PAPER F UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE SENATE LEARNING & TEACHING COMMITTEE: MEETING OF 12 MARCH 2007 REPORT ON PROGRESS WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PDP FOR STUDENTS AGENDA ITEM 1.2(4) Introduction 1 This paper provides a brief report on progress with the delivery of resources for Personal Development Planning (PDP) for undergraduate students through My Dundee. Details of recent developments relating to PDP for postgraduate students are also included. An interim report was submitted to the Committee’s meeting of 12 May 2006 which included a summary of the significant milestones in the development of PDP maintained by the Careers Service at: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/careers/myPDP/index.htm. The introduction of PDP forms part of the first objective of the Learning & Teaching strategy and the associated action plan [Section 5(1) of the strategy refers; see http://www.somis.dundee.ac.uk/academic/Senate_policies.htm]. Implementation of My PDP in Session 2005/06 3 The interim report indicated that a significant number of undergraduate students (approximately 1600) had been introduced to the PDP concept and My PDP. A summary of My PDP related activities involving the Careers Service (CS), the Learning Centre (LC) and Colleges is available from http://www.dundee.ac.uk/careers/myPDP/talks.htm. The Faculties of Arts & Social Sciences, Duncan of Jordanstone College, Engineering & Physical Sciences, Law & Accountancy, Life Sciences and the Schools of Medicine and Nursing were all involved in delivering student PDP induction sessions in association with the CS. The CS, in close liaison with Faculties, led the introduction of PDP for undergraduate students and an extract of their annual report for 2005/06 summarises their activities in this area (Appendix 2 refers). Feedback from staff and students on PDP and the use of My PDP has been positive (Appendix 3 refers). The CS conducted a number of in-depth feedback sessions with students to obtain their views on how the My PDP resource could be enhanced and the resulting feedback was used to update it. This consultation included the active participation of students with disabilities. In the pilot phase of the creation of the resource, the development team advertised opportunities for disabled students to assess the resource content and to suggest improvements and twelve students responded to this call. As a result of this, one of the example ePortfolios on the resource was provided by a disabled student and suggestions from others were incorporated and students with disabilities also attended some of the student focus groups. Further enhancements to the resource have included: changes to the induction booklet; to the 'Getting Started' section; amendments to the student induction 'script' and the corresponding powerpoint presentation for staff; the development of a refined Interests quiz; the addition of an 1
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Enterprise Gym element; and the updating of the My Degree area. Staff and student queries regarding the use of My PDP have focused on technical issues (Appendix 3 refers). Progress with the implementation of My PDP in 2006/07 6 CS staff met relevant College staff, from some Colleges, during the Summer period to support the amendment of Colleges’ PDP related websites to reflect the changes in the University’s structure. The My PDP element of the IT induction programme for new student entrants, ITi 2006, was expanded, to raise general awareness of PDP and the CS staff again offered their full support for the delivery of joint student My PDP induction sessions with Colleges and Schools. A summary of these targeted induction sessions, delivered to date, is available from http://www.dundee.ac.uk/careers/myPDP/talks2006.htm. Statistics provided by ICS and the LC indicated that over 3000 students have created e-portfolios and the majority of these would have been created as personal development plans. It should be noted that Mrs H Whaley, LC, and Mr S Jones, ICS, are examining ways of obtaining more detailed metrics regarding the usage of My PDP and student engagement with it. However comparison with the previous academic session suggests that the current level of My PDP implementation has reached a plateau but this might have been expected given the significant restructuring of Colleges and some Schools over the Summer period and other competing priorities for staff time. To address this perceived loss of momentum in the level of embedding of My PDP, Dr Weyers and Mr Nicholson are planning to meet College Vice Principals and their Heads of Learning & Teaching (or their equivalents) in the near future to discuss Colleges’ requirements to support the delivery of PDP for undergraduate students in session 2007/08. However the College of Arts & Social Sciences will be embedding the use of PDP as part of their strategy for Developing Professionalism & Employability which might provide a model for other Colleges. To complement the College-based action reported above and to raise students’ general awareness of PDP, the DUSA Vice President, Education & Careers, Ms C Taylor, and fellow members of the DUSA Executive will host a PDP stall at the Career Service’s Work Experience Fair on Thursday 1 March. To assist Colleges to consider how they might