Notes for the course module "Learning to Reflect".
| Site: | Wattle |
| Course: | COMP8715 - Computing Project - Semester 1 2019 |
| Book: | Notes: Learning to Reflect |
| Printed by: | Tom Worthington |
| Date: | Thursday, 27 June 2019, 12:07 PM |
This is version 1.1 of a design for a learning module. See latest version. For more information, see " Shorter Learning Module for Teaching Students to a Write Job Application ". This material is by Tom Worthington, under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, except where sources are quoted. Students of ANU "Computing Project" (course COMP8715), should refer to the version provided by the university. A Moodle backup file including all course materials, and quiz questions, is available to instructors on request, from the author.
These are the notes for the Work Portfolio Package (WPP) module of ANU Computing Project graduate 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.
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.
Mark: 2% quizzes + 4% forums + 14% assignments = 20% of course assessment.
Late submission of assessment is not accepted.
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.
An eBook is supplied with the course. In addition,
from ANU Academic Skills: Reflective
writing, reflective
essays, learning
journals. From ANU Careers:, cover
letters, addressing
selection criteria, resumes, and ANU Careers Guide (2018).
ANU also provides samples of cover letters, selection criteria, and resumes for students.
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.
ANU Wattle is used. Students and instructor will use the Moodle Learning Management system tools in Wattle:
Dialogue for one-to-one communication.
Forum for group communication and discussion.
Quiz tool for quizzes.
Workshop for assignments.
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?
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."
From Annex III - Glossary of terms, p. 324, Erasmus+ Programme Guide, European Commission, 2019.
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:
As well as formal coursework, universities offer a range of co-curricular activities for students.
co-curricular [adjective, North American]:
Some co-curricular activities offered through ANU Student Experience are:
Undergraduate Research Journal: Publishes essays by ANU undergraduates. Students gain experience in the scholarly publication process of peer review and editing.
Universities offer programs for students to gain skills as entrepreneurs. ANU sponsors First Wednesday Connect, and InnovationACT.
Universities also offer free online courses. The ANU offers courses through the edX Consortium. Topics include technology management, and marketing.
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.
From: Cockburn, Carver, Shirley, and Davies (p. 71, 2007)
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 define selection 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):
As included in the WPP:"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."
From "Applying for an APS job: cracking the code", Australian Public Service Commission, 2018.
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 Research Support Officer at the XYZ Bank, 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 the newsletter from these internal stakeholders and my own manager. I received a divisional achievement award for the quality of the newsletter. Importantly, this initiative resulted in improved lines of communication between managers and the Research Support Unit."
From "Applying for an APS job: cracking the code", Australian Public Service Commission, 2018.
ANU Careers categorize selection criteria into:
Behaviourally-based questions - example: "'Proven teamwork/leadership skills".
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.
Complete online Quiz 1 now.
Describe an example from you own experience in terms of STAR-L: Situation, Task, Action, Result, and lessons Learnt.
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).
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.
Three reflective questions for any position are:
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:
In your WPP you are expected to exhibit Critical Reflection.
Tasks
Job Titles
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.
Specialisations: Communications Programmer (Systems), Database Developer, Database Programmer (Systems), Network Programmer, Software Developer, Software Programmer
Software Engineer, Architect, or Designer
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."
Reflective writing, ANU Careers, 2018
Cover letters, Structure, Style and practicalities, ANU Careers, 2018
Resumes, Types of resume, Resume structure, and Effective writing styles, ANU Careers, 2018
Please complete online Quiz 2 now.
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
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.
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.
| 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. |
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.
Selection Criteria
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.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).
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.
| 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 |
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.
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?"
From Sadler, p. 60, 2013.
General announcements while students set up the room.
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.
Discuss your answers to this week's forum questions.
Bring
along your draft assignment, ask for feedback from your group. Be
prepared to put it up on the big screen for group feedback.
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.
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 the selection criterion: " written communication skills":
"As Research Support Officer at the XYZ Bank, 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 the newsletter from these internal stakeholders and my own manager. I received a divisional achievement award for the quality of the newsletter. Importantly, this initiative resulted in improved lines of communication between managers and the Research Support Unit."
From "Applying for an APS job: cracking the code", Australian Public Service Commission, 2018. Australian Public Service Commission, 2018. URL https://www.apsc.gov.au/fact-sheet-5-addressing-selection-criteria
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).
The ANU TechLauncher program, of which the Computing Project graduate 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 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.
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."
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.
Here is an example posting reminder message:
Answers to Topic 1 Questions Due WednesdayThis 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.
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 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.
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.
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 ...."
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.