UCD Teaching & Learning - PPD Issues in Stage One

PPD Issues in Stage One

Overview Background Goals Methods Results Next Steps

Image for Jonathan McNulty group project

Project:	PPD Issues in Stage One
Project Team:	Jonathan McNulty, Bairbre Redmond and Elizabeth Noonan
Collaborator(s):
Funding:	Strategic Innovation Fund II
Timeline:	July 2011 – July 2013

background:

In UCD there are in excess of 1,100 stage one students following professional programmes. In each of these programmes aspects of personal and professional development (PPD) are introduced in varying degrees within the first year. While many students entering these professional degree programmes have a good understanding of the professional careers that they will ultimately enter their entry level professional attributes are rarely considered.

This project will evaluate the first year experience and engagement across professional programmes in order to gain a better understanding of the current status quo in terms of professional awareness and attributes, student expectations and student readiness for entering the professional environment.

goals:

The aim of this project is to evaluate the first year experience, personal and professional development issues and engagement across the professional degree programmes in UCD in order to establish when, how and to what depth the professions, professional attributes and professional skills are introduced to the students in their core modules in first year along with ascertaining their expectations for first year and the professions they will ultimately enter. At the end of this project it is anticipated that a set of principles will be generated which may provide a framework for addressing and deficits in the first year of our professional degree programmes.

Methods:

Approval has been granted by the Registrar to conduct an anonymous online survey of all stage one students on professional degrees. The purpose of this survey will be to assess the awareness and expectations of students on professional degree programmes in terms of personal and professional development early in their first year.

This will be followed by a series of focus groups with students from each of the professional programmes so that a greater and more detailed insight into the findings of the initial survey can be obtained.

A second online survey to be deployed at the end of their first year will be developed for the stage one students to allow a comparison to be made with the beginning of the programme in terms of these professional issues and awareness.

Results:

Initial results of the survey will be available in October 2012.

Next Steps:

September-October 2012 – Survey of all incoming stage one students on professional degree programmes;
October-December 2012 – Focus groups with stage one students on professional degree programmes;
January-June 2013 - Evaluate and disseminate the outcomes of project;
April 2013 – Second survey of stage one students on professional degree programmes.