Laureamko student activities

1. Familiarise yourself with the learning outcomes and assess whether you have acquired the required competence.
2. Create a portfolio, in which you describe the activities carried out, your role as part of the whole and how the learning outcomes were achieved. You can use the same portfolio to apply for recognition for several course units, but separate the contents of the course units with individual title pages.
3. Submit a competence badge application separately for each badge you apply for. NOTE: use the same @student.laurea.fi email address in the exact same format to log in to the Open Badge Factory system and for each application; otherwise the badges awarded will not reach your profile.
4. The evaluation panel reviews applications continuously (except during holiday periods at year-end and in summer). A more detailed schedule is below.
5. The panel will either accept the submission or request additions to the portfolio.
6. When credits are awarded, the assessment of the demonstration is pass/fail and the student also receives a Laurea competence badge.

Detailed portfolio assignment 

• First, familiarise yourself with the course unit’s learning outcomes.
• Divide the text into paragraphs and title the content according to the learning outcomes.
• Include an introduction to yourself in the portfolio, stating who you are and which roles you have held in student activism. Attach a photo of yourself if you wish.
• Use practical examples in the text to describe how your competence has developed in each learning outcome (for example, for Membership Services you should describe both the characteristics of good customer service and how your own skills grew in customer service through student activism). You can describe competence growth by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then explaining which skills and knowledge were added through the activity.
• Please cover all the course unit’s learning outcomes in the portfolio.
• Describe what your personal contribution to the work was.
• NOTE! Add a summary at the end of each course unit’s portfolio describing what you have learned from student activism, i.e. articulate the growth of your competence. Portfolios without a summary will not be accepted.

Also note: 

• Use good general language in your portfolio, as you would when describing your work to an employer. Write in complete sentences and be professional, as in other learning task responses.
• You may attach a work sample to the portfolio: for example an advertisement, a project plan, a marketing plan or an image of the event budget.
• You can create your portfolio on an electronic portfolio platform (Microsoft Sway, Bulb or other), in PowerPoint or Word.
• Images can enliven your portfolio and are particularly useful when describing communication skills, but they are otherwise not mandatory.
• An acceptable submission cannot be a portfolio that only lists activities without describing the development of your own competence.

Community influencer

Membership services in student activities

The aim is to develop competence in three areas: customer service skills, safety and data protection, and service development. The growth of competence must be demonstrated in a written portfolio in order for credits to be awarded. In your portfolio, describe the answers to the questions below.

Customer service skills

• What is excellent customer service? Provide examples from your own student activities.
• How did you meet different people in customer service situations and how did you take their needs into account?
• By what means did you act constructively in customer service and promote a sense of community?

Safety and data protection 

• Did you comply with personal data and confidentiality obligations and in what ways? Describe the risks related to these when organising membership services.
• What did you consider in the safe use of the membership register and the cash register system?

Service development 

• Did you identify indirect feedback? What kind and in what context?
• How did you use feedback in developing services?
• Did you take future trends into account in service development and how?

Summary

• what insights you gained from the topics above
• what you have learned overall about customer service, safety and data protection, and service development. You can describe competence growth, for example, by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then articulating which skills and knowledge were gained through the activity.

Communication in student activities

The aim is to develop competence in three areas: external communication, internal communication and marketing. The growth of competence must be demonstrated in a written portfolio in order for credits to be awarded. In your portfolio, describe the answers to the questions below.

External communication 

• Which communication channels did you use? Describe your use as comprehensively as possible.
• Did you succeed in communicating effectively and inspiringly? How would you justify this success (e.g. describe what feedback you received; was the communication reaching the audience and effective)? Or were there challenges and why?
• Did you follow and make use of communication trends and in what ways?

Internal communication 

• Did you use the agreed communication channels? What were they?
• Did you promote a constructive and open communication culture and how?
• Did you report on your activities according to the shared practices? What were those practices?

Marketing 

• What graphic guidelines and tone of voice did you have in use? Did you follow them and how?
• Did you create a marketing plan? How did you use it when communicating across different channels?
• Did you leverage cross-selling opportunities between different services and products and how?

Write a summary at the end of the portfolio in which you describe what insights you gained from the topics above and what you have learned overall about external and internal communication and marketing. You can describe competence growth by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then articulating which skills and knowledge were gained through the activity.

Organising events in student activities

The aim is to develop competence in three areas: event organisation, event development and stakeholder cooperation. The growth of competence must be demonstrated in a written portfolio in order for credits to be awarded. In your portfolio, describe the answers to the questions below.

Event organisation 

• Did you prepare event and safety plans? What were they like? Give examples of how you acted in accordance with them.
• How did you plan the event’s budgeting and the utilisation of personnel resources?
• Did you encounter rapidly changing situations during organisation? How did you react to them?
• By what means did you coordinate and implement the event’s communication and marketing?

Event development 

• For which target groups did you organise the event(s)? What expectations did the target groups have?
• How did you develop or how would you develop future events based on previous results and feedback?

