Active learning experience in a yearlong placement program

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Active learning experience in a year-long
placement program

• Rocky K. C. Chang,
• Fred Liu, and Eddie Chan
• Department of Computing
• 11 May, 2005

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Outline

• The current status
• The continuous process
• Freds and Eddies experience
• Rockys experience
• Concluding remarks

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The Current Status

• What does our placement program look like today?

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Overall

• Organized at the dept. level, and optional
• Students from BAC and BScIT (80-90)
• Placement duration ? 48 weeks (after the second
  year of study)
• Placement opportunities
• Local companies
• Overseas companies (European, USA, UK, Japan)
• Placement reports and visits
• Seymour Cray Outstanding Placement Award

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Sources of opportunities

• Established industrial partners
• Science Park
• IASTE (AECO and SAO)
• Alumni, part-time MSc students, staffs
  connection, Advisory Committee members

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Equipping the students

• Nov The first briefing with students
• Nov-Jan workshops on resume writing and
  interview techniques
• Jan Assessing the students for job matching
• Feb-July Coaching

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Assessment

• A early-placement employer survey
• Placement visits by staff
• A final placement report
• A one-page write-up
• An updated CV
• Employers feedback
• Students feedback
• Nomination for the Placement Award

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The Continuous Process

• How did we get from there to here?

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Advertising and evaluating

• Placement pamphlets (98/99)
• Student feedback (99/00)
• Placement website (00/01)
• Early-placement survey (02/03)
• Employers feedback (02/03)

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Making the procedure flexible, transparent, and
useful

• A clear workflow and working schedule (98/99)
• Frequent communication (98/99)
• Allowed exiting at any point (00/01)
• Allowed application withdrawal after the
  interview (00/01)
• Streamlined the report-writing (03/04)

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Equipping and coaching the students

• Briefing sessions (99/00)
• Group and individual coaching (99/00)
• Workshops (00/01)
• Overseas placement (00/01)

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Others

• Seymour Cray Outstanding Placement Award (02/03)
• A new job-matching scheme (05/06)
• Grading of resumes
• Group interview performance
• Early-placement survey for students (05/06)
• A placement portal (06/07)

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Freds and Eddies experience
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Rockys experience
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How did I end-up to be the placement officer?

• I volunteered!
• Regretted?
• Very rewarding!!
• Students become more mature.
• Students have done much better at work than at
  school.
• Students have found what they love to do.
• Students destiny is forever changed.

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I once reflected
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What is this WIE all about?

• Expanding ...
• Extending ...
• Enriching ...
• Engaging ...
• Equipping ...
• Exchanging ...
• Exciting ...

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Thats all, folksThanks!