Senior Lecturer in Non Profit Management Practice; Queen Mary Academy Fellow
BUSM250, the Contemporary Live Project Module (Capstone project) is part of the MSc Management programme. It is an alternative module to the dissertation module and focused on developing students’ knowledge of managing sustainability issues and developing skills and competencies for employability. Its accompanying module is BUSM249, the Skills and Methods for Sustainable Management module.
The MSc Management programme undertook a sustainability audit in early 2022 to map the sustainability content covered in the programme. The programme audit showed that although sustainability content is covered in different modules, it was fragmented. The fragmented and disconnected nature meant that students might not appreciate just how much sustainability content they get without a way of showing them how the pieces connect up. Further, there was a gap in meeting the employability aspect of the programme learning outcomes. To close these gaps, two new modules were introduced into the programme, BUSM250 the contemporary live project and BUSM249 the skills and methods for sustainable management module. BUSM249 the skills and methods for sustainable management module is designed to develop students’ skills and competencies in carrying out the capstone project (BUSM250). BUSM250 the contemporary live project develops students’ employability skills and allows students to delve into sustainability content covered in modules in the programme.
Context
BUSM250 the Contemporary Live Project module (capstone project) was introduced for the MSc Management to expose them to sustainability issues and management as well as developing and enhancing their employability skills. BUSM249, its accompanying module, runs in parallel developing students’ skills in working on their ‘Live’ projects.
Approach
The approach was co-designed with students to align with QMUL’s graduate attributes. It focused specifically on identifying an attribute, connecting it to relevant skills students were building, and articulating how they developed those skills. For example, one attribute was communication. Related skills included presenting, writing, listening, and interpersonal abilities. Students then explained how certain courses and activities enhanced their communication proficiency.
The assessments provide a model to integrate graduate learning outcomes. The assessment for BUSM249, the skills and methods for sustainable management module, which runs in parallel with BUSM250 the Contemporary Live Project module, was centered around a weekly 300-word student self-reflective diary that reflects on key themes and one QMUL graduate attributes weekly. The assessments were designed for deeper meaning to the learnings as well as students' reflecting on their understanding and application of the skills. The reflective journal enables students to think through an attribute, detail associated skills, how they achieved it and provide evidence of acquiring those skills. This enables meeting the module and programme learning outcomes.
Implementation
QMplus was set up for the weekly submissions. The best way to enable weekly submission to also allow weekly feedback from the module organiser was to configure the student forum to enable individual students to submit without other students viewing their submissions and feedback.
Impact
30 + students enrolled onto this module.
As this is a new module we are looking forward to receiving the data next semester (B).