This is version 0.2 of a design for a course. It is a draft not intended for use. See latest version. For more informaion, see " Shorter Learning Module for Teaching Students to a Write Job Application ",
Higher Education Whisperer, Wednesday, February 13, 2019. This material is by Tom Worthington, under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, except where sources are quoted.
These are the notes for the Work Portfolio Package (WPP) module of ANU Computing Projectgraduate course (COMP8715).
These notes contain content intended for instructors, as well as students, to be used in conjunction with online exercises, and face-to-face workshops. Students will be prompted by the ANU Wattle Learning Management System, as to which parts to read, when.
The module is designed to help students to develop capabilities expected of
working professionals to identify their development needs, how they will
acquire these and to reflect on what they have learned.
Learning Outcomes
The module is aligned with two of the outcomes for the course:
3. "learn any specific technical skills required by their topic, and apply them to project work.
4. apply and deepen skills in oral and written communication, and apply these in a project context."
From Computing Project, Course COMP8715, ANU, 2019. URL https://programsandcourses.anu.edu.au/course/comp8715
Indicative Assessment
Two online quizzes, 1% per quiz. Contributions to two discussion forums, 2 per
forum. Two assignments, 7% per assignment. Peer feedback from
students in the forums, and the first assignment, will be taken into
account in grading by the examiners.
For each quiz
students will answer three to five questions, with multiple choice
and short answers. The quizzes will be automatically marked by the
system. Questions will be randomly selected from a question
bank, with ordering of multiple choice answers randomized.
For each forum students will be asked to answer two or three
set questions with a few sentences (the questions are listed in the notes at the end of each part). Students are then asked to reply to the post by another student.
Students will then give ratings for the answer (0, 1, or 2). The Instructor will provide a mark for each student, taking into account the
student ratings.
For each assignment students will be
given a question and a marking rubric. After submitting their own
answer, for the first assignment, students will rate three others using the rubric, and provide
feedback. The instructor will review the student feedback, making any
changes needed. The examiner will then allocate 90% of the grade for the
student's work and 10% for their feedback. For the last assignment students are not required to rate or provide
feedback.
Four hours of student learning time, consisting
of participation in online forums and assessment activities. A one
hour face-to-face workshop is provided to assist with each
assignment.
The course consists of two parts, one topic per
part, with one quiz, forum, and assignment, for each:
Learn. The student identifies skills they have, what they require, and how to acquire them. Assignment task is to address a typical set of selection criteria for a position.
Report and reflect. The student
deepen skills in oral and written communication. Assignment task is to prepare an
application for a real position, revising the responses to selection criteria from the previous assignment.
Communication platform
ANU Wattle is used. Students and instructor will use the Moodle Learning Management system
tools in Wattle:
In this first of two parts, you will investigate what you need to learn for your project, and long
term for your career.
The aim is to prepare you to be a professional in your field, which includes the ability to take responsibility for your
future professional development.
Learning Goals
In a group
project you are undertaking one or more roles as a team member. This
requires technical and professional skills. What skills will you need,
which you do not already have? Where will you obtain these skills?
Co-curricular Programs
Part
of being a professional is assessing if you have the skills needed for a
job, and going about gaining skills needed. This is commonly called Lifelong learning.Development relevant to maintaining and expanding skills in a specific job or discipline is Professional Development.
The European Commission (EC) defines Lifelong learning as:
"...
all general education, vocational education and training, non-formal
learning and informal learning undertaken throughout life, resulting in
an improvement in knowledge, skills and competences or participation in
society within a personal, civic, cultural, social and/or
employment-related perspective, including the provision of counselling
and guidance services."
The
Australian Computer Society (ACS), uses a narrower range of topics for
its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program.
"CPD hours should be balanced and tailored to your career path, taking into
consideration competencies to date and future interests. Some examples
include:
Formal study – completing subjects from ACS education programs, university, TAFE and other providers
Learning activities – undertaking structured training, short courses
ICT forums – attending ACS Branch Forums, Special Interest Groups, industry conferences
Self-directed learning – reading industry journals or blogs, reviewing online resources
Contribute to the ICT profession – volunteering with ACS working groups and Branch Executive Committees, presenting conference papers, academic research."
