ASET Publications
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A Good Practice Guide for Placement and Other Work-Based Learning Opportunities in Higher Education - Good Practice for Placements Guides – Volume 2 (ASET) Free hard copies (on request) and electronic download
Placements involve a significant integrated period of work-based learning that is distinctly different from casual work or any other work not related to the course of study. For this to work well it is important that all involved - the HEI, student and employer - work together before, during and after the placement.
The HEI should build the requirements into the course at the design and validation stage, covering learning outcomes, criteria for exemption, preparation for placement, and details of assessment and accreditation. These must then be communicated to the student at the appropriate stages from recruitment through to preparations for, completion of, and debriefing from the placement.
The HEI needs to provide academic and administrative support for the student to optimise the preparations for and implementation of the placement experience.
The student should accept responsibility for finding and delivering a suitable placement, meeting the university requirements including assessment, while also operating as an ambassador for the university while working for the employer. The student should take every action necessary to get the most out of the placement learning experience, in terms of building key skills, relating the experience to academic learning wherever possible, and using the opportunity to consolidate career planning.
The employer should think through the reasons for taking a placement student and ensure that the student recruited is appropriate to the post being filled, and will be progressively developed rather than overwhelmed. Students are good value for money but should not be treated as cheap labour; in all respects they should be treated in the same way as other employees, given appraisals, even disciplinary treatment if that is appropriate.
In all regards the employer should work with the student and university to enable the learning experience to take place.
Please follow the link below and complete an order form to request free hard copies.
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Managing Placements with IT and Online - Good Practice for Placements Guides – Volume 1 (ASET) £25
In recent years the issue of managing placements using IT has been high on the agenda during ASET events, with a number of institutions showcasing their in-house systems for our members. These systems were widely appreciated and it became apparent that there was a greater need to consolidate the knowledge of those individuals producing these systems for the benefit of all members. In response to the perceived need for national guidance in developing IT systems to manage placements, ASET established a trans-institutional working party, bringing together the country’s leading developers of in-house systems, to write this publication. This guide can be used to aid the design of in-house IT systems to manage any period, location or type of placement. The prompting and record keeping facilities incorporated in such systems also positively promote effective and comprehensive placement management, in line with recommendations in the ASET and QAA Codes of Practice, and so this topic was chosen to inaugurate our new series of Good Practice for Placements Guides.

As well as ordering direct from ASET (see below), this publication is also available for purchase with debit/credit card from Amazon. Please follow this link.
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Are E-Portfolios an Asset to Learning and Placement - Report Summary (ASET and DMU) Free
A professionally printed glossy Report Summary of the ASET funded research project on innovative methods in the assessment of work-based learning. Please follow the link below and complete an order form to request free copies.
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Experience-Based Learning within the Curriculum - A Synthesis Study (Lesley Davies) £22
This study was completed in 1990 and represents a comprehensive review of the arguments and issues of Supervised Work Experience. It covers all the theoretical and practical aspects relating to the unique experience which is designed to bridge Academic and Vocational Aspects under the various guises of Placement/Sandwich/Cooperative Education with reference to all the major disciplines.
Supplemented by numerous figures and tables with 17 appendixes and an extensive list of references, this work is indispensable for placement tutors, administrators and employers. It is eminently readable and relevant for students, particularly in preparation for and during placement. It is essential for reference and research.
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Proceedings of the 2007 ASET Annual Conference, September 2007 - Hard Copy (ASET) £15
Contains keynote addresses/presentations by:
- Professor Freda Tallantyre, Senior Associate with responsibility for work-based learning and employer engagement at HEA (the Higher Education Academy)
- Dr Geoffrey Copland, ASET President, former Vice-President of UUK and Vice-Chancellor of University of Westminster
- Hugh Tollyfield, Deputy Director of DfES, responsible for HE Employer Engagement, now on secondment at HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England)
- Brenda Little, Principal Policy Analyst at CHERI (the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information)
- Denis Anthony, Katherine Duffy and Fran Vickers (De Montfort University) presentation of the ASET funded research project on Innovative Assessment Methods
- and more than 25 research papers/presentations (view synopses of these here).
Copies of previous years' proceedings can still be purchased from Amazon:
2004
2005
2006
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Proceedings of the 2007 ASET Annual Conference, September 2007 - CDRom (ASET) £5
As above but as a pdf file on disc.
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Reference copies of all our publications can be found in the British Library and the 5 other Legal Deposit Libraries - Bodleian Library (Oxford), Cambridge University Library,
National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh), Library of Trinity College Dublin and National Library of Wales (Aberystwyth).
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