a very high standard performance and achievement overall.

The work of the student is well above the threshold standard. The student has demonstrated: • a very good grasp of the role • a high ability and originality in applying key process skills • a high ability in analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problem-solving (higher cognitive skills) • high order ability over the specified range of subject-specific/professional practice skills.

C

Highly Competent Performance: a highly competent performance and achievement overall. The work of the student has exceeded the threshold standard. The characteristics of work at this standard are: • a good level of knowledge and understanding of the role • highly competent and displaying some originality in applying key process skills • highly competent in analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problem-solving (higher cognitive skills) • a highly competent performance over the specified range of subjectspecific/ professional practice skills.

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D

Competent Performance: a satisfactory performance overall.

The work of the student overall is at the threshold standard. The characteristics of work at this standard are: • a satisfactory knowledge and understanding of the role • competence in applying key process skills • adequacy in analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problem-solving (higher cognitive skills) • competence over the specified range of subject-specific/professional practice skills.

Fail grades: E Less than competent Performance: a standard of performance overall which marginally fails to achieve competence.

The work of the student overall is just below the pass threshold standard. The characteristics of work at this standard are: • marginally unsatisfactory knowledge and understanding of the role • near competence in applying key process skills • some evidence of ability in analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problemsolving (higher cognitive skills) • competence over most of the specified range of subjectspecific/professional practice skills.

N.B. Safe working practice as appropriate to the discipline must be demonstrated for a student to be awarded this or higher grades.

F

Disappointing Performance: Unsatisfactory – Fail The standard of performance demonstrated by the student overall is well below the pass threshold standard.

The characteristics of work at this standard are: • no or very limited knowledge and/or understanding of the role, exhibited in a very patchy manner • no or very limited success in the application of key process skills • no or very limited evidence of some of analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problem-solving (higher cognitive skills) • no or very limited competence over the specified range of subjectspecific/professional practice skills.

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PLACEMENT TUTOR Each student will be assigned an academic member of staff from Aberdeen Business School who will adopt the role of Placement Tutor.

The tutor will visit you as soon as possible after the Learning Contract has been completed and returned to him/her. The purpose of the visit will be to discuss with both yourself and your supervisor the objectives which have been set, the performance to date and any problems that have arisen.

However, the tutor will be available for consultation throughout the placement experience and if the supervisor would prefer the tutor to visit before the Learning Contract has been completed in order to help in the development of the objectives, this can be arranged at the instigation of the supervisor.

This visit along with feedback/mark given by the employer will be taken into account when allocating a final grade to your placement.

Prior to their visit you should consider how well your placement is going by completing your Mid Placement Review. As well as providing a framework for discussion with your tutor, this will help you focus your attention on your performance to date and, therefore, identify areas for improvement or highlight areas where help may be given to enhance your experience.

PROBLEMS The placement is your opportunity to experience the work situation in a realistic manner so you will be asked to help out with some of the general administrative duties around the workplace. If, however, you encounter any serious problems or you feel your position is being abused then you should contact your Placement Tutor immediately to discuss the problem. The placement period should be a learning experience and if you feel you are not gaining as much from that as might be reasonably expected then you should not try to remedy the situation without discussing it with a member of the School first.

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PLACEMENT ASSESSMENT

LEARNING CONTRACT (to be completed on the first day of placement)

Student _________________________ Phone No. __________________ Company ____________________________________________________ Course ______________________________________________________ Placement Tutor

______________________________________________

Supervisor _______________________ Phone No. __________________

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LEARNING CONTRACT

What will be the student’s role in the organisation?

In order to identify the learning opportunities that are available from the organisation, identify objectives for each of the following areas:People Skills

Self-Reliance Skills

General skills

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Specialist skills

IMPLEMENTATION Arising from these objectives, you can now consider what specific tasks and experiences will be offered and in what way the organisation can assist in the achievement of these objectives.

IN THE LIGHT OF THE ABOVE PLEASE OUTLINE AN APPROPRIATE ACTION PLAN: ACTION PLAN TASKS

TIMING RESPONSIBILITY

Learning Contract agreed by: Organisation Supervisor: _________________________________ __________________

Date:

Student: _______________________________________________

Date:

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COMMENTS ON THE PLACEMENT EXPERIENCE (to be completed on the final day of the placement).

Supervisor's Comments

Student's Comments

Arising from these observations and subsequent discussions, the following recommendation is made for recognition of the placement experience for validation at the Assessment Board.

Final Comments agreed by: Organisation Supervisor: _________________________________

Date:

Student: _______________________________________________

Date:

OVERALL GRADE AWARDED Pass grades: A

Excellent Performance: excellent performance and achievement overall.

B

Very Good Performance: a very high standard performance and achievement overall.

