Performance review

1. PSP3: Pre- and Post-Work Experience Assessment Non-Sandwich Route
Student Name: Alex Maynard
Course: Biomedical Science BSc
Assessor Name: Professor T J Smith
Assessor Position: Professor of Microbiology
1
st
/ 2
nd
Assessment
Date:
14/03/2022
SKILL AREA Student Assessor
Examples / comments Examples / comments
A. COMMUNICATION
e.g. clear, effective speech Attending face to face and zoom
meetings to update Professor Smith
on the progress of my research
project.
Email communications with
Professor Smith regarding research
project queries, I am able to talk to
Professor Smith if I am unsure of
something and need it further
explaining i.e working out
concentrations for an experiment.
- expressiveness
-
-
explanatory ability
writing skills
Score
0-10
Score
0-10
- communicating with people at different
levels
8
B. WORKING WITH OTHERS
e.g. co-operating
- getting on with people Working on my project, in the
laboratory I get on well with the other
students around me, helping each
other with different issues.
Generallyexcellentcommunicationskillsvia
a range of electronicmedia.
Alex isalwaysclear,comprehensive and
informative incommunicatinginface-to-face
meetings.
8
Alex hasworkedverywell withcolleaguesin
all rolesduringthe project – fellowstudents,
supervisorandmembersof the technical
team. Alex isgenerallypolite,considerate
and cooperative.

2. I have enjoyed working alongside
fellow students in the laboratory and
find I work better when there are
other people around to talk through
issues with.
I keep my supervisor informed of
where I am up to with my project.
- contributing to teamwork
- working under supervision
-
-
supervising
working with people at different levels
Score
0-10
Score
0-10
7
C. IMPROVING OWN PERFORMANCE
e.g. enthusiasm, commitment I feel committed to my research
project however with better work
planning I think I could be more
efficient in the laboratory.
- willingness to learn
- initiative, resourcefulness
taking responsibility My attendance is good, I am in the
laboratory every day if not most days
as some days I don’t need to be in
i.e if something is incubating for a
length of time.
I think I have a good level of maturity,
I come into the laboratory and get on
with my work and I am learning to
take responsibility for when
8
Alex hasshowna real interestinand
commitmenttothe project. He seemsreally
keenforit to succeed. He has gotfrustrated
fromtime to time due to whathe perceives
as slowprogress,thoughforsomeone new
to a challengingresearchprojectprogress
has beenverygoodsofar. Alex hasshown
an excellentabilitytolearnnewtechniques.

3. -
-
maturity
attendance, punctuality
experiments don’t go as planned
and need to be done again.
Score
0-10
Score
0-10
- personal organisation/work planning 7
SKILL AREA Student Assessor
Examples / comments Examples / comments
D. PROBLEM SOLVING
I am able to think quickly for example
I needed to autoclave some broth to
carry out an experiment, however, I
missed the autoclaving time, I only
needed a small amount so I used a
sterile filter instead of having to wait
until the next day for the autoclave.
e.g
-
prioritising tasks
- defining problems
I am good at prioritising tasks if
something needs to be autoclaved I
will do that first so that I don't have to
wait around later in the day and in the
meantime, I can get on with another
experiment.
I am able to take action to identify
problems, I have run a 96 well plate
MIC several times which has not
worked properly so I emailed my
supervisor and we discussed the
Alex hasgivensome goodexampleshere of
solvingday-to-dayproblemsthatcome upin
the lab. These are importantskillsthatare
neededtokeepresearchmovingatagood
pace. Inadditiontothese,he hastakena
longerviewinprioritisingthe majoraimsof
isprojectas the workhas developed.
Importantly,Alexhasidentifiedwhen
problemscanbe tackledalone andwhento
ask forhelp.
8

4. -
-
taking action
grasping main points
results seen to try and identify what
had gone wrong.
Score 0-
10
Score
0-10
- locating information 8 8
E. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
I am able to use all software efficiently.
Searching for information in PubMed.
Writing up reports, making
presentations in google docs, google
slides and word.
e.g
-
-
using word processing
package using other p.c.
packages using databases Score 0-
10
Generallyexcellentuse of IT. One
minorsuggestion –unlessthe pdf is
speciallyproducedtoallowadditions,
Word documentsare betterthanpdf
whenyouneedthe recipienttomake
substantial additions
Score
0-10
8
- using company specific IT 8
F. APPLICATION OF NUMBERS
I am able to calculate effectively, for
several parts of my project I need to
work out concentrations and dilution
factors in order to proceed in the
experiment and for the most part I
have had no issues in doing this.
Accurate use of arithmetic–the mostimportantskill
beingtoknowwhat calculationtodo.
Good use of the labbook
e.g
-
-
-
calculating / evaluating
checking results / accuracy
estimating
Score 0-
10
Score
0-10

