Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

1. Active learning experience in a year-long placement program Rocky K. C. Chang, Fred Liu, and Eddie Chan Department of Computing 11 May, 2005

2. Outline • The current status • The continuous process • Fred’s and Eddie’s experience • Rocky’s experience • Concluding remarks Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

3. The Current Status What does our placement program look like today?

4. 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 Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

5. Sources of opportunities • Established industrial partners • Science Park • IASTE (AECO and SAO) • Alumni, part-time MSc students, staff’s connection, Advisory Committee members Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

6. 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 Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

7. 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 Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

8. The Continuous Process How did we get from there to here?

9. Advertising and evaluating • Placement pamphlets (98/99) • Student feedback (99/00) • Placement website (00/01) • Early-placement survey (02/03) • Employers’ feedback (02/03) Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

10. 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) Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

11. Equipping and coaching the students • Briefing sessions (99/00) • Group and individual coaching (99/00) • Workshops (00/01) • Overseas placement (00/01) Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

12. 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) Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

13. Fred’s and Eddie’s experience

14. Rocky’s experience

15. 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. Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

16. I once reflected … Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

17. What is this WIE all about? • Expanding ... • Extending ... • Enriching ... • Engaging ... • Equipping ... • Exchanging ... • Exciting ... Active learning experience in a year-long placement program

18. That’s all, folksThanks!