ANU Learning Communities:
Five student led organisations for areas of common interest: creative
arts, cultures, global challenges, history, and sustainability.
Set4ANU Program: volunteer program to support new students, including mentoring.
Student Research Conference: A student-led conference for Undergraduate, Honours and Masters by coursework ANU students from all disciplines.
Undergraduate Research Journal:
Publishes essays by ANU undergraduates. Students gain experience in the
scholarly publication process of peer review and editing.
ANU's Student Experience and Career Development unit suggests using the STAR approach for responding to selection criteria.
Cockburn, Carver, Shirley, and Davies (p. 71, 2007), discuss an
expanded STAR-L approach used at Queensland University of Technology
(QUT): Situation, Task, Action, Result, and lessons Learnt.
"Situation - The situation is the context in which the experience occurred. ...
Task - The task is what was actually required of you in the situation. ...
Action - Action refers to the steps that you personally took in response to the task. ...
Result - Result refers to the outcome of your actions. How
did your actions contribute to the completion of the task? How did your
actions affect the final outcome of the situation? ...
Learnt - Learnt refers to the things you have learned from
the experience. Highlight any skills or abilities that you have
developed or improved as a result of the experience. ..."
From: Cockburn, Carver, Shirley, and Davies (p. 71, 2007)
You will be asked to apply STAR-L in developing your WPP.
Responding to Selection Criteria
In the first assignment you are required to prepare a statement
addressing the selection criteria for a typical position (you will then refine this in the final assignment).
The ANU Careers defineselection criteria as "... the qualifications, skills, personal attributes
and performance standards needed to perform the duties listed on the
duty statement/position description." For computing positions the selection criteria are usually explicitly listed. The may be divided into categories, such as essential and desirable. Your response to selection criteria may duplicate information provided in the CV.
The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) examples of selection criteria:
An example of using STAR to the first of these criteria (communication):
"Situation – role as Research Support Officer at Department of XYZ
Task – needed to ensure that managers were kept informed of policies and procedures
Action or approach – initiated monthly newsletter,
which was emailed to each manager. Took responsibility for writing the
main articles. This involved obtaining ideas and input from other
stakeholders to ensure that the articles reflected managers’ needs (in
terms of content and language)
Result – led to improved lines of communication
between managers and the Research Support Unit. Feedback was
consistently excellent. Received divisional achievement award for
newsletter quality."
The APSC did not use the expanded STAR-L. Adding Learning to this might give, for example:
"Learning - While experienced in the preparation of newsletter content, needed to learn the use of the department's WIZZO social media tool. This required not only learning technical aspects, but group online working."
As included in the WPP:
"I possess strong written communication skills, which I have developed over the course of my career. ...
As Research Support Officer at the Department of XYZ, I needed to ensure
that managers were kept informed of policies and procedures. To do
this, I initiated a monthly newsletter, which was emailed to each
manager. I took responsibility for writing the main articles in each
publication. This involved obtaining ideas and input from other
stakeholders to ensure that the articles reflected the needs of
managers, both in terms of content and language. I received consistently
excellent feedback in relation to this newsletter from these internal
clients and my own manager. I received a divisional achievement award
for the quality of this newsletter from management. Importantly, this
initiative resulted in improved lines of communication between managers
and the Research Support Unit."
Communication skills, teamwork and interpersonal skills are the top three criteria assessed by Australian employers (as reported in the AAGE Employer Survey, p. 48, 2019).
General questions - example: "Outline your relevant postgraduate qualifications". Provide more details, and highlight what is most relevant from your CV.
Behaviourally-based questions - example: "'Proven teamwork/leadership skills". Use an example from your experience to answer this question.
As discussed previously, ANU Careers use the STAR approach for responding to selection criteria.
Cockburn, Carver, Shirley, and Davies (p. 71, 2007), discuss an
expanded STAR-L approach used at Queensland University of Technology
(QUT): Situation, Task, Action, Result, and lessons Learnt.
"Situation - The situation is the context in which the experience occurred. ...
Task - The task is what was actually required of you in the situation. ...
Action - Action refers to the steps that you personally took in response to the task. ...
Result - Result refers to the outcome of your actions. How
did your actions contribute to the completion of the task? How did your
actions affect the final outcome of the situation? ...
