Planning portfolio (PDP)

Transcription

1 Student Personal Development Planning portfolio (PDP) 2008/2009

2 Dear Student Welcome to the University of Gloucestershire. We do hope you really enjoy your time here at Oxstalls and attain your individual goals. This file has been provided for you to use as a record of your own development. Each course has identified areas of their teaching, learning and assessments which help you to develop different areas of your skill base. This is referred to as Personal Development Planning or PDP. There are several web pages on the University website which have been developed to help you these are detailed within this guide. There are also tools and systems where you can record your development electronically. These include pebblepad and some very useful guides and templates to help you build your portfolio. You can choose whichever method you feel more comfortable with or use a mixture. What you record and keep is up to you! Remember that employers are increasingly asking for evidence of your learning. This is an ideal way to illustrate some of your learning when you go to an interview for your first job. This may seem a long way off at the moment but will come round sooner than you think! The information contained in this guide is very general, as each course will have subject specific materials to help you in your chosen field of study. Your personal tutor / academic review tutor (ART) is your first point of contact for support as you become accustomed to life at University. I wish you Good Luck with your studies and hope you have fun whilst you study Best Wishes Sara Coleman Associate Dean Teaching & Learning NB. This guide will also be available online in the learning centre pages so that you can use the interactive links to reach the web based resources as you read this document. 1

3 What is it? PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING Personal Development Planning (PDP) is a significant activity for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the UK. PDP is a process which prompts you to reflect upon your development in a purposeful way, enabling you to gain maximum benefit from all the experiences university life offers you. PDP focuses on: The full range of situations in which you learn What you are learning How you are learning How successfully you are learning What skills and qualities you are developing through your learning Where your learning may take you. For further information consult the UMS or PMS handbook, Course Guides, and other sections of the university website The current website link to some resources is: 2

4 Why do it? If someone said to you, What s the point of doing a degree? Would you say: to get a high-level academic qualification? to find out more about a subject you like? to get a good job afterwards? to qualify yourself to enter a particular career? to have tangible proof of your academic ability? to develop your skills? to challenge yourself intellectually? to enjoy the freedom and excitements of student life? to acquire a well-trained mind? to give yourself time to mature before having to choose a career? to impress people? to.? What all these motivations have in common is a focus upon development. Most people hope that the experience of degree-level study will offer them opportunities and challenges which will help them to develop and grow. Participating in PDP will help you to clarify what you want to achieve whilst you are at university and to review your progress towards your goals. Where to go next? 3

5 Where are you now? Find this web page and take the interactive quiz: Skills Audit SIX sets of QUIZZES on key skill areas which are appropriate to undergraduate work as well as to later employment: Communication Skills Group and Interpersonal Skills Organisation and Personal Skills Research and Problem Solving Skills Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Skills Numerical Skills 4

6 How can PDP help me? Aspect of development activity progression Improved skill Academic progress Meetings with tutors and supervisors (dissertation) Facilitating progression within your course at the University Project / dissertation planning and design Prioritising time / work and preparing for exams Careers and employment Applying for jobs: giving evidence of your skills and development Helps in decision making and thinking creatively Obtaining good references Writing CVs Potential learning Vacation & summer travel; work based learning Recording experiences and reflecting on new skills Volunteering, placements and schools outreach Extracurricular activities (sport, choir, gym ) Personal support Meetings with your Personal Tutor / module Tutor Planning and goal setting; recording milestones Time management Personal Development 5

7 pebble PAD - an e portfolio All students have access to an online e portfolio Go to : An e portfolio can be defined as : a purposeful aggregation of digital items - ideas, evidence, reflections, feedback, data etc - which present a selected audience with information about the subject of that e portfolio. The information presented in an e portfolio may be for the purposes of: Assessment Accreditation; Application; Advancement; Appraisal; Articulation... and many other purposes Many students already use social learning web sites, pebblepad can be viewed as a bridge between social and academic learning by creating a personal learning space: Social Learning [?] Institutional Learning [?] 7 Bridging Learning [?] Personal Learning [?] Sutherland, 2007 Comment from a pebblepad user: I have also learnt how to use the pebblepad and webfolio which will be useful for the future. It is feels more rewarding seeing work set out in order with links and so on, on a webfolio than just paper. It is also easier for the reader as they can link straight to websites and jump back and forth from different research if they need to clarify something. Religious Studies Student (UoW) 6

8 This and the following pages give you two tools which you may find helpful in planning your work and development: SMART & SWOT SMART Goals When planning a piece of work or a project, some analysis of what you are planning and how you are going to go about completing the various stages may help you to be more successful in achieving your goals. Developing goals that are achievable will help you to be successful. Goals should be SMART - specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic and time-based. A goal might be to hold a weekly project meeting with the key members of your team / group. This tool is often used in a business environment but can equally well be applied to individual projects and group work. The acronym SMART has a number of slightly different variations, which can be used to provide a more comprehensive definition for goal setting: S - specific, significant, stretching M - measurable, meaningful, motivational A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable 7

9 When you next planning a project / piece of work take a moment to consider whether your goals are SMART goals. SMART Goals Specific Well defined Clear to anyone that has a basic knowledge of the project Measurable Know if the goal is obtainable and how far away completion is Know when it has been achieved Agreed Upon Agreement with all the stakeholders what the goals should be Realistic Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time Time Based Enough time to achieve the goal Not too much time, which can affect project performance ( book.cfm) 8

10 SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats SWOT analysis is widely used today in business and management, but is also useful as a tool for learning and personal development. It is a personal, subjective assessment of information organised into a logical order that helps understanding, presentation, discussion and decision-making. It fosters a clearer, more proactive way of thinking about a given situation, rather than relying on habitual and automatic responses to make decisions. (University of Cambridge 2008) 9

11 Here is an example relating to an assignment which was mainly about a literature search: Strengths Weaknesses Ability to work quickly and assimilate information I thought I knew how to search for specific items of literature. This search has really challenged my abilities to find the appropriate papers and to be selective in the process Opportunities Threats Risk of being drawn into irrelevant areas of literature searching Thinking I will be able to do the work in the timescale when in reality it took longer than I planned! (Appelby, Walshe et al 1995) Time- yet again, with several time consuming other assignments, it is very difficult to devote enough time to this one Holidays have reduced opportunities for me to talk things through with my tutor Happy Studying! 10