embed PDP effectively for undergraduate students, the CS and the LC plan to arrange a staff development event, before the end of the current session, focussing on methods of assessing students’ PDP material. On recent enhancements to the resource, the VARK learning styles element of My PDP has been updated and revised by the developer of the resource, Mr N Fleming. Technical improvements to My Dundee planned for session 2007/08 11 The e-Learning Technical Officer, Mr G Whaley, LC, will be evaluating the benefits of installing a new upgrade to the Blackboard software platform in July 2007. Blackboard have indicated that this latest upgrade will resolve some of the minor technical problems which staff and students have identified in their feedback in the use of e-portfolio element of My PDP. Subject to a positive outcome of this evaluation, any technical improvements to the operation of e-portfolios will be reflected in the revision of My PDP
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for the beginning of session 2007/08 including the updating of the Frequently Asked Question area of the resource. External Interest in My PDP 12 The CS and the LC have continued to deliver presentations on the University’s approach to PDP for undergraduate students to a number of external bodies and these have been well received. Attendance at such events have suggested that the University’s PDP scheme is sector leading in its state of development, content, degree of student engagement and coverage, as it encompasses both undergraduate and postgraduate students. A list of these presentations is provided in Appendix 1. These presentations have raised awareness of the University’s innovative approach to the delivery of PDP and a number of institutions have expressed interest in adopting it. In some cases, these institutions have entered into a formal contract with the University to access the resource, with the understanding that they would provide feedback to the University on any enhancements to it [http://www.dundee.ac.uk/careers/myPDP/index.htm refers]. A team from Aberdeen University, led by the Vice Principal (Learning & Teaching), Professor C Macaslan, visited the University on 13 February 2007 to discuss the licensing of the use of My PDP at Aberdeen. The CS and the LC plan to arrange a brief workshop in June 2007 for members of this club of institutions to disseminate good practice and to inform the future development of My PDP for session 2007/08. Development of PDP for postgraduate students 14 Dr J Weyers, LC, and Dr C Milburn, Generic Training Skills Coordinator, have continued to develop a corresponding PDP resource for postgraduate research students, My PDP pg, with particular reference to the new generic skills training programme led by Dr Milburn and the University’s procedures for thesis monitoring. This work has been carried out in consultation with a group including representatives from Schools, LC, CS, Registry and the Director of Academic Professional Development. A My PDP pg student guidance booklet has been produced and the resource is being piloted with research students from the College of Life Sciences and the Schools of Accounting & Finance and Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law & Policy from the College of Arts & Social Sciences. Twenty staff, representing every College, responded positively to a staff development event on My PDP pg held on 19 November 2006 and organised by Dr Weyers and Dr Milburn. Further staff development events are planned and a progress report on the development of My PDP pg will be submitted to the next meeting of the Postgraduate Research Sub-Committee on 25 April 2007. The PDP Working Group has also considered the PDP requirements of taught postgraduate students and a view is emerging that the undergraduate resource, My PDP, could be developed to meet the needs of that student group, through relatively minor amendments including the creation of templates, tailored to meet the requirements of specific taught degree programmes. The Postgraduate Taught Sub-Committee will be asked to comment on this proposal, at its next meeting on 7 March 2007.
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QAA Scotland Quality Enhancement Theme (QET): The First Year 17 This QET (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/scotland/qualityframework/enhancementthemes.asp refers) includes a project on Personal Development Planning (PDP) in the First Year, specifically focussing on student engagement and empowerment. The project director is Kirsty Miller of Careers Service. A joint workshop on the project (with one on Peer Support in the First Year) will be held at the University on 14 May 2007. Potential ELIR Case Study 18 Consideration should be given to whether the University’s introduction of PDP for all students and potentially staff, might form the basis of a case study for the next ELIR in 2008, if this still forms part of the revised ELIR process. Recommendations 19 The Committee is asked: 1 2 to consider this report; to submit any comments on the existing PDP policy and the associated PDP resources to the Director of the Careers Service, Mr G Nicholson, by Wednesday 2 May 2007; and to comment on any implications of the introduction of PDP for the Learning & Teaching strategy and the Colleges’ Learning & Teaching development plans.