Learnt - Learnt refers to the things you have learned from
the experience. Highlight any skills or abilities that you have
developed or improved as a result of the experience. ..."
From: Cockburn, Carver, Shirley, and Davies (p. 71, 2007)
The expanded STAR-L, with "Learnt" is used here, as being aware of the skills and abilities you have
developed is part of being a professional. In the assignment you will be required to document what you have learned from co-curricular activities.
Previously in part one, you set learning goals and selected ways to achieve these. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, distinguish between self-directed/required, and informal/formal learning:
"Self-directed (autonomous) development in an informal environment
Keeping up to date on industry news and events by reading relevant publications
Taking a walking tour of an historical area (e.g., Gettysburg, PA)
Self-directed (autonomous) development in a formal environment
Taking an online course outside of the workplace to expand relevant knowledge base
Taking a photography class
Required (mandated) development in an informal environment
Receiving mentoring by a more experienced colleague to learn a job-required skill
Reviewing company policy related to job-specific topics
Required (mandated) development in a formal environment
Participating in annual employment-wide training to adhere to human resources policies at work
Answer these questions in Forum 1 now. Then discuss and rate your fellow student's answers.
Describe an example from you own experience in terms of STAR-L: Situation, Task, Action, Result, and lessons Learnt.
Report progress on achieving the learning goals you set previously. What have you started? What is going well? What has proved to not be appropriate and why? What categories of learning (self-directed/required, and informal/formal learning) did you attempt?
Assignment
Start work on Assignment 1 now. Bring your
draft to Workshop 1, along with your forum posts and be prepared to
discuss your work.
In this second and last part, you will reflect on what you have learned. The assignment task is to select a real position to prepare an
application cover letter for, and revise the responses to selection criteria prepared in assignment 1, and other parts.
The cover letter introduces the applicant (you), explains why you want the position, and your most relevant qualifications, skills and experience. The cover letter should be prepared last, but placed first, before the curriculum vitae (CV). A CV, or resume, is an
overview of a person's experience and qualifications (see "Resumes", from ANU Careers, for more details).
Reflective writing
Unlike the group work carried out for your project, the an
application cover letter, responses to selection criteria and a CV are individual. This work needs to be reflective, it is about how you can fit the role being applied for, and how you have faced challenges and learned from them. Baruah, Ward and Jackson (2017), found that a final assessment in the form of an individual reflective essay was useful for students having undertaken a teamwork project. However, students of this course previously found reflective writing too abstract, so the task was changed to an application for a position, incorporating reflection.
In preparing your cover letter you may choose to highlight something you have learned during your studies. This may not be something planned, or part of the formal curriculum.
Cajander, Daniels, Peters and McDermott (2014) describe four Levels of Reflection:
Descriptive Writing: The student simply describes experience without significant attempts at analysis. Although essentially non-reflective, it can nevertheless serve as a foundation for later, more complex activity.
Descriptive Reflection: The student attempts to provide reasons for their learning experiences based upon quasi-reflective personal judgements.
Dialogic Reflection: The student enters into a personal discourse to explore possible reasons for observed outcomes.
Critical Reflection: In this context, critical reflection was taken to be demonstrated by the elaboration of reasons for personal learning decisions and experiences which takes into account a mature understanding of the psychological and pedagogical factors affecting the learning process.
In your WPP you are expected to exhibit Critical Reflection.
Searching for Positions Available
Like other universities, the ANU lists current job opportunities. Commercial jobs search sites, such as Seek, have thousands of positions offered. You need to search for positions suited to your experience, qualifications and ambition.
For those interested in further study, or research, universities list both internal scholarships provided by the institution and those provided by organizations. ANU has a Scholarships for Computer Science and Engineering students. An example is the Data61 Scholarship, in areas such as Analytics, Cyber-Physical Systems, Software and Computational Systems and Decision Sciences.
For those interested in setting up a business, start-up centres off programs, and grants. The Canberra Innovation Network, which has ANU as a founding member, lists programs and grants available to local entrepreneurs, including ANU students.
The Australian Government's Job Outlook website lists job titles, tasks and skills. Computing related jobs include Software and Applications Programmers, describing tasks, job titles, and specializations.
