SD-B

School of Science and Technology

Diploma in Professional Practice (DIPP) and Sandwich (SW) degree

Assessment Requirements

In order to qualify for a sandwich degree and the Diploma in Professional Practice, you must complete the following assessments to a satisfactory standard:

1. An approved placement of at least 24 weeks

2. A Placement Portfolio consisting of:

a. Placement Diary

b. Reflective Report

3. A Placement Presentation

Further information on each of these requirements is given below.

1. Approved Placement

All placements must be approved by the Placements Office. Placements must be of at least 24 working weeks duration; however the normal length of a sandwich placement is 1 year.

Your performance on placement will be assessed twice during the placement by your manager and your visiting tutor. Satisfactory performance is required in order to qualify for the SW degree and DIPP.

2. Placement Portfolio

The Placement Portfolio should be submitted to the Placement drop box on NOW on the first day of term following the placement year.

This is assessment is graded and feedback will be given to inform future work.

a. Placement Diary

Most people find it difficult to recall in detail what they did over a particular time span at work but it can be useful as part of future job applications. Keeping a written record will help you to recall the detail of your placement and articulate what you have learnt. The diary's contents can help you prepare your CV and give you ideas for how you can talk about work experience at interviews.

The Placement Diary should begin with a detailed daily log of activities and develop into weekly/monthly updates as recurrent themes and activities are identified. The diary should cover roles, responsibilities, technology, projects, critical incidents, training courses, organisational issues or meetings. It should identify problems, solutions, techniques and skills and highlight new or significant activities/developments. It should also include comments on linkages to academic study and reflections on personal development. The information recorded in the placement diary will form the basis of the reflective report.

The format of your placement diary is up to you, however you may find it useful to incorporate a simple weekly or monthly “skills tracker” into your placement diary to show your acquisition and development of skills.

Example of a Skills Tracker

Recording information and examples in terms of your key employability skills is invaluable. As these are the specific areas employers look at, being able to categorise your experiences in this way will give you a head start on the competition in the graduate jobs market.

The table below is just an example – you should choose a set of skills appropriate to you and your placement. The skills table in Appendix A may help to prompt you about new things you may have learnt or skills or qualities you have developed or enhanced.

SKILL TRACKER - WK COMMENCING..............................................................
SKILL	EXAMPLES
Communication
Numeracy
Learning how to learn
Working with others
Use of Information Technology

b. Reflective Report

We suggest the Reflective Report should consist of three sections and the overall report should be approximately 2500 words, supported by images, diagrams, tables etc. as appropriate.

Introduction

This section should give a clear, concise introduction to the company/institute/organisation in which you worked. It should demonstrate awareness of organisational context (e.g. customers, competitors, markets etc.) which should be quantified where possible. It should also provide an overview of the placement role and explain how the role contributed to the business/organisation. Avoid plagiarising company literature/web content.

Activities

It would not be possible to cover all the work done on placement in a report of this length; hence you should select 2 or 3 significant activities or pieces of work to focus on. You may wish to discuss this with your visiting tutor during visits/contacts.

Achievements

This section should reflect on the changes in your technical/scientific, professional and personal skills as a result of your placement. It should demonstrate self-awareness by acknowledging mistakes made and showing evidence of attempts to overcome deficiencies. It should identify growth as well as areas for future development.

Confidentiality

If necessary, the report should be completed and checked by the employer prior to submission, which allows the supervisor to assess the report and check it for confidentiality. Students must respect confidentiality and must not include information that the employer regards as commercially sensitive. If there are confidentiality issues, these can be discussed with the supervisor and the visiting tutor. Please also make sure that the Placement Office is informed.

3. Recorded Placement Presentation

You should produce a PowerPoint presentation with an audio track commentary. Presentations should be no more than 10 minutes duration.  There is considerable flexibility within the presentation. You should spend the first minute giving an overview of the firm/institute/organisation where you were employed, and the primary role of the placement provider. Thereafter the presentation may encompass breadth, depth or elements of both. Many successful presentations in the past have been based on a selected aspect of the work undertaken on placement. It is not really practicable to include every aspect of the placement in the presentation. 

Updated CV

Your CV is the main way of presenting your skills and experience to prospective employers. Once you have completed your placement you will need to update your CV in readiness for graduate or postgraduate applications. This is unlikely to be just a case of adding your new work experience and skills – your new CV will still need to conform to the 2-page standard, so may need quite a bit of re-writing.

Please note that, as this is not part of the graded assessment, it is perfectly acceptable, indeed encouraged, for you to seek CV advice from a Careers Consultant.

Appendix A - Examples of General and Specific Skills

You may find it useful to consider the following examples of general and specific skills. This list is by no means complete. It is up to you to select the skills most relevant to your placement (and to include others which you feel are appropriate). Some of these are quite advanced skills and there would be no opportunity for many students to develop them.

1. KNOWLEDGE OF SELF	5. COMMUNICATION SKILLS	9. IT SKILLS
· Analysis of strengths & weaknesses · Setting personal goals · Developing personal style · Vision of the future · Proactivity - initiative · Energy to work · Enthusiasm for new ideas · Coping with change · Learning skills · Intuition	· Letters & memoranda · Minutes of meetings · Report writing · Telephoning · Interviewing · Contributing to meetings · Presentations · Use of visual aids · Verbal communication	· Keyboard skills · Setting up spreadsheets · Using word-processing packages · Database manipulation · Use of Software packages · Using Computer facilities
2. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS	6. RESEARCH SKILLS	10. PROJECT SKILLS
· Analysis of strengths & weaknesses · Sensitivity to situations · Persuasion & Motivation · Negotiation · Questioning skills · Effective listening	· Questionnaire design · Sample selection · Sources of information · Investigation skills · Statistical analysis · Presentation of data · Drawing conclusions · Making recommendations	· Defining the problem · Defining objectives · Selection of methods · Information collection · Information analysis · Evaluation techniques · Implementation · Control & review · Project management
3. GROUP WORKING SKILLS	7. POLITICAL & PR SKILLS	11. COMMERCIAL SKILLS
· Definition of objectives · Understanding team roles · Taking functional roles · Chairmanship & Leadership · Group processes · Handling team morale · Handling conflict · Supervision · Liaison roles	· Sensitivity to politics · Sense of presence · Knowledge of the media · Accentuating the positive · Writing a press release · Handling a media interview	· Financial analysis · Commercial awareness · Entrepreneurship · Sensitivity to opportunities · Dealing with difficulties · Evaluation of risk · Commercial negotiation · Vision & Originality
4. SOCIAL SKILLS	8. MANAGERIAL SKILLS
· Awareness of what is appropriate · Non-verbal communication · Knowledge of special interest groups · Business ethics & morals · Entertaining	· Accountability · Planning · Organising · Controlling · Empathy · Vision · Efficiency and effectiveness