Net(work) yourself a job? CETL student engagement and employability

Net(work) yourself a job? CETL student engagement and employability Laura Jenkins Sabine Little Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences (CILASS) Louise Goldring Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning (CEEBL)

Group task 1
Break up into groups of 4 or 5
In your groups
Discuss and then define ‘inquiry/enquiry- based learning’ in 10 words or less

Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning Student Intern Programme

Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning - Aims
To promote Enquiry-Based Learning methods across the University and beyond
To work with funded and supported projects to recognise and develop excellence in teaching and learning
To gather feedback, research and evaluation from staff and students
To promote and support a wider CEEBL community
To accurately represent the student opinion – intern programme

What is EBL?
Learning driven by research – works with our natural curiosity
Student-Centred Learning
Emphasis on group work and self directed learning
Facilitated rather than taught
Based on ‘real world’ scenarios
Students gain both subject skills and life skills

CEEBL Student Interns
The Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning is structured using a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model
Faculty specific interns work alongside a faculty coordinator
The Intern Programme is expanding for the academic year 2008/9 to include a faculty specific intern working with Manchester Business School and 2 more interns to work across all faculties
Medical and Human Sciences Humanities Engineering and Physical Sciences Life Sciences CEEBL

CEEBL Student Involvement
Work as an interdisciplinary EBL team on various projects – e.g. ‘How to prepare students for EBL’, Student Voice Conference
Advocacy and Dissemination – conferences, seminars
Contribute to research and evaluation activities – focus groups, interviews, Interdisciplinary EBL PhD Research Project
Student support - CETL Student Network, LTEA student network, CEEBL Blog
Support CEEBL projects and other EBL activities – practice EBL sessions, working with academics on developing EBL modules
Encouraged to develop their own specific focus/project to work on through the year

Who are the CILASS Student Ambassadors? Student Ambassador in every department of the Arts, Social Sciences and Law working alongside their Academic Champion

What do they do?
Work in their department
Work within CILASS
Work in a ‘working group’

Laura in Economics
Traditional methods of teaching and assessment
With CILASS support, introduced methods such as collaborative work, independent research and an applied exercise allow students to take a more active role in their learning
Included more group assignments and innovative teaching methods
Held an event to help first year students think about the way in which they search for knowledge by holding an information treasure hunt during intro week.

In CILASS…
Website and Blog
Events at The University of Sheffield
Represent CILASS at a national level

Working Groups Student Ambassador Network Evaluation Group Journal Group Film Group Dissemination Group Technology/ User Support Group

Employability
1 Teamwork
2 Flexibility/adaptability
3 Communication –
oral & written
4 Self motivated
5 Initiative
6 Commitment to learning
7 Commercial awareness/professionalism
8 Numeracy
9 Literacy

Our research
We asked CILASS student ambassadors and CEEBL student interns to reflect on the skills they had gained by being members of their networks and the impact they thought this would have in future

CILASS student ambassadors:
These questions were given to student ambassadors in April 2008; we received 17 responses
What have you enjoyed about being and Student Ambassador?
What 3 skills do you feel you have gained/ developed by being a Student Ambassador?
How has it impacted on your wider university career?
What impact do you think it will have on your life after university?
CEEBL student interns
The interns have to write reflective reports half way through and at the end of each academic year. These were analysed to see what they revealed about the students’ perceptions of the role and what they got out of it. We had access to reports from 9 interns.

General points
Interns and ambassadors found the following aspects of the role especially rewarding:
Meeting other students/ staff
Learning about other departments
Process of learning/ awareness of IBL
Contributing to the university, e.g. in revising curriculum
Better understanding of the university department – contacts across years
Meeting externals – exchanging ideas
‘ I am proud of my achievement of setting up EBL within my own course, as most of the past curricula have involved lectures or practicals, so this a new development’
‘ I have enjoyed meeting people from different departments and discussing what goes on in their departments. You can't help but feel isolated from other departments, which is to be expected, but learning about the experiences of different departments is good.’
‘ Being the student ambassador for English Lit. has been an enlightening experience in terms of learning about processes of IBL learning, particularly within my own department.’
‘ I’ve developed much better relations with my department and have gained an insight into the workings of other departments and disciplines.’
‘ I’ve enjoyed being able to make a small contribution towards shaping the curriculum.’