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. Dr I K Francis Academic Secretary Convener PDP Working Group 6 March 2007
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Appendix 1 List of talks, seminars, workshops etc about personal development planning (Jonathan Weyers and colleagues) at 12/01/07 Undergraduate PDP Dec 2004: Introduction to PDP at the University of Dundee. Hannah Howson, Barbara Illsley, Bill Lynch, Andrew Millar, Graham Nicholson, Richard Parsons, Jonathan Weyers. Staff development session at the University of Dundee Developing a generic ePDP resource. Kirsty Miller. Presentation at the QAA Conference on Employability (Student Partnerships) held at DUSA, University of Dundee. Update on Progress and Opportunity to Interact with My PDP. Oormi Khaled, Kirsty Miller, Eric Monaghan, Graham Nicholson, Lorraine Walsh and Jonathan Weyers. Staff development session at the University of Dundee ePortfolios in Use: Early Experiences with Blackboard Academic Suite. Jonathan Weyers. Seminar to ISLE project (Individualised Support for Learning through ePortfolios) meeting, The Lighthouse, Glasgow. Personal Development Planning (PDP) and employability enhanced by an ePortfolio approach. Kirsty Miller and Jonathan Weyers. Enhancing Learning: Personal Development Planning, Employability and Empowering Learners. Learning and Teaching Conference, Paisley University Embedding PDP within the curriculum. Maureen Benwell, James Calderhead, Stuart Cross, Barbara Illsley, Nichola Kett, Oormi Khaled, Grahan Nicholson and Jonathan Weyers. Staff development session at the University of Dundee Personal Development Planning (PDP) and Employability Enhanced by an ePortfolio Approach. Kirsty Miller and Jonathan Weyers. Seminar, Aberdeen University. PDP at the University of Dundee – How we Delivered a Working PDP Scheme using Bb Academic Suite. Jonathan Weyers. Seminar at Liverpool John Moores University Implementing PDP- Approaches & Practice. Kirsty Miller and Graham Nicholson. Workshop for AGCAS (Scotland) (Careers Advisers from all the HEIs in Scotland) held at the University of Dundee PDP delivered by Blackboard ePortfolio - The Dundee Model. Jonathan Weyers. Meeting of the PDP Blackboard User Group, Westminster University, London. Introducing My PDP at the University of Dundee. Kirsty Miller. Demonstration to 3 members of staff from Bell College at the University of Dundee. 18 Months of PDP – The Univeristy of Dundee Experience. Kirsty Miller and Jonathan Weyers. Seminar and workshop, Aberdeen University.
March 2005 Jul 2005:
Sep 2005:
Sep 2005:
Oct 2005:
Jan 2006: May 2006:
May 2006:
Jun 2006:
July 2006: Jan 2007:
Postgraduate (research) PDP Nov 2006: Introduction to My PDP pg – the University‟s personal development planning resource for research postgraduates. David Boxer, Lesley McLellan, Christine Milburn, Kirsty Miller and Jonathan Weyers. Staff development session at the University of Dundee
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Postgraduate PDPs. Jonathan Weyers. Workshop as a part of the „What‟s new, what‟s hot in PDP and e-portfolio practice‟ session at 2006 National Residential Seminar of the Centre for Recording Achievement, Midland Hotel, Manchester
General PDP Related Presentations given by the Director of the Learning Centre, Dr R Parsons ePortfolios as a Key Component of a Comprehensive Student PDP Scheme, Edinburgh, Bb Europe Conference, 1 May 2006. Balancing Learning Technologies, Student Experience and Staff Experience, Cardiff, Seminar May 2006. ePortfolios as a Key Component of a Comprehensive Student PDP Scheme, Luton, May 2006. Supporting the spectrum of student PDP activities - online Glasgow, Oct 2006, Blackboard Scottish User Group. A Development Plan - Sustainability, ePortfolios and Measurements, Nov 2006, Online Educa Berlin. Evolution of eLearning: Sustainability, ePortfolios and Measurements, 20 Dec 2006, Global Webinar for Blackboard clients.
