Exemplar 2 - Professional Development in the School of Business

Institution: Queensland University of Technology

e-Portfolio context:  Professional development in the School of Business - The ePortfolio program supports students, in the Human Resource Management unit MGB370, to carry out classroom based professional development activities such as personality survey, identification of strengths and weaknesses and planning for future development of a particular skill area. The activties parallel the type of professional development activities they may, as Human Resource professionals, be required to implement in their careers.

Dates of provision: Since 2007

Reason for implementation: The ePortfolio approach to learning was recognised as providing students with the opportunity to bring together various learning experiences from their prior experiences as well as their QUT study. The activities which are stored, managed and presented in the online ePortfolio space also provide the students with evidence for career planning and job seeking. ePortfolio as a technology enabled the unit to meet the requirements for students to be engaged with professionally relevant uses of technology. 

Purpose/s: To analyse your PAMS feedback and identify your strengths and areas for development and use that information to develop a professional online e-Portfolio including a resume.  Students carry out two ePortfolio activities for summative assessment in the unit. Formative assessment is given on a first draft of the first ePortfolio task.  Students develop a professional online portfolio through the Student ePortfolio system.  Write a report to describe what you have done in your portfolio and give your justifications for your choices. Students research potential skill areas for development; then select the area most useful for their personal and professional needs.  Students develop an action plan to guide achievement, using the Student ePortfolio online system to track progress.

Learning processes involved:  Information capture, Information retrieval, Planning, Reflection, Feedback, Collaboration, Presentation

Practice: Developing - Since 2007 the activities undertaken by students have been reviewed and redesigned to more closely meet professional expectations. The tasks have been redesigned from an assessment perspective to ensure the purposeful use of ePortfolio to underpin assessment tasks. Students are fully supported in their ePortfolio use with face to face workshops and career planning session. Online resources are made available through the BlackBoard unit site.

Key staff involved: Unit Coordinator/Lecturer