1. Students as Partners at the University of Adelaide
Liz Heathcote, Thomas Crichton, Trisha Franceschilli and Stephen Leahy - Learning Enhancement Team
Students as Partners at the University of Adelaide

2. Overview Introduction to the project/ role of students
Practical implications
Feedback from the teams: the good, the bad, and advice for anyone planning a similar project
University of Adelaide

3. Introduction: the student voice in “MyUni”
More consistency across courses in layout and design
More use of MyUni in my courses
In LMS satisfaction surveys at the University of Adelaide students regularly reported that they would like to see improvements in consistency of course layout, and greater usage of the online environment by their instructors.
The MyUni Transform Project not only implemented a different LMS but also used the opportunity to try to enhance the learning design, and achieve more consistent use of the LMS in each course.
University of Adelaide

4. Introduction: the project
“MyUni Transform” project
Course copy
Course enhancement
2300+ courses
University of Adelaide

5. MyUni Transform project process
Course familiarisation
eLearning collaboration #1
Content transition
Content creation
eLearning collaboration #2
At-elbow support
Key things to note:
Engagement of instructors is critical to make this work successfully. If instructors don’t engage, transformation cannot happen and students will continue to have a variable experience.
The period of 1-2 weeks for creating new content supports a flexible work arrangement.
It may be as short as a few hours work (if the course is currently well designed and content is transferred by MyUni Assist).
If more work is required, it can be done over the fortnight but with the full support structure and workshops to develop, not solo!
If an instructor is teaching 3 courses of similar design, and the improvements are similar, they may not need to have 3 x 1 hours of discussion on each course, but perhaps achieve significant gains with a 2 hour meetings instead. That’s fine – we want to support everyone. eLAs will advise against time reduction if they can see the courses need substantial review.
University of Adelaide

6. Students as partners
“staff and students learning and working together to foster engaged student learning and engaging learning and teaching enhancement… It is a way of doing things, rather than an outcome in itself.”
 Healey, M. , Flint, A. , Harrington, K. , (2014) Engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education, Higher Education Academy, p. 7
University of Adelaide

7. The “MyUni Assist Ambassador” role
Initiated 2014
at-elbow support to instructors for LMS
currently enrolled in second year or above with a minimum GPA of 5.0
4-7 hours a week
face-to-face support for instructors in:
Creating discussion boards, wikis and blogs
Recording and sharing lecture recordings
Customising the look and feel of a course site
Embedding content (such as images and videos)
Making the course available to students
Seeing what the course looked like from the student perspective
University of Adelaide

8. Role of students as partners in LMS change project
team member working with eLearning Advisers on course enhancement
assist in the design and implementation of the revised courses
assist in staff and student awareness
raising
Staff and student support: class
demos and at-elbow assistance
Increased numbers of students were recruited to.
The recruitment of these MyUni Assist Ambassadors was a conscious move to include current students as partners.
This presentation will cover the practicalities of having students as partners working on courses as well as the resulting benefits. We will also look at the challenges experienced by the Project, the students and instructors.

9. Students as partners with whom?
Tom!
Georgia working on slide

10. Practicalities with employing students… 1/3
Timesheets
Contracts
Rosters
Casual Staff
Flexibility
Study needs
Backups
Overall Management
1 Full-time “Transition Support Coordinator”
University of Adelaide

11. Practicalities with employing students… 2/3
Training videos
Mentoring
Induction
Common time to conduct induction
Observation & Shadowing
University of Adelaide

12. Practicalities with employing students… 3/3
Able to enrol themselves
All-or-none access issues
Access to Canvas
Student role as well as admin
Not assigned to own faculty
Problem of the Ambassadors’ level of access to Canvas and Echo - eventually the Project gave the Ambassadors the ability to enrol themselves as instructors as needed - but their activity in Canvas was tracked and audited.
Tracking and monitoring activity
University of Adelaide

13. Survey of eLearning Advisers and MyUni Assist Ambassadors
What was the experience of students as partners like for team members?
Survey conducted in July 2017 (approx. 75% of the way through the MyUni Transform Project)
Sent to 9 eLearning Advisers and 15 current MyUni Assist Ambassadors
10 responses received (5 eLearning Advisers and 5 MyUni Assist Ambassadors)
University of Adelaide

14. What worked?
Faculty-based teams rather than a central pool of project staff
When there was a high degree of working style compatibility between the eLearning Adviser and MyUni Assist Ambassador
A student perspective on the learning experience and functionality of MyUni
Provided a focus on student experience ie “students would or wouldn’t do that”

15. Quotes…
“As we were able to make the courses ourselves we were able to tweak layouts/settings to as to suit students better. There are many things in Canvas/Echo that people who are not students (eLa's) would not know about because they cannot use it as a student. “
“The students showed a fresh perspective both in terms of student experience and also of technical fixes. I appreciated when they would say that 'students wouldn't do that' and that real perspective was helpful in working through a design with an academic.”

16. What didn’t work so well?
Lack of role clarity/induction and unclear reporting relationships
When the eLearning Adviser and Ambassador were not ‘in sync’ in front of an instructor
Lack of availability of the same Ambassador to ensure continuity and consistency of work
Lack of maturity of some Ambassadors “Not all are created equal” / “Beware the generation gap”
eLearning Advisers not always welcoming Ambassador contribution
Project objective: Transform course or migrate content?

17. Quotes…
“students being unable to work within their own faculties was a downfall. This is where their ideas would have been most relevant as they themselves have sat through the courses and know the areas where improvements are needed.”

18. What would we do differently?
More clarity between eLearning Adviser and Ambassador roles and sharing this with instructors
Greater eLearning Adviser involvement in recruitment, induction and training of Ambassadors
Faculty-based teams from the start rather than “putting an eLA with a student partner together at random and ‘off you go’”
A technical way to ensure students can work on courses but not have access to everything (Canvas???)

19. Conclusion “staff and students learning and working together”
Student perspective invaluable
Substantial administration overhead
Still depends on the people involved
“a way of doing things, rather than an outcome in itself”
We are still some way away from true partnership, but have started to build this “way of doing things” into our processes

20. Any questions?
University of Adelaide