5. - recording / presenting data 7 7
SKILL AREA Student Assessor
Examples / comments Examples / comments
G. WORKING PRACTICE I know how to use the equipment that
I require for my research project for
example by attending a tutorial on
using HPLC which covered
everything I need to know to be able
to use the equipment safely.
I have knowledge regarding the health
and safety hazards of all the
chemicals I am using in my project, I
have learnt this through finding the
information online and producing my
own risk assessment.
Alex haslearnednewtechniqueswell,insome caseswith
minimal hands-oninstruction. He hasbeenreceptive to
newideaswithregardto workingpracticesandhashad a
seriousattitude tohealthandsafetymatters.Alexhas
takena pro-active attitude toperformingandevaluating
hisriskassessmentsandhascompliedwithlocal
regulationsandwhatwasagreedinthe risk assessments.
(i)
e.g
-
Knowledge
function / principles of equipment
-
-
safety regulations / procedures
knowing reasons for particular work
practices Score
0-10
8
Score 0-
10
8
- background / theoretical knowledge
(ii) Work Skills

6. e.g careful and safe working practice As my project is microbiology based I
have to practise aseptic technique in
order to reduce the potential of
contamination of various samples.
Alex hasworkedcarefully andproductively –following
instructionsinpublishedmethodsandmethodsprovided
by the supervisors,aswell asshowinginitiative inadapting
methodsasneeded.
-
-
manual dexterity
correct use of equipment / methodology
I am able to follow instructions,
written and verbal, to complete tasks.
I have a materials and methods script
that I follow in order to make up agar
and
Score 0-
10
Alex hasshowna professional level
of competence inawide range of
techniques,fromaseptictechnique
to use of complex analytical
equipment
Score 0-
10
broths, as well as carry out
experiments.
- follow methods / protocols 9 8
- competent in a range of activities
(iii)
e.g
Quality of work
accuracy

7. - reliability of service I have had some issues with the
accuracy of some of my experiments,
inparticular MIC, having acquired
abnormal results however I have
flagged this to my supervisor and we
have discussed why these results
were seen and what to do next time.
I believe I am effiecent at getting my
laboratory work done, my project
requires a lot of incubation and if this
is not done on time can lead to
wasted days.
A goodlevel of accuracyshown. Some of Alex’s
frustrationhere isdue tothe intrinsicvariabilityof
biological systems.
- attention to detail
-
-
level of service
efficiency
Score 0-
10
Score 0-
10
- meets deadlines 6 7
- resilience under pressure
SKILL AREA Student Assessor
Examples / comments Examples / comments
H. PROFESSIONAL / ORGANISATIONAL
AWARENESS
general presentation I work well and conduct myself in a
professional manner in the laboratory, I
have worked previously in many
professional environments such as
Alex showedexcellentunderstandingof the
particularprofessionalenvironmentof the
Universityteachingandresearchlaboratories.
e.g

8. various jobs I have had (which I have
covered in my presentation).
- personnel issues I understand my responsibilities and the
departmental structure, for example if I
have general queries or need a certain
piece of equipment I will go first to the
technical team and if they are unable to
sort the problem then I will contact my
supervisor.
- professional ethics
- confidentiality
- company structure Score 0-
10
Score 0-
10
- departmental structure/re
- function of company
sponsibilities 8 8
Overall Student Mark /100
76
Overall Assessor Mark /100
78
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE STUDENT

9. COMMENTS / PROPOSALS:
Briefly reflect upon the
assessment, including ideas to
improve your employability skills
The assessment has helped me to identify my strengths and weaknesses as an employee, I am
punctual, hard working and flag up issues that I might have in order to improve. I could improve
my employability skills by being more accurate in my work and taking more time to background
read to gain more indepth knowledge in areas I struggle in.