RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
stages of the student lifecycle (Lochtie,
McIntosh, Stork & Walker, 2018). My own
organisation, Sheffield Hallam University
(SHU), defines an AA’s role as including
the proactive monitoring of students’
academic performance and providing a
consistent point of contact throughout all
study transitions, including into and out of
placements, and into employment once
their studies are complete.
In terms of placements a common model
is for a shorter placement taking place
during the programme, and for these it is
often the case that the student’s AA (or
PT) will carry out the placement visit,
meeting with both the student and the
student’s workplace supervisor. However,
placement visit tasks vary even with
different departments at SHU. The AA
may be required to support the student in
their new setting, mediate the
student/supervisor relationship and/or
support workplace/placement supervisors
to work with the students. Given that
placement visit practice varies within one
university, it is likely that there is much
practice variation across the HE sector.
There is a need therefore for greater
understanding of what AA activity takes
place to meet the needs of the student
and the employer.
The current HE literature has little focus
on this AA-student-supervisor tripartite
relationship, forcing AA practitioners to
apply their knowledge and understanding
of on-campus advising to inform these offcampus
interactions. Given the paucity of
literature exploring AA for placement
students, here we aim to identify the
issues and concerns experienced during
placement AA activity and to provide a
foundation for researchers/practitioners to
develop academic understanding of these
relationships. Drawing upon nine case
studies, three key areas will be explored:
the issues experienced by AAs when
advising students on placement; being
part of a tripartite relationship; and
providing appropriate support for student
development in the workplace.
Maintaining the AA-student
relationship during placement
AA support often closely mirrors the
students’ curriculum allowing clear
identification of student need at any given
point in time. However, while on
placement, where the student’s activity
may be varied and less well known to the
AA, providing effective support may be
more challenging and take more time to
carry out particularly where the AA is
additionally carrying out any supporting
administrative tasks, such as:
contacting their host academic
coordinator to check…the most
suitable match for their language
level. (Portfolio 15, CS 2)
Further, re-orienting students to keep
focus on academic assessments can be
difficult when they are absorbed in the
workplace experience:
This person at that time is the faceto-face
contact with the university…
The visiting tutor supports the
student with upcoming assignments
(not always placement related)
offering academic support.
(Portfolio 7, CS 3)
As placement students are not on campus
there is a physical as well as a
metaphorical distance between the
student and university support
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