Development of students professional identity through Me in a Minute presentations Faculty Spark - View, reflect and apply

Last updated on 09/10/2019

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Development of students professional identity through Me in a Minute presentations

Description

The Me in a Minute assessment task is designed for students to reflect upon how their skills, knowledge and experiences develop their professional identity throughout their degree.

Challenge

A key challenge for students entering the workforce is the difficulty encountered in discussing their skills and abilities with confidence.

This is further problematised by students’ lack of understanding of the Griffith Graduate Attributes and how they are developed throughout their program and evidenced through co-curricular activities.

There was thus a need for student development in the area of verbal communication skills in order to enable students to discuss their professional identity with a high degree of confidence.

Approach

Overview

In a capstone unit within the Health program, a Me in a Minute assessment task was introduced to enhance students verbal communication skills when discussing their professional identity and perceptions of their strengths and areas for improvement.

This assessment task was modelled off the Me in a Minute activity that emerged as an outcome from Professor Beverley Oliver’s Assuring Graduate Capabilities Project.

About the assessment task

Within this 10 per cent assessment task, students were required to create a one minute self-reflection based upon how their learning experiences have shaped them as a professional. In this one minute elevator pitch video, students were required to speak to a minimum of two of the Griffith Graduate Attributes and demonstrate how they had developed these attributes throughout their program and co-curricular activities. Students were also encouraged to reflect upon their career aspirations and think about their development throughout the course of the student lifecycle.

Upon completion of the video, students were encouraged to embed these within their e-portfolio or LinkedIn accounts and upload to Learning@Griffith.

Example of one of the videos received.

Support provided to students

To support students in preparing for these video self-reflections, the course team facilitated a two hour structured workshop in which students unpacked the Graduate Attributes. 

During this workshop, students were encouraged to reflect upon how their curricular and co-curricular experiences had shaped them and refined their skills.

Outcomes

Overall, students were surprised by the range of skills that they had developed throughout their degree. Anecdotal feedback obtained from students indicated that they appreciated the opportunity to reflect upon the range of skills that they had developed.

Students also appreciated that they had a tangible output that could be re-purposed and showcased to prospective employers. The quality of the videos was outstanding and the students were engaged and excited about creating these videos.

Enabling Technology

Students used their Smart Phones (or other portable devices) to film their Me in a Minute presentations. These videos were then uploaded onto Learning@Griffith with links to YouTube.

Students were also encouraged to upload these videos to their LinkedIn and ePortfolio accounts to showcase their range of skills and related learning experiences.

Implement

If you are thinking of implementing this approach within your course, here are some recommendations:

  • A thorough understanding of the Griffith Graduate Attributes by the teaching team is required. In order to unpack these attributes to students in a workshop, you must be able to highlight forms of evidence and walk them through the process.
  • Ensure that your Program Director is on board for this approach. As the Program Director has a clear vision of the Program Level Learning Outcomes, they can assist with providing an overview on how these are scaffolded throughout the degree.
  • Conduct a two hour workshop with students in which you collaboratively unpack the Griffith Graduate Attributes. In this workshop, assist students in identifying the transferable skills that underpin the Griffith Graduate Attributes and how they are scaffolded throughout the program.
  • Highlight to students that 200 words is approximately 1 minute of video footage.
  • Have students rehearse and practice with their peers, family and / or friends.
  • Allow students the flexibility to choose the technology and approach to filming.
  • Remember, the quality of the video is not important. Rather, the students’ ability to articulate their strengths with confidence.

Next Steps

The biggest challenge that the teaching team evidenced was students’ lack of understanding of the Graduate Attributes.

This was mitigated however through the team facilitating a structured two hour workshop in which the Graduate Attributes were unpacked with students.

Support Resources

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Licence

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The Griffith material on this web page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This licence does not extend to any underlying software, nor any non-Griffith images used under permission or commercial licence (as indicated). Materials linked to from this web page are subject to separate copyright conditions.

Preferred Citation

Vanderlelie, J., & Learning Futures. (2019). Development of students professional identity through Me in a Minute presentations. Retrieved from https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/exlnt/entry/3765/view