Specific skills (i)
Interpersonal skills:
communication, listening, networking
‘ It has made me much more confident in general’
‘ Networking has been really useful’
Teamwork
group work, collaboration/ learning from others
‘ it opened my eyes to the potential of working together’
Technical skills
Filming, editing, taking minutes, IT skills, running focus groups
Presentation skills, confidence
‘ Through CILASS I have had the opportunity to make a number of presentations to both students and staff. These have given me the chance to develop my public-speaking techniques (including engaging with and putting the audience at ease, use of humour, attention to clarity), resulting in what I believe will now be a lifelong love of public speaking!’
Reflection
‘ Additionally, areas for improvement (such as taking a back seat when the situation calls for me to do so) have been highlighted, and I look forward to continuing to work on these as I move into full-time employment.’
Self-direction
Organisation, time management, working to deadlines, decision making
‘ Being given responsibility for our work in the film group and the level of free choice in decisions.’
‘ I have had to work to consistent deadlines when working with the journal team in order to publish editions on time. Whilst deadlines are a typical aspect of university life the added pressure of letting the “team” down bolstered everyone’s individual efforts to get all the submissions in and up on the website as we honed our collaboration/team skills. I also feel I have a much clearer idea of IBL, and how it can aid assessments and projects to produce original work; a skill that surely can’t hurt my eventual grade!’

Specific skills (i)
Project management
Event planning, running events/ training, producing resources
‘ The majority of projects carried out by CILASS depend upon effective teamwork for their success, and thus over the past year my skills in this area have improved considerably. In particular, I feel that my listening ability has benefited. Whilst I now place much greater value upon the judgments of others than I did previously, I also appreciate that it is vital that I continue to ensure that I do not dominate discussions or decision-making in team situations. […] I have also learned project management techniques. These were especially important when coordinating the creation of the new web site, which necessitated the input of all 25 members of the Student Ambassador network. With many participants already busy with degree commitments, I learnt the importance of deadline setting, giving clear instructions, sensitive editing, and friendly guidance. Additionally, I have been able to develop my planning, prioritisation and delegation skills â€“ as well as the art of recognising when I need to say no.’
‘ The production of this guide allowed us to develop research skills through gathering the information we needed for the guide, but most significantly we developed negotiation skills, learning to divide tasks up fairly, listen properly to each other’s suggestions and feedback constructively.’
Leadership/ teaching skills
Delegation, facilitation, guidance
‘ There are direct benefits in that I have learnt skills that I can carry forwards with me and should there come a time when I find myself teaching others then I feel that I will be better placed to do this effectively than I may have been otherwise.’
‘ If I choose an academic career, I will have a better understanding of teaching and learning processes.’
‘ I have been considering going into teaching after finishing my degree which is a career that is centred on IBL; my heightened understanding of IBL would surely be a valuable asset in the teaching profession.’

Academic Skills
Students pinpointed that engagement with the network had impacted upon their academic careers in a number of ways:
Evaluation skills
Analytical skills
Research skills
‘ The way in which I research material has improved; I cover a lot more ground whilst researching now, as my interest in this field has grown since becoming involved with CILASS. The importance of research and the technologies available to carry it out successfully were two key things CILASS has taught me. I tend to branch off from the typical route whilst writing my essays now, researching a subject thoroughly helps me to focus on the aspects of an assignment that really interest me rather than following the set route. I have definitely noticed an improvement in my grades due to this, as well as a higher degree of satisfaction with my study.’
Creativity – generating new ideas, esp. in collaboration with others
Writing skills – e.g. in production of guides/ articles
‘ writing – learning to write in an appropriate style for the journal/ newsletter’
‘ I got to know my lecturers better, the library structure, and people who can help me.’
‘ helped me to understand that uni isn’t just about lectures.’
‘ Increased my awareness of IBL which has helped my academic work.’

Importance for employability
All students agreed that the experience of being in the SAN had improved their employment prospects:
‘ It has made me much more confident in general, but has also helped me when applying for jobs, to answer questions confidently.’
‘ It has certainly helped me put something extra curricular on my CV.’
‘ SAN has given me skills that I have been able to translate in interviews with potential employers.’
‘ I will be more able to research confidently and productively, as well as being able to work successfully within a team (prior to CILASS any study/assignments I had done were independent). These are both valuable skills in the workplace and will hopefully be received well in interviews/job applications in the future. I have also been considering going into teaching after finishing my degree which is a career that is centred on IBL; my heightened understanding of IBL would surely be a valuable asset in the teaching profession.’
‘ Probably will provide me with the confidence to do things that I know nothing about; which is exactly how I started off with CILASS.’
‘ It has provided me with some great things to put on my cv such as being published in an online journal and newsletter and talking to large groups of individuals which will put me in good stead for future employment.’
‘ I have applied for the Trainee Scheme in Programme Production with the BBC – something which, had I not been part of the Film Group I would not have felt I could have applied for.’

Group task 2
Open the envelope that your group has been given
For the skill which is written on the paper inside the envelope,
discuss how your CETL/ institution addresses/ develops that skill in students
Record your discussion on flipchart paper
Be ready to present back what you have talked about

Net(work) yourself a job? CETL student engagement and employability

by cilass.slideshare on Jan 13, 2009

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