"Software and Applications
Programmers design, develop, test, maintain and document program code in
accordance with user requirements, and system and technical
specifications.
A Bachelor Degree or higher, or
at least 5 years of relevant experience, or relevant vendor
certification is usually needed. Around three quarters of workers have a
university degree. Sometimes experience or on-the-job training is
needed in addition to a qualification.
Tasks
researching, consulting, analysing and evaluating system program needs
identifying technology limitations and deficiencies in existing systems and associated processes, procedures and methods
testing,
debugging, diagnosing and correcting errors and faults in an
applications programming language within established testing protocols,
guidelines and quality standards to ensure programs and applications
perform to specification
writing and maintaining program code to
meet system requirements, system designs and technical specifications
in accordance with quality accredited standards
writing, updating and maintaining technical program, end user documentation and operational procedures
providing
advice, guidance and expertise in developing proposals and strategies
for software design activities such as financial evaluation and costings
for recommending software purchases and upgrades
Job Titles
Analyst Programmer (or Programmer Analyst)
Developer Programmer
Software Engineer, Architect, or Designer
Software Tester
Analyst Programmer (or Programmer Analyst)
Analyses
user needs, produces requirements documentation and system plans, and
encodes, tests, debugs, maintains and documents programs and
applications.
Developer Programmer (Applications Developer, ICT Developer, or ICT Programmer)
Interprets
specifications, technical designs and flow charts, builds, maintains
and modifies the code for software applications, constructs technical
specifications from a business functional model, and tests and writes
technical documentation.
Designs, develops, modifies, documents, tests, implements, installs and supports software applications and systems.
Specialisations: Computer Applications Engineer, Database Designer, Systems Architect
Software Tester
Specifies,
develops and writes test plans and test scripts, produces test cases,
carries out regression testing, and uses automated test software
applications to test the behaviour, functionality and integrity of
computer software, and documents the results of tests in defect reports
and related documentation."
From Job Outlook, Australian Government, 2019. URL https://joboutlook.gov.au/Occupation.aspx?search=Career&code=2613
Please answer these questions online in Forum 2 now. Then discuss and rate your fellow student's answers.
What position do you propose to apply for? Check to see if someone has already posted this position, and if so, choose another. Provide a brief summary, and hypertext link for your selection.
Give examples of how your formal coursework, and co-curricular studies help you answer any, or all, of these questions: Can you do the job? Do you want to do the job? Do you fit into the culture?
Assignment
Start work on Assignment 2 now. Bring your draft
to Workshop 2, along with your forum posts, and be prepared to discuss
your work.
References
Baruah, B., Ward, T., & Jackson,
N. (2017, July). Is reflective writing an effective peer assessment tool
for students in Higher Education?. In Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET), 2017 16th International Conference on (pp. 1-6). IEEE. URL https://doi.org/10.1109/ITHET.2017.8067802
Cajander, Å., Daniels, M., Peters, A.
K., & McDermott, R. (2014, October). Critical thinking,
peer-writing, and the importance of feedback. In 2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings (pp. 1-7). IEEE. URL https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2014.7044234
Appendixes
Assessment
Quizzes
Students answer three to five questions, with multiple choice
and short answers. The quizzes are automatically marked by the
system. Questions are randomly selected from a question
bank, with ordering of multiple choice answers randomized.
Forums
Students are be asked to answer two or three
set questions with a few sentences and then reply to another student (the questions are listed in the notes at the end of each part).
Students then give ratings for the answer (0, 1, or 2). The instructor will provide a mark for each student, taking into account the
student ratings.
Grading
Numerical Mark
Standard
2
Greater than expectation:
Work of good quality, displaying an understanding of the subject matter
and a grasp of relevant skills that is above average: all questions
answered and at least one reply to another student's posting on each
topic.
1
At expectation: Work of satisfactory quality, which
displays an adequate understanding of most of the subject matter and a
sufficient grasp of relevant skills: most questions were answered, and
at least one reply to another student's posting on each topic.
0
Limited contribution:
Work which is incomplete or displays an inadequate understanding of the
subject matter or an inadequate grasp of relevant skills. Few or no
postings to the forums, or postings with content which not acceptable.