C

Highly Competent Performance: a highly competent performance and achievement overall. The work of the student has exceeded the threshold standard.

D

Competent Performance: a satisfactory performance overall.

Fail grades: E

Less than competent Performance: a standard of performance overall which marginally fails to achieve competence.

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F

Disappointing Performance: Unsatisfactory – Fail: The standard of performance demonstrated by the student overall is well below the pass threshold standard.

The ‘Learning Contract' should then copied and included as an Appendix to your Final Report and the original sent to the Placement Office.

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Appendix 1:

BA/BA (Hons) Communication with Public Relations BA/BA (Hons) Publishing with Journalism BA/BA (Hons) Media Studies BA/BA (Hons) Journalism Undergraduate Assessed Placement Evaluative Report This exercise constitutes an evaluative report which represents 80% of the marks for the module. The remaining 20% is allocated to the visiting lecturer’s and employer’s assessment of performance on placement.

Aims The aims of the exercise are: • • • •

to give students the opportunity to examine critically the day to day workings of an organisation and to identify the different functions in the services relevant to their particular course of study. to identify any practical problems and challenges which may arise in the execution of practical tasks. to reflect critically upon the factors that contribute to the design and operation of a particular organisation. to enable the student to assess the value of their contribution to the work of the host organisation.

Brief You are required to write a 2,500 word analytical report which discusses your placement experience and demonstrates a sound understanding of how theory relates to practice.

The report should include: 1. An introductory section that gives a broad picture of the organisation, its historical development, present position and planned future strategies. Analysis could include issues such as theories of operational and managerial structures of the organisation, the communication practices, product mix, professional practices or the financial profile and process of the company, as applicable, and how they are applied in practice.

2. This broad picture should also demonstrate understanding of environmental factors that affect the organisation, in areas such as political, economic, social and technological influences. The report should include reflection on the extent to which these factors compromise the manager’s ability to pursue professional practices and ideals of service.

3. An integral part of this will be an evaluation of how the communication/publishing/media professional fits into the organisation and how your role fitted in.

4. You may wish to discuss personal development using the categories in the Learning Contract, which should be included as an Appendix to the report (this should not be included within the word count).

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You may wish to use the following categories (among others): Technical & Learning Skills Staff Relations Planning and Organisation Personal and Professional Development Communication Skills You can include examples of any material that you have produced during your placement. Additionally, you may refer to any background information that you have gathered whilst on placement e.g. catalogues, publicity material, organisational profiles and incorporate this into your report.

Problems or Queries During the placement a member of staff will visit you from the School and any problems or queries can be discussed with them. Otherwise you can contact the Placement Office or the Course Leader at any point. These guidelines and the exercise may also be discussed with the host supervisor.

Submission The submission should be in the form of an analytical report. This should be structured into logical sections and be presented in a manner that is clear and comprehensible. The report should not exceed 2500 words.

Submission date is in the academic calendar.

Report Assessment Criteria • Discussion, evaluation and description of theory applied in practice (85%) • Professional presentation: structure, layout, formal correctness of English and appropriate style (15%) Resubmission If a student fails the placement module he/she may be required to repeat the placement or resubmit the report in accordance with the decision made by the course team.

If for any reason the student is unable to undertake/complete the placement (e.g. for medical reasons) he/she may be required to carry out a piece of desk based research in accordance with the design made by the course team.

Assessment of Placement Evaluative Report (incorporating Visiting Lecturer’s and Employer’s assessment of performance on placement)

80%

Visiting Lecturer’s and Employer’s assessment of performance on placement

20%

The employer grade will be a letter grade (A to F). The written report will be marked in percentages. The overall module grade will be an aggregate of these percentage marks converted to the equivalent letter grade.

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Appendix 2: Mid-Placement Review – Self-assessment of placement pro-forma As stated in the main text, prior to your Placement Tutor visiting you, a self-assessment should be carried out. Depending on the type of organisation you should be aiming to develop most, if not all, of the skills listed on the pro-forma. This should be carried out in conjunction with assessing yourself against the objectives set with your Supervisor at the beginning of the placement along with the University placement objectives (detailed at the beginning of this document). It is in your best interests to be as truthful as possible to gain most from the exercise.

Within each broad category it is suggested you give yourself a grade.

A

B

C

D

E

F

People Skills Communication Teamwork Interpersonal skills Customer Orientation Cultural Awareness Self-Reliance Skills Attitude to work Willingness to learn Personal development Ability to plan work Appearance General skills Problem solving Multitasking Attention to detail Business Etiquette Commitment

Specialist skills Knowledge of work Knowledge of organisation / sector Relation to academic knowledge Responsibility Ability to work under pressure

Please keep this record for your Tutor Visit but also submit a copy to the Placement Office

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