MPlan Planning

This course unit involves structured work experience at a professional level in planning. environmental impact assessment & management or real estate either within the UK or abroad. The placement project will be supervised academically by the Department of Planning, Property & Environmental Management and normally managed by the placement provider, such as a professional consultancy, development or real estate investment company, local authority or non-governmental The unit provides students with an understanding of the demands of applying for work, the practicalities and experience of undertaking professional work,  enables them to reflect on their present strengths and weaknesses with regards to skills needed for the work place and how to improve to same, facilitates networking opportunities, and encourages them to consider how a placement can assist them in gaining the core competencies required for their subsequent individual professional accreditation. Through lectures, workshops, tutorials, the successful completion of a placement, and assessed assignments, students develop a range of intellectual, practical, and transferable skills that are pertinent to their longer-term securing of graduate employment. 

Enable students to experience real-world professional practice through an extended period or reflective practice in the field of planning, environmental assessment and management or real estate.

Enable students to reflect on their period of professional practice with regards to key strengths and weaknesses of the partnership organisation

Enable students to reflect on their own personal learning and development in the context of the core competencies of their chosen profession and how this and related to practice in the real world and to reflect on their time
 

The unit adopts a blended learning environment which utilises face-to-face teaching methods (lectures, workshops, guest networking opportunities, and tutorials), supported by pre-prepared/recorded materials and supplemented by material focussing on specific professional competencies as well as job vacancies which are, as appropriate, uploaded onto the VLE or emailed directly to the unit’s cohort.  

1.Face-to-face lectures address core skills/ideas pertaining to finding and securing a placement, as well as how work experience addresses and enhances employability skills. Practical advice and small-group work in class also gives hands-on experience in identifying good/bad CV practice etc.

2. Individual (formative) oral feedback in class and via office hours (and via careers service)
Individual feedback will be offered to students on an ad-hoc basis to support the development of their assignments via in-class and office hour drop-in sessions. 
Where students have successful completed the ‘online CV checker’ from the careers service they can also request personal meetings where additional oral feedback is given.

3. Individual (formative) written feedback via office hours and submission of draft CVs/letters of application
Where students request comments on individual aspects of their CVs/letters of application this will be given via written feedback. This s supplemented by their online use of various careers service tools in the initial drafting of CVs.

4. Online information/evidence repository 
The unit’s VLE site will hold a repository of professional competencies as well as job opportunities as they become advertised. The latter will also be emailed directly to the unit’s cohort. Where video data is uploaded by potential firms/practitioners seeking placement students such data will be available via the VLE.

5. The successful undertaking of a professional placement.

 

Gain knowledge and experience of their relevant professional discipline within a professional setting through the completion of an unpaid work placement with a firm in their chosen specialism. 
 

Undertake a programme of work set by a client provider organisation and reflect upon the same. 

Critically analyse the placement organisation and provide a clear synthesis of strengths and weaknesses with recommendations.

Critically reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their existent skill set with regard to how these are relevant to the world of professional work and how they wish to build upon these within the placement.

Appraise their own strengths and weaknesses based on lessons learned whilst undertaking the placement and how these build upon  experiences gained in university   

Employ teamwork and collaboration whilst undertaking placement

 

Work effectively with a range of other personnel in the workplace.

Evaluate and reflect on the placement experience and present evidence of achievements.

10 Minute Presentation 30%

Reflective Report on Placement (2000 words) 70%

Feedback given as per Faculty timeframe.

Written feedback for the presentation also contains comments to ‘forward reflect upon’ for assignment II as a form of additional formative comment. 
 

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. (1975). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. In C. Cooper (Ed.), Studies of group process (pp. 33–57). New York: Wiley.
Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M., & McIntyre, J. M. (1984). Organizational psychology: readings on human behavior in organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

In addition, students are encouraged to consult the following professional body websites: Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA); www.rtpi.org.uk , www.rics.org , and www.iema.net

The 15 day minimum requirement might, for example, equate to around 2 days per week during the second semester period up to the Easter vacation (approximately 7 weeks). Alternative work patterns (e.g. one day per week, starting before semester two and/or extending through and/or beyond the Easter vacation) may be possible subject to the agreement of both the Placement Coordinator and Placement Provider. Alternatively, you might wish to organise your placement into more intensive (e.g. full-time) periods during University vacation periods or the exam period in late January (subject, of course, to allowing sufficient time to complete your assessed work for other course units!) Irrespective of how the actual placement is structured, students should work for a minimum of 15 days.