In particular material which is not correctly referenced, or cited.
Assignments
The student prepares a Work Portfolio Package (WPP) in two stages. The WPP is an application for a position, built primarily around the student's recent learning experience. For
the first assignments details of a position to apply for are be provided. For the final assignment the student must find a position to apply for, and revise their work from the previous assignment to suit this. Before each assignment there is a set of notes, readings, a quiz, a forum, and a workshop to prepare the student.
Assignments
Assignment 1: Address Selection Criteria
Prepare a statement
addressing the supplied selection criteria (typically 200-250 words
per criterion). The submit one PDF file.
Replace your name, contact details, and any other identifying information in the
submission with asterisks. After submitting this you will be allocated the
assignments of three other students to review. 90% of your mark will be for the
assignment submitted, and 10% for the quality of the reviews.
Selection Criteria
Experience
with project tools, such as github, bitbucket, cloudstor, Slack,
Discord, Mattermost, coveralls, Chef, trello, zenhub, pivotal and jira.
Experience programming in SLYN-HO (Some Language You Never Heard Of).
Good interpersonal and liaison skills, including the initiative,
drive and flexibility to achieve results and describe a time when you
were faced with a task or problem.
How did you go about understanding and defining the task or problem?
What skills and techniques did you use to identify and analyse appropriate sources of data?
How did you use this data, including underlying issues, to identify appropriate solutions.
Capable of self-managing and directing your energy and effort productively and efficiently.
Ability to work effectively both independently and in a small team, without direct supervision.
For the first assignment, after submitting you will be provided with three from other students to provide feedback on. This is to help you better understand how to write a WPP. Read each submission, rate the work using the rubric provided, and write brief comments (no more than 100 words in total). Do not include your name, or any other identification. Try to make positive
comments, rather than just negative. Offer suggestions for improvement.
Where there are numerous errors (such as in grammar), just point out the
first, don't correct them all. This feedback will be taken into account by the examiner, along with the instructor's input, in determining a mark for the assignment.
Ten percent of your mark for the first two assignments will be for the quality of your feedback.
Assignment 2: Prepare a Complete WPP
The student
reflects on what they have learned. Assignment task is to prepare an
application cover letter, and revise the other parts prepared
previously.
Task:
Select a real position to apply for. Prepare a cover letter (1-page),
you can reuse content from your forum postings. Revise
your CV, and the statement addressing the selection criteria prepared in the first assignment, for the position, and add 2-pages of Supplementary material (work
product).
Marking Rubric
Both assignments use the same marking rubric, with a seven point scale. There
are four criteria corresponding to parts of the WPP: CV, Selection
Criteria, Covering Letter, and Supporting Evidence, plus six
professional approach criteria, applicable to all.
Marking Rubric
Overall Impression
Low
mid-point
High
Covering Letter:
One page - look for contact details and qualifications; is it addressed
and signed appropriately; have they said who they are and what they are
applying for (job title, and where and when it was advertised); do they
indicate they can do the job and will be a good fit for the company;
are they showing passion for the job; are they proactive about getting
to interview.
Weak
☹
-1
0
+1
☺
Strong
CV:
Two pages - look for their name and contact details; qualifications;
professional memberships (eg. ACS, EA); skills and attributes; awards
and certifications; relevant work experience; other work experience
(including volunteering); referees
Weak
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Strong
Selection Criteria:
Look for the use of a model for addressing selection criteria. eg.
Situation/Action/Outcome (SAO) or Situation/Task/Actions/Results (STAR).
That is, what have they written to demonstrate their ability to meet
the criterion. Look for effective use of transferrable skills to address
criterion.
Ignored
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Strong Coverage
Supporting Evidence:
This is material that will not normally be included in a job
application. However, it will help students prepare for questions that
may come up during interview. We're not looking for code etc. here.
Instead, we are looking for evidence of outcomes and results.
None
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Appropriate
Professional Approach
PA1 Evidence of decision-making:
Selection criteria will usually include something around analytical
skills and problem solving (which require effective decision making).
Has the student addressed such criteria with evidence. Have they
demonstrated an ability to learn from failure. Select N/A if there are
no applicable selection criteria.
