How one educator transformed her teaching during the pandemic using Riipen

The pandemic has caused many educators to rethink their teaching methods due to the constraints imposed. The transition from in-person to virtual teaching is just one of the changes that many educators have had to make. Others have been forced to transform their student assignments and internship programs because of the struggle to find employers ready to work with and mentor their students.

Marie-Maxime Bastien, a Business Administration educator at Collège André-Grasset, is one such instructor who had to adapt her teaching methodology during the height of the pandemic. Marie-Maxime took advantage of the Riipen platform to reshape one of her courses with great success. 

Marie-Maxime’s course in question is entitled "Démarche d'intégration des acquis", in the Social Science and Commerce program, for which pre-university students, registered in the Administration profile, must complete an in-person 12-hour observation work placement in a professional setting. In the past, students would research and find an employer for their in-person internship, and Marie-Maxime would help those who had difficulty securing a placement. 

However, with the arrival of the pandemic and the rigorous constraints imposed, students could no longer complete their work placement in person. Fortunately, Marie-Maxime heard about Riipen through another educator in her network who had used the platform. After a successful first experience on Riipen during the Winter 2021 semester, with 5 projects matched to her course and available to her students, Marie-Maxime repeated the experience for the Winter 2022 semester and found 10 projects for her students, most of which were Marketing-related. 

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Hear what Marie-Maxime has to say about the effect of a Riipen project on her students' motivation:

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Summary:

• Being able to choose their projects helps a lot with student motivation as they can pick areas based on their interests. Marie-Maxime was mindful of accepting a variety of projects to cater to her students' interests. 
• Knowing that they are making a real-world difference for their employer (for example working on an existing website and knowing that customers will visit that website), helps a lot with student motivation. 
• The fact that employers can post comments and provide feedback to students on the Riipen platform and that students can link their Riipen Virtual Portfolio to their LinkedIn profile helps motivate students. 
• Another source of motivation is that many employers have told Marie-Maxime’s students that if they have another internship or work placement to do as part of their postsecondary studies, they can circle back to them as they would be very happy to continue working with them.

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Here are additional benefits of using Riipen for students, as expressed by Marie-Maxime:

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Summary:

• The projects required a high degree of autonomy on the part of the students, as they had to structure meetings and information sharing, among other things, helping them develop their project management skills. 
• The projects led the students to develop their interpersonal skills through their interactions with the employer. The students had to develop a professional relationship with the client, the same as they would in the workforce. 
• These experiences provided very interesting and valuable lessons for the students in preparing them for their future careers. 

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Thank you to Marie-Maxime for sharing her experience and thoughts on the value of Riipen. Curious about what Riipen can do for you? Visit riipen.com to learn more and book a call with an expert. Connect with Riipen on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter to stay in the know!

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