Many learners find it difficult to develop a good employability portfolio from scratch. It is, therefore, critical to provide learners with a scaffolded learning experience which is structured, easily understood and meaningful. Once this initial experience is provided, learners are enabled to take the next step which is integrating their course-wide and other lifelong learning experiences with prospective employment opportunities. We demonstrate the effectiveness of a scaffolded learning experience in a sport, recreation and event management unit in a university setting, where students are asked to develop their skills and enhance their employability prospects through a final year Industry Practice placement of 100-160 hours. The scaffolding is effective because it enables learners to evaluate their placement experience in the context of learning outcomes associated with their course. As part of their assessment for this unit, students set personal and professional learning outcomes and create an eportfolio, using a range of evidence (e.g. supervisor reference, flyer, Excel database, brochure etc.) which demonstrate their achievement outcomes; and participate in a Showcase where they present their portfolio and a poster of their experiences in interviews with industry judges. The purpose of this workshop is to demonstrate and discuss from both a lecturer and student perspective how the use of a webfolio, which incorporates reflective practice through an activity log and a purpose built workbook template, can manage and showcase student learning experiences, and be used as a wider tool for enhanced employability outcomes.

1. Adding employability value to
an eportfolio
Dr Ruth Sibson
School of Business, Edith Cowan University
With Many Thanks to Dr Ken Robinson & Ms Heather Pate
and the Centre for Learning & Development

2. Workshop overview

Overview and context of the unit LSC3112 Industry Practice

How the unit schedule works

Week by week activities including the use of PebblePad tools
explicitly linked to assessment items

Professional Practice Showcase

Student feedback on using PebblePad and their ‘work-readiness’
confidence at the completion of placement/unit

3. LSC3112 Industry Practice
3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit
Unit Description:

This unit provides a professionally supervised, work integrated
learning experience in the event, sport and recreation industries. It
emphasises the practice and application of theoretical knowledge in
areas such as programming, leadership, project management,
planning, marketing, research and management as required for the
students' future progression as a professional industry manager. The
focus of the unit is on the personal and professional development of
the individual student in extending their current level of knowledge
and competence as a manager or potential manager.

4. LSC3112 Industry Practice
3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit
Unit Learning Outcomes:

1. identify the personal and professional skills required to succeed as
a professional industry manager;

2. design and organise a professionally supervised, work integrated
learning experience that enables application of personal and
professional skill development (in areas such as programming,
leadership, project management, planning, marketing, research and
management) in the event, sport and/or recreation industries;

3. explain and demonstrate application of the business ethics and
industry protocols relevant to the host organisation;

4. present evidence of the application and development of personal
and professional skills relevant to the event, sport and/or recreation
industries.

5. LSC3112 Industry Practice
3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit
In a ‘nutshell’…

Students undertake 100-160 hours practical work experience in a sport,
recreation/leisure or event setting of their choice.

The WIL experiences are organised around a specific project or job role
which the student works on (under supervision), with a range of
benefits to both the host agency and the student alike.

Students set four personal and professional (technical) skill learning
outcomes and present evidence of their achievements through an
eportfolio & poster presentation to industry representatives.

The eportfolio is also individually assessed by the unit lecturer.

7. Example of Learning Outcomes

8. LSC3112 Industry Practice
3rd year Sport, Recreation & Event capstone WIL unit
Unit Schedule:
During the 13 week semester students attend four seminars and the
Professional Practice Showcase held in the final week. The remainder of
the time is spent completing their placement hours.

WEEK 1: Introduction to the unit - How to get started, filling out forms,
getting approval

WEEK 2: Introduction to the eportfolio – Getting started with PebblePad

WEEK 7: Mid-placement progress reports and eportfolios revisited

WEEK 11: Progress reports; poster preparation tips; eportfolio updates

WEEK 13: Professional Practice Showcase

9. WEEK 1: Introduction to the unit - How to get
started, filling out forms, getting approval

The week 1 seminar is a class-room based session which introduces
students to the unit, provides an explanation on how to negotiate and
what is required of their placement, and outlines the requirements in
terms of getting placements approved. Students are informed of the
assessment requirements of the unit (pass/fail) which include:

1. The Project Proposal Application for the placement

Students design and set four learning outcomes for their placement
experience. These learning outcomes are linked to pieces of evidence
which they need to present in their eportfolio to show their achievements.

2. The eportfolio

3. The Professional Practice Showcase

Students are introduced to the PebblePad software through the link
embedded in their Blackboard site and encouraged to have a 'play'
with the site, but no formal learning activities are presented.

10. WEEK 2: Introduction to the eportfolio Getting started with PebblePad

The week 2 seminar is a 'hands-on' session. Students are introduced to
three features of the software:

1. Completing the Week 2 Reflective Practice Activity with verbal
presentation to class

2. Designing and using an Activity Log

3. Using their LSC3112 Workbook

Students are given a set of tutorial notes to guide them through these
activities in class.

They are informed that once their placement has been approved they
are to commence and complete regular weekly entries in their Activity
Log which will be submitted to the coordinator in their week 7 class.

Students are finalising and commencing their placement hours in weeks
2-7 so there are no scheduled seminar classes.