No evidence
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺
clear evidence
PA2 Maturity of reflection:
Demonstrated learning from mistakes or failure. Not blaming others.
Describing what they learned not what they did. Transferring lessons
from one situation to another
Not reflective
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Transformational
PA3 Professional tone:
Professional language, no emails like "smartass@gmail.com", appropriate
addressing (no, "Hi there ...") and signature blocks (no 'Thanks, ...)
on covering letter, respectful but clear.
Not acceptable
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Professional
PA4 Evidence of life-long learning:
It is unlikely that students will have the direct experience necessary
to cover all selection criteria. So, look for demonstrated ability and
interest in learning new things (perhaps based on transferable skills) -
thus indicating a positive approach to life-long learning
No evidence
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Clear evidence
PA5 Acting on feedback:
Look for selection criteria related to how people respond to others.
Look for examples of how students have responded to feedback.
Not clear
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Clear
PA6 Professional attitude: This may be covered in selection criteria but is more likely to be addressed in the covering letter.
Negative
☹️
-1
0
+1
☺️
Positive
Rubric based on "Work Portfolio Package: Marking criteria", ANU Techlauncher, 2018.
Submission
method
One PDF file is to be submitted for each assignment. The
submission are to be anonymous, with the student's name, and any
other identifiers replaced with asterisks. For the first assignment students will be
allocated three assignments to provide ratings and peer comments on. The final
grade will be decided by the instructor, with 90% allocated for the
work and 10% for the feedback. The second assignment does not require peer comments.
Workshop Format
A fifty minute workshop will be held for each of the two topics.
Please note this is not a lecture,
it is a hands-on, face-to-face, on campus activity. Read the notes, and readings for topic,
complete the quiz, post your answers to the forum, and start work on the
assignment, before attending.
Bring along your
answers to the forum questions, and your draft for the next assignment.
Students sit in groups of four to six. First discuss a topic as a group
then select a representative to relate findings (or ask questions) of
the whole room.
Be prepared to express your view of the quality of the work of your fellow students. This is a less formal assessment than the numerical scale used for the forums, or the marking rubric for the assignments. There are no marks awarded for the workshops.
"What do you react or respond to as you read it? How does it come over?"
General announcements while students set up the room.
Part 2, General Questions (10 minutes)
Students
can ask for clarification on administrative, content and assessment
questions. Groups first discuss the question and if they are not sure
of the answer it can be put to the whole room.
Part 3, Forum Questions (10 minutes)
Discuss your answers to this week's forum questions.
Part 4, Assignment Master Class (10 minutes)
Bring
along your draft assignment, ask for feedback from your group. Be
prepared to put it up on the big screen for group feedback.
Part 5, Wrap-up (10 Minutes)
Any concluding remarks by students and instructors.
Note:
WiFi and electronic display screens will usually be available. However,
students should bring an off-line copy of their answers to the
discussion forums, and draft assignment, as a backup.
Reference
Sadler, D. R. (2013) 'Opening up feedback: Teaching learners to see'. In Merry, S., Price, M., Carless, D., & Taras, M. (Eds.) Reconceptualising Feedback in Higher Education: developing dialogue with students. (Ch. 5, 54-63). London: Routledge. URL http://www.innovativeconservatoire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Sadler-%E2%80%93-Opening-up-feedback-Teaching-learners-to-see-%E2%80%93-Publication-2013.pdf
Example Addressing Selection Criteria
Example addressing the selection criterion: " written communication skills":
"I possess strong written communication skills, which I have developed over the course of my career. ...
As Research Support Officer at the Department of
XYZ, I needed to ensure that managers were kept informed of policies and procedures. To do this, I initiated a monthly newsletter, which was emailed to each manager. I took responsibility for writing the main articles in each publication. This involved obtaining ideas and
input from other stakeholders to ensure that the articles reflected the needs of managers, both in terms of content and language. I received consistently excellent feedback in relation to this newsletter from these internal clients and my own manager. I received a divisional achievement award for the quality of this newsletter
from management. Importantly, this initiative resulted in improved lines of communication between managers and the Research Support Unit."
This module is designed for on-line learning supported by a instructor, with supplementary face-to-face workshops (blended learning). It uses a conventional Distance Education (DE) design and educational philosophy (Worthington, 2012).
