AESC30170 Professional Work Experience

Academic Year 2022/2023

Professional Work Experience (PWE) is undertaken to give students realistic exposure to professional practice in farming, in environmental management, and with the advisory services of Teagasc. Students attend a study week on ecological field skills in the Burren (organised by UCD, but for which there will be a charge to the student), or other equivalent work by agreement. Required preparatory sessions will also be held in the Autumn & Spring Trimester. In addition, students arrange for themselves and undertake at least two periods of work experience, specifically: (Autumn) on a farm (or with a forestry or horticulture enterprise), and (Spring) with an environmental agency or company. Full-time work, contracted must be undertaken for sixteen weeks. Students are required to make all arrangements, including identifying, contacting, and establishing contracts with placement hosts, as well as any necessary arrangements for accommodation and travel, including visas, transport, medical requirements and personal travel insurance. Regular progress updates must be submitted.

The module is assessed by reports submitted for each period of work, compliance with contract-submission and other regulations, timely submission of progress updates and attendance at a final interview. Students must familiarise themselves with and abide by the regulations for PWE as set out by the Agricultural Sciences Programme Board, which will be available on Brightspace. For each placement, a host contract must be completed, signed by the host and received by UCD, before the placement will be deemed to have commenced by UCD. Furthermore, placements (and parts thereof) which have been completed in the absence of an appropriately completed host contract will not be accepted. Only in the most exceptional circumstances will any deviation from this requirement be permitted and this must have the agreement, in writing, of the PWE co-ordinator. Great emphasis will be placed on students keeping the Coordinator informed of their progress, especially of any difficulties, and responding to email or phone contact.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion, students will have significant ecological field skills, practical experience of productive land management, appreciate the interdependence of productive land uses and ecosystem services, be familiar with State schemes influencing environmental effects of land management, and be aware of professional activity in environmental assessment & management.

Indicative Module Content:

As an internship module, the activities undertaken on farm and environmental placements are those of the workplaces.

During the ecological field skills exercises, students will be exposed to understandings of landscapes, and to identification of plants and understanding of plant communities.

Where necessary and agreed, alternative online and offline content may be offered as replacements.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Placement/Work Experience

640
Total

640
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Farm work is an opportunity for students with a farm background to experience a different enterprise, and for those without farm experience to get their first exposure to the conditions of farm work. Appropriate induction and training will be required in any case for skills new to the student. It is partiularly important that students are aware of the motivation behind day-to-day decision-making on farms, taking into account longer-term management objectives and the physical constraints such as weather, soil conditions, machinery and input costs.

Work in environmental assessment or management will be entirely new to most students, and given the broad variety of possible activities, the specific nature of the work may differ among placements. In all cases, it is expected that the student will be introduced to realistic work practices, given appropriate induction or training, and become meaningfully involved in the operation of the host's environmental activities. This will include being made aware of standards, procedures and information systems in use, and especially the specific expectations around professional practice such as client confidentiality, chain-of-custody, handling physical sample materials, and the use of database or reporting systems.
 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Co-requisite:
RDEV20140 - Health, Welfare & Safety

Additional Information:
Students must complete a minimum of sixteen weeks of full-time contracted work.

Equivalents:
Prof. Work Experience (AES) (ERM30100)


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Journal: Ecological Field Skills Report (Burren Week), or agreed alternative. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Pass/Fail Grade Scale Yes

20
Assignment: Report on Environmental agency, or agreed alternative. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Pass/Fail Grade Scale No

40
Assignment: Report on Farm, or agreed alternative. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Pass/Fail Grade Scale No

40

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students are invited to a non-assessed interview post-assessment, which may be face-to-face or remote, at which their submissions are discussed, and credit is confirmed to have been recorded for work experience undertaken.

Name Role
Dr Sinéad Flannery Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Ms Henna Kinsella Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Aoife Osborne Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Professor Olaf Schmidt Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Helen Sheridan Lecturer / Co-Lecturer