HIS5752 - Professional Development and Placement

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

- Demonstrate an understanding of the application of History, Public History, and English and History in the workplace.
- Reflect on and evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses across a range of key employability skills.
- Apply employability skills, including a level of enterprise and initiative, in the placement workplace and perform to a satisfactory standard.
- Write an action plan for developing employability skills. Research a future career and career plan, producing an action plan for gaining the further experience and qualifications required to enter that graduate career.

Content:

Semester 1: professional development and preparation for placement - a programme comprising of:

Introduction to Professional Development Planning and Placements at Level 5 Workshop sessions including:
- Careers in Heritage and Museums, Archives and Libraries, Education, commercial enterprise
- Applying for employment and post-graduate courses
- Team work
- Assessment centre tasks

Briefings on Careers and Employability Placement procedure, skills and preparation for Placement and assessment for module, e.g. successful blogging, writing the Report

Discussion with Placement Tutor

Semester 2: six-week placement - feedback and reflection - completion of diary (blog) and report; Group Conference on return to University from Placement and the Career Action Plan.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Learning and teaching takes place through tutor-led discussion amongst placement tutees, and through preparatory workshop sessions, covering: researching future careers (through Prospects website http://www.prospects.ac.uk/); production of curriculum vitas, including instruction on using CV Builder database by members of the Careers Service; practical activities exploring how to get a Placement, advice on the Placement experience and planning for this, blogging and the digital humanities. Individual tutorials with Placement Tutor/Progress Tutor are provided before the placement starts. Students to write a blog while on Placement (to feed into the final Report). A day conference will be held soon after students complete their placements.

Workshops
Hours: 12
Intended group size: 30

Tutorials
Hours: 0.5
Intended Group size: 1

Placement
Hours: 187.5

Further details relating to assessment
It is expected that students will maintain a blog to underpin the reflective Report; the first week's diary is important in allowing tutors to assess whether or not a student needs some form of additional support/intervention by the University and is therefore mandatory.
Employers submit their own report on the Placement (P/F) to the Placement Partnership Office for consideration, and thisis passed to the tutor supporting the student - this may be shared with student on completion of the module, in order for them to undertake further reflection re their skills for employability, (Employer does/does not give permission for this to happen).
The tutor who supported the student on placement normally marks the Placement Report.

Other relevant matters
Students may undertake a Placement abroad, as long as it is approved by the Placement Partnership Office - nb the University cannot pay for travel abroad.

Assessment:

001 Portfolio 1500 words end of semester one 30%
002 Placement Pass/Fail 0%
003 Placement report 3000 words by end of placement 70%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Prof. Maureen Meikle
Level - 5
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 5YL