Transcript Personal Development Planning

Personal Development
Planning
Margaret Harrison
Associate Dean of Academic Frameworks
 PDP an up-date
 University PDP policy
 How the University implements PDP in Departments
PDP an up-date
From 2005/06 onwards all students on taught courses in UK HEIs are
expected to participate in PDP
PDP is one half of Progress File , the other half is a Transcript which is a
formal record of student academic learning. A Transcript is part of a Diploma
Supplement. More recently the proposed Higher Education Achievement
Report (HEAR) as one document would cover PDP, a Transcript and Diploma
Supplement .
PDP gives a student the opportunity to monitor, review and action plan their
personal development
Note the strong link between PDP and employability.
PDP can help students to:
plan, record and reflect upon their experiences in a way that
develops their employment related skills and self-awareness;
understand how their transferable skills might be applied in new
settings;
make realistic and suitable career plans based upon their heightened
self-knowledge;
demonstrate both their employment potential and their ability to
manage their future professional development to employers
HEA: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/867.htm
HEA via the CRA/QAA forum has a wealth of information/ resources on
PDP.
PDP is a Process and Practice
When outlining to students the reasons to get involved with PDP
Croot and Gedye (2006:175) state:
‘PDP can help you improve your academic performance, enhance
your employability and make the most of your university experience in
general.’
Clegg and Bradley (2006) have identified three models of PDP:
Professional: emphasis on CPD (Education and Health)
Employment: emphasis on generic transferable skills (Sport and Leisure)
Academic: emphasis on subject specific skills and metacognition
(Humanities and Social Sciences)
One can have a mix of the three models.
We may wish to relate this to University PDP policy and delivery.
Entwistle and Peterson (2004) have analysed PDP in relation to a
student’s move from surface to deep levels of processing/learning.
Despite the emphasis on process and practice many people still stress
PDP as a product – why is this?
When reviewing University PDP policy we need to consider:
• Is our current policy fit for purpose?
• Do we need to make any changes to the policy?
University PDP Policy
Personal Development Planning is an integral and a required element of all
undergraduate and postgraduate programmes:
 integral in that PDP is, wherever possible, delivered and assessed in the
context of subject-specific study, in order to maximise the benefits in terms of
academic and personal skill development and employability, and to make
students see as relevant;
 required in that all students are introduced to PDP, and are normally assessed
on PDP-related tasks (dependent on course and level of study), at the start of
their programme of study. All students are expected to engage with further PDPrelated activities throughout their programme of study, and are given guidance in
doing so.
Personal Development Planning is designed to build capacity in students to:
 evaluate, reflect upon and manage their own learning;
 identify and develop their academic, transferable and study skills and
habits/attitudes in order to become more self-assured, independent
learners;
 think creatively and constructively about personal, academic and career
goals and plan an effective strategy towards achieving those goals;
 demonstrate their ‘employability’ and /or continued professional
development, by fostering their personal responsibility and self-reliance;
 integrate their learning from a range of activities, including work-based
and voluntary activities, into their own personal development planning,
and use evidence from learning to obtain credit against their programme
of study
Key issues with PDP are:
 Appreciation of different learning styles
 Embedding transferable skills in the curriculum
 Assessment
 Ownership of PDP by students
 Confidentiality
 Relevance
 How one helps a student move from surface to deep learning
 Staff engagement with PDP
 Reflection and how this is developed
 Implicit or Explicit
Are there any more to add to this list?
The Principles of PDP delivery
These principles can be applied to undergraduate and postgraduate provision
and they comply with QAA guidance:
 Development of PDP within a programme of studies must be appropriate to
the level and area/subject of study;
 All students must be given the opportunity to engage with an explicit,
structured and supported process for PDP;
 Responsibility for facilitating students’ PDP rests with Departments and
Faculties in conjunction with the Careers Centre;
 Departments should provide a delivery plan that identifies the approach(es)
used (both within and in addition to the formal taught programme) and lines
of responsibility. A delivery plan should demonstrate how PDP is provided in
each Course within the Department;
Conti.
Principles of delivery (continued)
 All students must be introduced to PDP at the start of their
programme of studies;
 Certain aspects of PDP will be assessed in modules (at
undergraduate level only);
 Implementation of PDP, by each Department, will be formally
monitored and reviewed, annually in the first instance, by Faculties and
forwarded to the appropriate University committee e.g. UMS / PMS
Board of Studies;
 Information about PDP should be made available to all students in
electronic and/or hard copy format, normally in a Course guide.
How the University implements PDP in Departments
Evidence base
There should be explicit reference to PDP in:
 Programme specifications;
 Module descriptors, where appropriate; and
 Department Delivery Plans
The process of annual monitoring and reporting on PDP delivery should be
contained within Course Annual Monitoring Report.
Department PDP delivery plan
Draft example of a PDP delivery plan - Level I Formal ‘taught’ programme
Specific
aspect of
PDP
presented
Where
delivered
Course &
module status
i.e.
compulsory or
not
Activity
/Evidence
(assessed or
not)
Person(s) responsible for
delivery, review,
enhancement and further
action
Critical
reflection
XX111
Introduction to
Philosophy
XX Single
Hons.
(compulsory)
XX Joint Hons.
(core)
Short
reflective
commentary
as part of
coursework
Module tutor and teaching
team
Skills audit
XX160 Learning
and Personal
Development
XX Single
Hons.
(compulsory)
XX Joint Hons.
(core)
Week 2 task
with students,
not assessed
Module tutor
Second table: Other opportunities for PDP outside the formal ‘taught’
Programme.
One sheet per Level (UMS). Postgraduate course delivery plan uses same
headings but is more flexible in terms of formal taught and other opportunities.
Various examples of good practice across the University of how PDP can be
delivered/recorded:
 Learning diary
 Story boards
 Career centre staff deliver specific sessions
 Pebblepad – electronic portfolios
 Hard copy Portfolios (as in Education)
 Employability link
 Reflection on critical incidents