‘PDP: It’s a Journey, not a Destination’ Dr Victor McNair & Dr Sharon Milner 24 th Jan 2013

Remember PDS?  In the good old days...  PDS /PDP confusion  “....Another burden...”  “...what’s the point...”  A few visionaries

 PDP is....  Self review  Skill development  Transitions

YEAR 1 What Transference issues should we identify, support and disseminate? YEAR 2 How do we support the transition from 1 st to 2 nd year? YEAR 3/Placement How do we support transition from 2 nd year? How does P2+ support employment? Strategy

Stakeholder Interests Students as fee payers KIS! HEAR!

Student perceptions of their PDP experience  Cross-faculty PDP survey carried out with 1 st year students in 2011 (587)  Followed up with 2nd year students in 2012 (370)  Student perceptions via Likert scale: 1 = a lot, 2= to some extent, 3= a little 4 = Not at all  (caveat: not necessarily the same students surveyed in 2 nd year)

Student perceptions of their PDP experience…  in helping them to: Self Review: Evaluate their potential Plan and support their personal development Develop Skills Successful transition through: Reflective practice Understanding employability

Self Review

Self review: Student quotes  “I felt it was expected of me to know how to do independent learning from the beginning so I felt a lack of guidance...but it has allowed me to be a bit creative in my approach to learning. I now feel stronger as a person” (ADBE)  “Regular comprehensive feedback has helped me to assess my strengths and weaknesses and areas for improvements. Study skills class … were extremely useful as I previously did not understand referencing and researching” (Life & Health Sciences)  “My time at university has provided me with experience in meeting deadlines and the importance of independent learning. This improved my skills such as organisation, research, team working and self preservation”. (UBS)

Skills Development:

Skills Development: Student Quotes  ‘I want to get a better job when I leave university. I think skills I am learning on my course will help with that” (UBS)  “I have received good feedback on opportunities on how to do better in coursework progress and in presentations. I have used this feedback to set new targets for myself” (Social Sciences)  “I have learnt a lot from my first and second year, with working in groups I have developed skills like problem solving, being more confident in my own opinion” (Computing and Engineering)

Successful transitions through:

Successful Transition: Student Quotes  “It has made me independent and not afraid to say what I am good at, before I was a lot quieter” (Arts)  ‘I feel that I have gained valuable skills such as being able to reflect on previous work to help make future work better. I have found that many of the skills acquired can be taken to the workplace” (UBS)  “I have been able to use the skills I gained from placement within my course and these are real skills that will improve my practice” (Life and Health Sciences)

Key Messages from Surveys  Results show that while many students believe that though their independence in learning is strong, there are opportunities for developing this aspect of PDP.  The development of higher order thinking skills is a growing need among employers and these results show how many students are confident that their courses are providing opportunities to develop such skills  Life long learning and identifying employability skills has been a PDP priority for many years. Results show that there is an emerging pattern of success in this area.

 HEA Seminar: 13 th Feb 2013 “Using PBL to support the development of employability skills” nars/Themes/GEN367-Ulster  Employability Conference: “Managing Employability in a Changing Landscape” 9 th May Other Ulster events of interest:

PDP website: UMAP: PACE: Skills+ website Further Information visit:

CASE STUDY  Review the Studies Advice information provided and undertake a PDP-led review of the scenario. Be prepared to report back on the issues raised and how you may be prepared to deal with them.

Graduate Qualities  subject-specific knowledge and skills informed by current research and professional/vocational practice  flexibility, creativity and an entrepreneurial approach to the resolution of problems  self-confidence, global citizenship, appreciation of sustainability matters, ethical leadership, and a commitment to life-wide learning, professionalism and employability  effective collaborative working, communication skills and the capacity for reflective practice, including the ability to give and receive feedback