PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS EXPERIENCES OF WORK PLACEMENTS

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PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS EXPERIENCES OF WORK
PLACEMENTS
Jacqui Akhurst and Fiona Paton, York St John
University College
Project partially funded by Higher Education
Academy Employability funding
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• Outline
• Background to the study
• Survey of differing practices
• Students experiences of year-long placements
• Comparison of findings to those from CEBE
• Potential future directions

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Background to the study

• Graduate employability increasingly becoming a
  concern in HE
• Generic work done in the LTSN, followed by a
  report in early 2005
• Need to explore more of the specifics of
  Work-based learning / work placements in
  psychology

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Erauts (2005) work

• Early career learning at work and its
  implications for teachers of Higher Education
• A longitudinal study of the learning of
  Accountants, Engineers and Nurses at the start of
  their careers i.e. the transition from HE to
  employment
• Focus on the learning processes and activities
  related to the development of technical knowledge
  and generic skills
• Argues for Learning Trajectories as useful
  concept
• Highlights
• the Performance Domain
• the scope of Tacit Knowledge
• and Transfer as a Learning Process.

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FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING AT WORK (from Eraut,
2005)

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Survey of differing practices

• Undertaken July 2004 telephonic interviews with
  11 academics (4 x pre 92 7 x post 92 HEIs)
• Varied levels of linking with Careers Services
  other units
• Support from colleagues in couns OP
• Building it back into UG curriculum not popular
  in some depts (e.g. size of UG groups RAE
  pressures)
• Students needs
• Part-time working
• Narrow view of psych
• Volunteering
• Increase awareness of skill development
• See applications of psych

• Staff challenges / solutions
• Finding placements
• Students research projects
• Integration into curriculum

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Different types of Work-related Learning
From Hills, et al., 2004, p.40
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Students experiences of year-long placements

• The project focused on 3 universities
• - Aston, Bath Surrey
• Information and data gathered through
• - Interviews with placement tutors
• - 3 individual interviews with Bath placement
  students
• - 2 focus groups with final year students at
  Surrey Aston.

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Student Experiences Similarities Differences

• Similarities
• Aspects of preparation support
• Length of placement
• Placement sites (students may compete)
• Mid-placement conference
• Certain assessments grading
• Differences
• Requirements (mandatory at Bath, norm at Surrey,
  optional at Aston)
• Supervision by Psychologist in practice
• Assignments links with dissertation

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Student Learning

• Preparation Feelings Online searches, support
  from university. Students expressed fears about
  being able to cope.
• Roles Research assistants in psychology-related
  projects (5), market research (2), human
  resources officer (1), prison (3), hospital
  setting (2).
• Adjustments Expectations, deadlines, team
  dynamics, working independently.
• Challenges Working alone, developing
  communication strategies, increasing confidence,
  time management, delivering reports
  presentations, coping with workplace and team
  dynamics.

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Student Learning

• Key Learnings Gaps between theory practice,
  managing time, increasing confidence, teamwork.
• How Learning Occurred actually doing it
  (example), communicating with others, drawing
  from previous learning life experiences.
• Applying Learning to Future better
  knowledge/clarification of career direction,
  job-seeking skills, contacts/networking.
• Students overall comments

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Comparison of findings to those from CEBE

• Differing terminology
• Levels of being vocational
• Settings used accessing placements
• Requirements for what students should learn in
  WBL
• E.g. degree of specification from professional
  body, LOs
• Assessment students articulation of their
  learning
• Extent of involvement of employer in assessing
• Whose responsibility?
• Mature students issues
• Influence of modularisation

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Links to Erauts work

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Potential future directions

• Investigation of different ways in which WRL is
  integrated into the curriculum
• The different models used in UG programmes and
  their comparative merits
• Methods of facilitating students reflection on
  their learning, and the making of links /
  transfer of learning