Employment Relations: Welcome and Overview

Overview

In this section, learners are given an overview of the course and are introduced to each other and their tutor. They’re asked to form teams, and they’ll get some practice using the forums. They’re also introduced to the case study, Naturally Baking Limited.

You need to complete some of the information in this area. On the ‘What Do You Need?’ page you need to add any required textbooks. If you are using textbooks and course learning guides, introduce this now. Ask learners to tell you if they have any problems getting the textbook, or if they don’t have it by the middle of the first week of the course. Let learners know which chapters you’ll be referring to most during the course, so they can read ahead if they want.

On the ‘How Will You Be Assessed’ page you need to give your learners information about assessments and the due dates.

Meet your tutor page

It is important to welcome learners in a conversational way. Introduce yourself with some interesting information and a photo. If there is more than one tutor, each of you should do this.

We recommend you give guidelines about what learners can expect. For example:

• How many times per week will you log in and how often should they?
• How long will you take to mark assessments?
• When and how will you be available for individual queries?
• Will you be facilitating chat sessions? If so, how often?
• What should learners’ goals and timeframes be for the first two weeks? Include deadlines for:
  • buying any required textbooks
  • completing the icebreaker
  • first forum post.
• How much interaction will learners need to have with you, and with each other?

How will learners get technical support?

Icebreaker

It is best to read the tutor guidance for this task. Assign a deadline. We suggest one week to complete the icebreaker and join a forum group.

Building teams

You need to create enough forums to ensure groups of 6 to 10 learners. Read the icebreaker tutor notes; you may need to be creative in your collaboration management. Post the first message to the who’s who forum, and check that everyone is participating. You might need to post a reminder mid-week, saying that it’s now time to reply to posts. Summarise the discussion at the end of the week, and note any interesting points. You might also like to discuss any technical challenges, such as with threading forums. It is best to have teams organised before the middle of the second week of semester.

Later, the teams will allocate roles for each part of the team task. These are a facilitator (team leader) and a reporter (summariser and note-taker). The roles should be shared as evenly as possible.

Team ground rules

Collate the ground rules and summarise. In the second week of the course, produce a list of ground rules.

Forums

You need to create a group forum for each team. You can create these as soon as the teams are decided, but hide them until the learners know who is in each team. It’s a good idea to post a welcoming and encouraging message to each team forum when you set it up, and to let the learners know if, how often, and in what form you will monitor the forums.

Calendar

You need to populate the course calendar with key dates, including dates for tasks, assessments, and holidays.

Written tasks

You need to give your learners guidance on the format, layout, and referencing expected in the written tasks.

Assessment tasks

You need to give your learners information about the nature of their assessments and the due dates. The tasks at the end of each section of the course are designed to prepare learners for the assessments. They are collaborative tasks, so that learners learn from each other.
NZIM requires the following evidence for assessment:

• An analysis of a relevant selected workplace in which employment issues are identified and effective solutions produced.
• An analysis of a simple employment agreement and a description of the process followed in its negotiation.
• A description and analysis of one dispute and one personal grievance.