11. WEEK 7: Mid-placement progress reports and
eportfolios revisited

The week 7 seminar is a mix of a class-room and a 'hands-on' session
including:

1. Conducting a peer-assessment of another classmate's learning outcomes

2. Completion of Week 7 Reflective Practice Activity with verbal
presentation to class

3. Submission of their Activity Log (& using tagging) and re-visiting the
LSC3112 Workbook to enter their learning outcomes and learn how to
upload their evidence pieces

4. Review of WebFolio exemplars

They are informed that for the Week 11 class they should have made
substantial progress towards the completion of their Workbooks

Students are completing their placement hours in weeks 7-11 so there are
no seminar classes

12. Example of Peer Assessment Task

13. WEEK 11: Progress reports; poster
preparation tips; e-portfolio updates

The week 11 seminar is a mix of a class-room and a 'hands-on' session
including:

1. Re-visiting the requirements of the Professional Practice Showcase.

2. Completion of Week 11 Reflective Practice Activity and then, in pairs
with another student, they 'interview' each other.

3. How to put their WebFolio together and re-visiting their Workbook

There is an optional seminar in week 12 for students who require
further assistance with their eportfolio &/or poster

14. WEEK 13: Professional Practice Showcase

At this event, all students present their eportfolio & a poster of their
placement experiences and achievements, and are individually
interviewed by three industry judges.

The best two students, as judged by the industry panel on a standard
set of criteria, are awarded the Dr Heather MaGowan OAM Prize for
Professional Practice.

Once the interview process has been completed, all the industry
supervisors, other industry representatives, university staff and
current students are invited to attend for morning tea to meet the
LSC3112 students and hear about their experiences, and to network
with industry professionals.

Final assessment for all students is completed by the lecturer’s
review of the eportfolio.

15. Dr Heather MacGowan OAM Prize criteria

16. Using PebblePad to manage their learning
experiences: The positive

‘PebblePad is awesome and I would definitely like to use it in the
future’

‘PebblePad has a great structure to let me arrange my every log
relevant to my placement, it is very convenient to record time &
submit documents’

‘PebblePad has allowed me to keep track of my hours and display my
experiences in such an efficient and simple way. Instead of hand
writing all my hours and experiences PebblePad has templates asking
for specific information so I therefore do not need to include any
irrelevant information’

‘PebblePad has helped me managed my learning experiences for my
placement because I was able to write down what I had achieved and
got out of my placement to show that I was furthering my learning and
successfully improving my skills’

17. Using PebblePad to manage their learning
experiences: Some issues

‘PebblePad has been useful, but it took a while to be able to handle the
program efficiently’

‘PebblePad is a useful tool to use in comparison to writing up a report
or presenting a presentation, because everything that is required to
complete this unit is set out and structured in a particular way. I found
it difficult to understand the concept based on how to use the program,
but now that I have gone through it and eased myself into it, I
understand how to use it’

‘PebblePad was a great way to keep everything together and can be, at
times, quite intuitive in how it links different parts of the folio
together. There were a few problems I experienced from things not
saving, and my evidence links not working all the time, and I found that
by the time I got to nearing the end of my placement it was hard to find
all the different documents I thought I had saved. I think the use of
folders in the asset store would be very helpful to ensure everything is
organised and easy to find’

18. Using PebblePad to manage their learning
experiences: Opposing views

‘PebblePad was a great tool to track my hours and my experiences
each day during my practical placement. To be able to record my
experience and attach relevant documentation to the experience
gives a great portfolio of evidence to show a potential employer
within the sport and recreation industry key tasks I undertook and
key skills I learnt’

‘PebblePad has been useful to store all of my activity log entries
and completed hours in the one place - but this could also have
been achieved in a Word document (which is an easier format to
work with!). I don't think I will be using PebblePad in the future
because the way that it saves workbooks etc is not easy to work
with and you cannot export the entries into other formats.
Additionally, I still like my hardcopy display file’

19. ‘Work-readiness’ confidence at end of
placement: An improvement

‘I believe I have gained some confidence from the planning, running
and evaluating of the National Championships’

‘It has definitely improved and I am feeling a lot better about working
in the event, sport and recreation industry’

‘After completing my hours at my placement I feel that I am more
confident in being able to succeed in my chosen industry and having
improved my personal and professional skills and goals I am ready to
work in my chosen industry’

20. ‘Work-readiness’ confidence at end of
placement: An improvement but still much
to learn

‘I believe it is the same ranking. I look back and think my previous ranking
was perhaps naive. I had several expectations, and many were met.
However there was much more to working a role similar to mine than I had
perceived. I have developed greatly since the prac, and look forward to
the continual development’

‘In Week 2 I also ranked my confidence at level 6, but I think I should have
initially selected 4 or 5. I certainly now have a better understanding of
what is required to work in the industry and I think I still need a little bit
more practical experience before I can select 7 - I will gain this experience
by completing the rest of my internship which finishes in July’

‘I still believe I have a lot to learn. However, I believe majority of the
learning will come from the hands on work and learning from industry
people.

‘My rating has increased as practical experience has now been gained
which is a key requirement that employers look for. While I do not have
extensive experience, at least 100 hours is a starting point to help with
future endeavours’

21. Thanks for attending &
participating
Any further questions?
Dr Ruth Sibson
(r.sibson@ecu.edu.au)
School of Business
Edith Cowan University
Perth, Western Australia