CIT Teaching & Learning Unit

The International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning defines work integrated learning (WIL) as:

“an educational approach that uses relevant work-based experiences to allow students to integrate theory with the meaningful practice of work as an intentional component of the curriculum.”

In MTU, work placement is embedded into almost all programmes of study and benefits students in many ways, i.e., it:

• Provides students with an opportunity to put theory into practice
• Allows students to make better informed decisions about future career choices
• Enables students to acquire new skills and knowledge, both personal and work related
• Enhances students’ employment prospects

Currently, there are approximately 3000 students on placement each year from a wide range of programmes.  The placement module or placement modules can be worth anywhere between 5 and 30 credits to a student. There are over 90 different placement modules in the University with a range of assessment mechanisms in place. The first phase of the project involved a desk review of these different placement modules to explore and document the range of work placement experience within MTU, e.g., range of duration of work placement, learning outcomes, assessment requirements, assessment weightings, etc.

The focus of this research is on credit-bearing work-placement or industry internships that are formally integrated into the curriculum. The problem is the complexity of the assessment challenge which remains ‘one of the biggest challenges in designing WIL programs’ (Orrell 2011, 9).

Furthermore, as assessment and feedback are identified as national issues for students, it is appropriate to focus on assessment and feedback within placement settings.

The critically important role that assessment plays in directing student learning is well established and therefore ensuring that assessment supports the needs of all three parties (students, MTU supervisors, host organisations) and the formation of students’ professional identify is crucial. However, the empirical research exploring the extent to which assessment in WIL achieves these outcomes is limited and consequently, this research is motivated by the ‘paucity of studies’ (Boud, Ajjawi, and Tai 2020; Nyanjom, Goh, and Yang 2020) focusing on the student experience.

This project initially seeks to explore the assessment and feedback experiences of students, host organisation supervisors and MTU placement supervisors.  This will be done through focus groups with academics and surveys with students and host organisation supervisors. Data will be gathered from a range of work-placement programmes to explore the work-placement experience across MTU.

Following the data analysis, learning enhancement will involve inviting work-placement coordinators to collaborate with the TLASE Research Laboratory on an action-research adventure to explore solutions, implement solutions and research the impact of those solutions. It is anticipated that this phase might be ongoing where the TLASE Research Laboratory engages and collaborates with different programmes in different years, using the staff focus-groups, host organisation and student surveys to explore and evidence the impact of these changes.

In the long-term this project should improve the placement experience for all, enhancing the employability of MTU graduates, providing early industry exposure to the talent pipeline that exists within MTU and forging vital linkages between industry and the university to support future work placement opportunities, secure employment opportunities for MTU graduates and enable potential industry-university collaboration.

• To date, the TLASE Research Laboratory have designed surveys to gather data on both the student and host organisation (employer) experience of assessment & feedback on work-placement. These surveys can be accessed via the links Placement Student Survey and Placement Host Organisation Survey. Feedback was gathered from students and host organisations using the survey instruments in January/February 2023 and from students in January/February 2024. Over 420 students have completed the Placement Student Survey from almost 50 different academic programmes. Over 100 Host Organisation Supervisors have completed the survey. Focus groups were facilitated with 18 MTU Placement Supervisors to explore their experience of feedback and assessment on work-placement modules.
• The TLASE Research Laboratory organised two dissemination events. In November 2023 the TLASE Research Laboratory hosted a National Seminar entitled Assessment & Feedback in Placement Settings: Challenges and Solutions. The event was attended (virtually) by over 100 participants. Keynotes were delivered by Professor Rola Ajjawi, Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), Deakin University, Australia and Associate Professor Geraldine O’Neill, UCD Teaching and Learning, at University College Dublin. Catherine Murphy and Tom O’Mahony presented an update on research findings from the TLASE Research Laboratory. The recording of that event and associated resources can be accessed via the TLU website. An event with the internal MTU Work-Placement Learning Community allowed for dissemination of findings and discussion at local level.
• The TLASE Research Laboratory were successful in securing competitive funding from the INGENIUM European University Alliance to extend this research and explore the assessment and feedback experience across two other EU universities. The project is entitled i4 Innovating Industry Partnerships with INGENIUM and the two partner universities are the University of Oviedo, Spain and Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany. For more information, please see i4 Innovating Industry Partnerships with INGENIUM. The TLASE Research Laboratory was awarded funding from the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education fund following a review by an international panel. The Strategic Alignment of Teaching and learning Enhancement fund is designed to support innovation in higher education. The project entitled ‘Enhancing Work-Placement Assessment & Feedback Practices’ focuses on transferring the initial research findings into practice and supporting disciplines to enhance the assessment and feedback practice in work-placement modules.
• An article entitled ‘The Student Experience of Assessment and Feedback in Work-Placement Settings Across Different Programs Within an Irish University’ has been submitted to the International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning. This was accepted, subject to minor revisions, in June 2024.
• Following the analysis of the student feedback data, 18 programme reports were prepared to communicate student feedback on individual programmes to placement teams within academic departments.

• You can access the surveys via the Placement Student Survey and Placement Host Organisation Survey.
• National Seminar on Assessment & Feedback in Placement Settings: Challenges and Solutions recording and resources.