Background
The ANU TechLauncher program, of which the Computing Projectgraduate course (COMP8715) forms a part, has been well
received by students, professional bodies, and organizations the
students work with. However, some students have had
difficulty completing the last assessment item for the course: the Work
Portfolio Package (WPP). To address these difficulties, this module provides tow sets of small tasks in the middle and towards the end of the course, to build student's skills and
confidence. The final WPP produced is the same, but developed in
two stages.
The ANU's Wattle Learning Management System is used to deliver most of the
structured leaning. This is supplemented by a series of face-to-face workshops.
The learning is broken into two parts, each with flipped classroom
learning. The student will study material online individually, then
complete an online quiz, and post to a discussion forum. The students
then can take part in the face-to-face workshop. After each workshop they
will complete an assignment.
To help keep students on task, there is progressive assessment in the
units. To aid reflective learning, students will provide peer feedback
on forums, and the first assignment. An instructor provides advice to the
students. However, final grading of the student is undertaken by the
examiner for the course.
Before the Course Starts
Before the date for commencement of the course, the instructor should
check for any updates or corrections needed to the e-book of course
notes and the course web page.
The instructor should ensure their photo, name and link to a biography are displayed on the top of the course web page.
The course notes contain hypertext links which need to be checked. The Internet Archive is a good place to look for on-line documents no longer available at their original location.
The course notes, assignments and activities are are available to the
students from the start of the course. The instructor needs to check the dates each activity, and issue reminders before each activity.
When the Module Starts
The instructor should post a welcome message to the Announcements Forum, to
introduce themselves, outline the module (particularly the assessment)
and invite students to introduce themselves in the chat room.
Here is an example welcome message:
Welcome to Learning to Reflect
Welcome to Learning to Reflect, I am your instructor for this module, Tom Worthington. You can contact me via the Dialogue tool in Wattle.
You will find materials on the course web page. There
is an e-book with a chapter for each of the topics, a
description of the assignments, and activities.
For each topic you need to read the notes. There is a short quiz for each topic, to help with
understanding of the material (this also counts towards your grade). Then answer two or three questions in an on-line forum (by
replying to my posting of the question) and discuss them with your
fellow students. Give each posting a rating. Feedback
and a mark will be provided.
Do not attempt to start the assignments now. The readings and activities are designed to give you the background for the assignments.
Your first task, if you wish to do so (not for assessment), is to
introduce yourself to your fellow students on-line in the chat-room.
Forums
You will see a separate forum posting with the first topic's questions (for
assessment). You only need to write a couple of sentences in answer to
each question.
Assessment
Proposed assessment is detailed in the assessment section of the e-book. All assessment is to be submitted on time, apart from special consideration for illness or other causes. Any comments on the assessment are welcome."
First Topic
For the first topic you will need to remind students that they need to
answer questions in the forum. Students not used to on-line learning can tend to forget to do
the work, this even applies to experienced adult learners.
Posting Reminder
Here is an example posting reminder message:
Answers to Topic 1 Questions Due Wednesday
This is a reminder that there are questions for you to answer by this Wednesday in the Topic 1 Discussion Forum.
You first need to read the notes for Topic 1 in the eBook. There is a Topic 1 Quiz
to help with understanding of the material (this does count toward the
assessment). Then answer the questions in an on-line forum (by
replying to my posting of the question) and discuss them
with your fellow students. Rate the answers from
your fellow students. Feedback and a mark will then be provided.
Each Topic
For each topic the instructor needs to prime the discussion forum, provide group summary and feedback at the end,
any individual feedback. It is important for the feedback to be accompanied by marks, so the students pay attention to it. Lastly remind the students of what is in the next topic.
Start The Topic Discussion
Start a thread of discussion for each question asked in the notes (listed at the end of each chapter in the e-book). Copy and paste the question from the e-book. There is no need to expand on it.
Students can then reply to this post with their answers.
Approaches to tutoring on-line vary. This module has been
designed to have extensive scaffolding provided to the students, so that
after asking the questions, it should not be necessary for instructors to participate in the discussions. instructors should only have to
intervene if there is no discussion (rarely a problem), or if a student
posts inappropriate or incorrect information (usually corrected by other
students).