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Appendix 2
Extract from the Annual Report 2005-06 of the University of Dundee Careers Service
Personal Development Planning (PDP) 2005 -06
PDP was implemented university-wide for undergraduate students through the new My Dundee resource My PDP, in the 2005 – 2006 academic year. In addition, the University of Dundee continues to be at the forefront of PDP developments in the UK. The Careers Service’s contribution is as follows: Induction The relevant Careers Adviser, together with a member of academic staff, delivered joint induction sessions to students in the Faculties of Arts & Social Science; Duncan of Jordanstone College; Engineering & Physical Sciences; Law & Accountancy; Life Sciences and the Schools of Medicine & Nursing. Over 1600 students were introduced to the PDP concept and the My PDP resource and received an introductory booklet, in 19 separate sessions over semesters 1 and 2. Implementation In addition to several academic departments embedding and assessing PDP within the academic curriculum, both the Career Planning and the Internship modules, delivered by the Careers Service to 112 students, had aspects of PDP embedded, contributing to 10% of the overall assessment of these level 2 modules. All Careers Advisers have been involved in consultation and delivery of PDP within their departmental caseload. Support Responses were given to a number of queries from students and staff via an email helpdesk facility. In addition, 4 drop-in/support sessions in IT suites were offered over semesters 1 and 2, attracting up to 10 students in one session. Evaluation Between February and March 2006, 631 students responded to a Careers Service online questionnaire, which contained questions relating to My PDP. More than half of the students who responded had heard of or used My PDP and overall 53% commented very positively and 25% quite positively or were neutral about the resource. In addition, 3 student focus groups were held, looking at specific aspects of the resource, as well as a focus group for the Careers Advisers delivering the induction programme and modules (where PDP was considered in the course evaluation). A positive indicator has been the doubling of the number of 1st year students visiting the Careers Service to discuss enhancing their CVs.
Training Delivered & Presentations at Conferences and meetings In September 2005, Kirsty Miller and Dr Weyers, Director of the LEU, gave a demonstration of My PDP at a Teaching & Learning Conference at the University of Paisley; they also delivered a session to a group at Aberdeen University in January 2006. Graham Nicholson gave a presentation at St Andrews University. The Careers Service hosted demonstrations of My PDP to Bell College
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and organised and delivered a well-received training course for AGCAS (Scotland), representing HE Careers Advisers, in May 2006. Dissemination to the wider HE community The Careers Service has received £200 from the QAA for a case study illustrating an effective approach to PDP written by Kirsty Miller, due to be published on the Effective Learning Framework section of the Enhancement Themes website. Ongoing Development Graham Nicholson has chaired various meetings in connection with marketing My PDP via an Academic Licence and negations are ongoing with Bell College for the take-up of this facility. Kirsty Miller and Andrew Millar have an ongoing role in updating the resource and induction materials for the new academic session and a revised induction booklet has been prepared with Dr Weyers. PDP PG The Careers Service is represented on the University Working Group looking at the development of a postgraduate PDP resource for rollout in September 2006 and Kirsty Miller is developing careers-related materials for this new development, led by Dr Weyers and Dr Christine Milburn, Generic Skills Coordinator. Careers Service 2006
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Appendix 3 A summary of the results of student feedback on the My PDP resource, collected by the Careers Service 2005-2006
The aim of collecting student feedback was to ascertain their reaction to certain aspects of the resource, in order to focus the developers’ attention on components that required changing or amending for the 2006-07 academic year. Changes were made to the Induction presentation and booklet and the ‘Getting Started’ section as a result of this feedback. Feedback was also sought on student perceptions of the benefits of using My PDP. Feedback was collected primarily by on-line questionnaires and small focus groups. Between February and March 2006, 631 students responded to a Careers Service online questionnaire, which contained questions relating to My PDP. More than half of the students who responded had heard of or used My PDP and overall 53% commented very positively and 25% quite positively or were neutral about the resource. The positive comments about My PDP fall into 5 camps: As a structured way of organising material or time: o “very useful for not forgetting my assignments”(2nd year) o “It is useful as it helps you plan targets and realise what you want to do and when”(1st year) o “My PDP is very useful as it helps to build a network of how I am developing my various skills, so I am able to target various areas of study and self-development in order to improve and achieve the occupation I desire”(3rd year) Writing as an aid to reflection: o “I have found it very useful, as I have managed to get my thoughts and goals written down”(1 st year) o “Quite useful to actually put into writing what my goals were” (2nd year) As a self-awareness raising exercise: o “I think it helps you to know all the positive things you have done and ways to improve”(1st year) o “I hate talking about myself but I guess you have to when it comes to getting a job and by filling in My PDP it helps you to figure out your strong and weak points”(1st year) As a guide to constructing a CV: o “Very useful step-by-step guide to a good CV. Quite comprehensive too” (Postgrad) o “I found My PDP very useful as it helps when, for example, writing a CV, in understanding what skills you have” (2nd year) o “Very useful. Makes CV writing fun” (1st year) As a means of communicating with a lecturer or an employer: o “very useful as it is another way an employer can find out about you” (2nd year) o “It was quite useful in sharing work with lecturers to know how you are doing in your studies” (1st year)