Stakeholder cooperation

• Who were the stakeholders related to the events and what were their interests in collaborating for the event?
• What kind of collaboration agreement did you make?

Write a summary at the end of the portfolio in which you describe what insights you gained from the topics above and what you have learned overall about event organisation, event development and stakeholder cooperation. You can describe competence growth by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then articulating which skills and knowledge were gained through the activity.

Tutoring in student activities 

The aim is to develop competence in two areas: meeting and community, and guiding the student. The growth of competence must be demonstrated in a written portfolio in order for credits to be awarded. In your portfolio, describe the answers to the questions below.

Meeting and community  

• How did you take all students into account, including those from diverse backgrounds, equally in your activities?
• What activity-based methods did you use to support new students’ familiarisation and group formation? What observations did you make?
• What community events did you implement together with other tutors?
• How did you guide and support incoming exchange students according to their needs?
• By what means did you create a sense of community and facilitate interaction in an online environment?

Guiding the student  

• How and where did you introduce Laurea and Laurea’s systems and guide new students to Laurea’s practices and culture?
• What kind of cooperation did you have with other tutors, Laureamko actors and Laurea staff?
• In which situations did you have to consider or did you consider safety-related issues? What about professional ethics (e.g. aspects related to the tutor’s role, impartiality, setting an example)?
• Did you introduce the student well-being services available and in which contexts? Did you cooperate with well-being actors and in what ways?

Write a summary at the end of the portfolio in which you describe what insights you gained from the topics above and what you have learned overall about meeting, community and guiding the student. You can describe competence growth by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then articulating which skills and knowledge were gained through the activity.

Leadership for the future

Leadership in student activities 

The aim is to develop competence in three areas: self-leadership, strategic leadership and people leadership. The growth of competence must be demonstrated in a written portfolio in order for credits to be awarded. In your portfolio, describe the answers to the questions below.

Self-leadership 

• What goals did you set for your activities?
• How did you manage your time?
• How would you assess your strengths and areas for development in your activities and competence?

Strategic leadership 

• What is the difference between strategic and operational activity?
• What kind of strategic planning did you do? Describe, for example, what targets you set and how you measured the success of the activity.
• How did you anticipate and react to changing situations in the activity?

People leadership 

• How did you act responsibly as a leader? What reflections did you have about responsibility?
• What results did you achieve with the team under your leadership? Did you encounter challenging interaction situations and how did you handle them?
• By what means did you motivate, encourage and support your team?

Write a summary at the end of the portfolio in which you describe what insights you gained from the topics above and what you have learned overall about leading yourself and others and about strategic leadership. You can describe competence growth by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then articulating which skills and knowledge were gained through the activity.

Advocacy in student activities

The aim is to develop competence in three areas: advocacy and representation, decision-making and advocacy tools. The growth of competence must be demonstrated in a written portfolio in order for credits to be awarded. In your portfolio, describe the answers to the questions below.

Advocacy and representation 

• What kind of advocacy work did you do? Provide examples of targeted actions you carried out independently.
• What plan did you make to achieve the advocacy objective?
• How did you communicate about the advocacy work? How did you assess the effectiveness of the communication?

Decision-making 

• What meeting practices did you have? What kinds of meeting documents did you use and produce?
• Did you report on activities according to shared practices and how?
• Did you utilise your opportunities to influence decision-making processes and how?

Advocacy tools 

• Did you use key documents for the activity (such as legislation or guiding documents of Laurea and the student organisation) and in what contexts?
• How did you use feedback from students in advocacy?
• What do you think should be taken into account in constructive interaction with different stakeholders? In what ways and in which situations did you interact with stakeholders?

Write a summary at the end of the portfolio in which you describe what insights you gained from the topics above and what you have learned overall about advocacy and representation, decision-making and advocacy tools. You can describe competence growth by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then articulating which skills and knowledge were gained through the activity.

Project management in student activities

The aim is to develop competence in two areas: teamwork and finance. The growth of competence must be demonstrated in a written portfolio in order for credits to be awarded. In your portfolio, describe the answers to the questions below.

Teamwork 

• How and what kinds of tasks did you assign and delegate in your project team? Did you consider aspects of responsibility and use digital tools? Which ones?
• What goals and collaborations did you have?
• Did you organise meetings? What were the meetings’ objectives and were they achieved?
• How would you assess your own and your team’s work? How would you develop your activities going forward?

Finance 

• Did you interpret and use financial documents, such as the income statement, balance sheet and budget? How and in what contexts?
• What kind of financial planning and monitoring did you do? Was it useful and in what ways?
• What kind of budget did you prepare?
• Did you carry out an inventory of the student organisation’s products and what was it like?

Write a summary at the end of the portfolio in which you describe what insights you gained from the topics above and what you have learned overall about teamwork and finance. You can describe competence growth by first stating what you knew in each area before participating and then articulating which skills and knowledge were gained through the activity.