If a student is not participating, or posting inappropriate material, it may be better to contact that student individual, than via the forum. Students may need suggestions as to what and how to post.
Provide Individual Marks and Feedback
The general feedback to the class should be sufficient in most cases. Students who are having difficult may benefit from a couple of lines of individual feedback.
Use the grading system to examine forum ratings and quiz result for
each student. You can have the students sorted from lowest to highest
grade to identify those who need assistance. Examine some of the forum
postings from low performing students, and
adjust this in the grade book if necessary to arrive at your mark for
the student. Find a posting to praise, before identifying deficiencies. Then examine the work of a sample of other students (about 5%).
Here are some feedback sentences to use:
Well done. Your post on ...
Your initial responses to the questions were not made by the deadline. ...
You answered the questions by did not post any replies to other students. ...
You do not appear to have made any contributions to the forum. Do you need some assistance?
You do not appear to have attempted the quiz. Do you need some assistance?
The system indicates that you are a student in this module.
There are forums which students are required to post
contributions to. You do not appear to have made any
contributions for the first two topics. These forums are designed to
help with your study. Please let me know if I can be of assistance. You
can contact me via the system, by e-mail, telephone, or book a time to
visit my office.
As mentioned previously, you do not appear to have made any
contributions to forums. I have asked the Course Convenor to contact you to
see if there is a problem with your enrollment in this course.
Your posting about ___ (___ PM) appears to use text copied from ___
but without being marked as a quote. The ANU Academic Skills and
Learning Centre has on-line documents and courses to assist with this.
Keep in mind that failure to cite sources can result in a reduced mark
(down to zero) and disciplinary action under the ANU Code of Practice
for Student Academic Integrity.
General Feedback
Post feedback to the weekly forum for all students. This should
tell the students where to find their individual feedback (if any), what the
average mark was, some tips and introduce the following topic. You
may also include some item of general interest, but keep the posting
short (two to three hundred words). In the first topic
the feedback is likely to be on administrative matters rather than the content.
Here is an example weekly feedback message:
General Feedback
Your mark for the topic is now available in the grade-book. Some will also have a comment or suggestion on your forum
postings. The average mark was 1 "At expectation".
Three students were graded at 2 (greater than expectation). Four
students made limited, or no, contributions and so their mark was zero.
Please keep in mind that the reader may see your post out of context,
so if you are replying to something briefly tell us what it is, not just
"I agree". Also remember when you use words, or an idea, from someone
else you are required to cite that source. This was covered in the
Professional Communications courses which most students have done
(further assistance is available from the ANU Academic Skills & Learning Centre).
For Topic 2 ...
You might like to attend ...."
Assignments
Assignments are important, but stressful, for
students. Students can be reluctant to start, and so include a reminder in the feedback. Also it is useful to explicitly remind students that
the weekly forum questions are designed to help with the assignments, and
then can use the material they contributed in the forums, to prepare their assignment.
The assignments include a marking rubric. Students first use this to provide feedback to their fellow student. The instructor then uses this to propose a mark for the examiner to approve.
The assignment system will automatically allocate three students to provide feedback, and also calculate a quality mark for the students' feedback.
The instructor should select a rating, and
make one or two sentences of comment against each of the criteria in the
rubric.
It is generally not necessary,
or useful, to make notations on the student's submission. Where the instructor needs to make a detailed notation, they should only make it on the
first occurrence of the problem in the assignment. In particular instructors
should not correct all of the grammatical errors in an assignment.
Students who have difficulty with writing should be referred
for specialist assistance, as it is not the role of the course instructor to
teach this.
Along with the individual assignment feedback
to students a report should be posted to the course forum, with the
average mark, a breakdown of marks and issues identified.
Here is an example assignment feedback message:
Results for Assignment 1
The results for Assignment 1 have been released. The average mark was 62% (Credit):
Results for Assignment 1
Grade
Number
High Distinction
6
Distinction
0
Credit
2
Pass
2
Fail
3
Some problem areas for the assignment were:
Not Answering the question: ...
No Detail: ...
ps: As the topics and forum questions, are designed to prepare you for the assignments. You can use what you wrote in the forums as part of your assignment.