The less positive comments reflect the following areas of concern: Navigation through the resource: o “It seemed difficult to navigate” (2nd year) o “I was confused by some of the available portfolio items” (3rd year) Lack of time: o “I find it very time-consuming and hard to find time to complete..” (1st year) o “It does not give very much instruction on what should go where and it seems like a pointless and wasted exercise because I have many other things to be doing” (1st year) Technical difficulties: o “It was alright yet downloading to existing portfolios is tricky” (1st year) o “To start with the idea of the eportfolio was good, yet myself along with fellow student have experienced some difficulties whilst using it, access being denied whilst trying to retrieve information located inside the portfolio” (Postgrad)
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Seen as irrelevant: o “not really useful just now, maybe later in my career” (1st year) o “As a mature student who used to have a fairly high flying job, I found it a touch patronising. It is geared solely towards young students” (4th year) The compulsory nature of doing PDP as part of a module: o “I didn‟t enjoy PDP as it reminded me too much of PSE from high school and it was made a compulsory part of one of my courses. I didn‟t find it useful” (1st year) o “I disliked PDP, as it is only really suited for some types of people, yet it was forced upon everyone” (2nd year)
As a general snapshot of student usage and opinion about this recently introduced resource, this survey was helpful in highlighting perceived benefits and barriers from a student perspective. There were no big surprises – the comments mirror those made by previous surveys – and it was encouraging to note the range and depth of positive reactions. The majority of the barriers should be overcome through refining instructions and offering further student support. In another on-line survey in May 2006 of students taking the Career Planning module, the majority of those responding said that they would recommend using My PDP to other students. Comments included: “Yes definitely, even if they didn‟t use all of it, there is something in it to help everyone” “Yes, by breaking skills into sections, it helped you to concentrate on what was required” In a Focus Group, in March 2006, of 14 Internship module students (64% of the total class), they unanimously rated the aspects they had used as ‘Good‟ or ‘Excellent’. However, ‘Ease of Use‟ and ‘Design’ were rated slightly less positively and the comments on these indicated a split between those that found the technology difficult and those for whom the process of reflection and recording seemed less than useful. A Focus Group of 9 Taught Postgraduate students and 1 PhD student, held in March 2006, highlighted their concerns about the brief time they had to access the resource (compared with undergraduate students) and issues of access to the resource on graduating, but there were many positive comments and reactions. A very small Focus Group of 3 students, held in March 2006, provided some personal insights into aspects of My PDP. A question regarding their change of behaviour as a result of using it elicited the following comments: “Will probably make the effort to achieve goals and regularly update it…” “has made me more focussed” and on asked about the potential benefits, one commented: “..good for future planning, goal-setting and time limits” Although only a snapshot of what students may think of the resource’s benefits, contents and design, the overall impression from their feedback from the first year of implementation was overwhelmingly positive. Any criticisms raised are being used as a basis for refining and developing our understanding of their needs and developing the resource further. KM 8/06
A Summary of the Queries Posted on mypdp@dundee (This email address is available from the PDP information on the Careers Service website, linked from the University’s A-Z index and directly from the My PDP resource) Dates September 2005 to August 2006 September 2006 to January 2007 Students Staff Technical queries 16 1 10 4 5 2 General queries 7 (1 Staff) 7 (5 Staff)
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Student technical queries included difficulties with students accessing My PDP from their home computer to being able to do certain tasks despite reading the instructions. Student general queries included distance-learning students wondering if MyPDP was suitable for their situation to requests to collect the booklet distributed at a lecture which had been missed. Staff queries were generally concerned with accessing more material to help with introductory sessions they were doing with their students or they were undertaking research and wished to make contact with the developers. The majority of the queries were dealt with by Kirsty Miller and Andrew Millar in The Careers Service, with some assistance from Oormi Khaled and Karen Miller from the Learning Centre. Some queries were forwarded to specific academic contacts in Nursing and Education.
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