Biosciences: Using e-portfolios to support industrial placements on Undergraduate and Masters programmes, University of Nottingham

e-Portfolio context: e-portfolio use to support industrial placements for students (mainly international) on the MSc in Food Production Management,  MSc in Applied Biomolecular Technology and the Biosciences BSc. All students supported with sector-specific career planning

Dates of provision: First pilot from 2009, all students since September 2012

Reason for implementation: Increase in numbers on the Masters course meant a more efficient means of managing industrial placements was necessary.

Purpose/s: To support the development of employability skills during the 2 month placement over summer. 

Learning processes involved: Information sharing, reflection, feedback, collaboration 

Practice: The initial benefits of using the e-portfolio were primarily viewed as administrative – being able to keep track of students and their progress as well as the support process with external examiners. However, now time has been invested into recognising and extending the use of the e-portfolio, its use has developed and it is being used for the creation of student 'placement pages' and for students to share weekly reports and receive feedback on these. It supports student networking, collaborative work, presentation of digital identity, storing dissertations as well as employability and professional learning. 

Lesson learnt during the pilot:

• Students have enjoyed the ability to create an attractive page very quickly.
• Student’s sharing their use has been beneficial in promoting and supporting effective use across the cohort, e.g., when a student enjoyed creating an attractive page, they created and then shared a video about the page and the process involved. 
• Students appreciate the timeliness of the feedback they have whilst on placement, the feeling of being professional, that the placement companies were interested in and valued the openness in its use.
• Staff were more likely to add feedback because all the reports are in place within Mahara
• Individual conversations with academics have been useful in gaining their engagement.
• Engaging both staff and students e-portfolio champions has been important
• Well-received by external examiners
• The administrative role of placements co-ordinator has necessarily extended to include a tutor role. 

Key staff involved: Dr Judith Wayte

Example:  

Using e-portfolios to support industrial placements in Biosciences on Undergraduate and Masters programmes ,University of Nottingham .. further information

Video of a presentation by Judith Wayte, Placements Manager at the School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham given at the e-learning community meeting in 2012 that explains how she is using Mahara on undergraduate and master's programmes.

Example pages