For staff
Best Practice
Dianne Williamson, Senior Lecturer
Bachelor of Health Information Management
Dianne Williamson, who is a senior lecturer in the Bachelor of Health Information Management, is committed to ensuring that her students benefit from career development learning through the professional practice stream of their course.
Dianne approached Careers and Employment at the beginning of 2009 to request our involvement in a number of ways. Of particular note has been the inclusion in the curriculum of seminars associated with third year placements. Before their placement, students were introduced to the concept that they needed to manage their own career planning and ways in which the placement could assist them in this process, through the development of personal learning objectives for their placements. After the placement they were encouraged to reflect on what they had learned and how this had impacted on their career decisions, and to identify areas in which they needed to complete further professional development; they were also taught how to include their experiences and the skills they had developed in job applications. Students have also increased their understanding of the resources which they can access from the Careers and Employment website.
Students commented that they found the seminars interesting and valuable. It was evident, from their placement journals and de-briefing discussions with academic staff, that this cohort had developed placement learning objectives which were more outcome oriented and more strongly focussed on specific skills and experiences.
Dianne has also referred Careers and Employment to colleagues who are responsible for other courses and projects in Health Sciences. This has resulted in a presentation about the benefits of using e-portfolios which has been made available to Physiotherapy students and the possibility of involvement in sessions run by discipline mentors for first year students in second semester.