1. Student Engagement With Learning & Teaching Development
Sharing Ideas & Good Practice
Presentation by
Helen King
Associate Director of Academic Practice
Jamie Jordan
VP Education
Increasing movement nationally and internationally, policy groups, networks and conferences
Increasing evidence-base; International Journal of Student Partnership
Student engagement, student partnership, student co-creation
Workshop is entitled student engagement but this term can also have a different meaning, so we’re moving towards using student partnership as a clearer statement of what we’re trying to do.
Aim of today’s workshop is not to convince you that this is a good thing. We will be generally taking a positive and optimistic viewpoint. We are aware there are challenges and barriers; we are not ignoring these (and we will give you an opportunity to air them if you wish) but, for today, we are looking at what does student partnership look like at UWE and how can we enhance it further.
7 June 2018

2. Aims of the Workshop Consider a model of student partnership;
Share examples of current practice & new ideas;
Building on the UWE Principles of Representation, begin to explore the development of a UWE model for student partnership

3. What is student partnership?
“…a process of student engagement, understood as staff and students learning and working together to foster engaged student learning and engaging learning and teaching enhancement.”
“…a relationship in which all participants are actively engaged in and stand to gain from the process of learning and working together.
“…[it] uniquely foregrounds qualities that put reciprocal learning at the heart of the relationship, such as trust, risk, inter- dependence and agency.
“…partnership raises awareness of implicit assumptions, encourages critical reflection and opens up new ways of thinking, learning and working in contemporary higher education.”
(Healey et al, 2014)

4. One model: students as change agents
(Dunne & Zandstra, 2011, p.17)

5. One model: students as change agents
NSS
Module Evaluations
Students as evaluators of the HE experience
Students in final year take part in the National Student Survey, evaluating their experience of their time at UWE Bristol. Students also have module evaluations to feedback at a much more local level, providing programme teams vital information to ensure modules are running in a way students fully engage.
(Dunne & Zandstra, 2011, p.17)

6. One model: students as change agents
Multi-level representation
Committees & processes
Students as participants in decision-making processes
The Students’ Union and UWE Bristol co-create and co-operate structures of student representation. We are considered equals in the boardroom and are actively engaged in agenda items. There is representation at almost every level of the University decision making – from SRSFs right up to Academic Board. The multi-level of student representation allows us to capture a holistic picture of the student experience.
(Dunne & Zandstra, 2011, p.17)

7. FET: co-creators of policies & practices
One model: students as change agents
FET: co-creators of policies & practices
Students as partners, co-creators and experts
In FET, Faculty Directors have worked in partnership to ensure that students are co-creators of Faculty policies and practices. The Lead Department Reps have taken time outside of ASQCs to work on two specific projects. APTs as a vehicle for supporting the development of student emotional resilience and the scheduling of assessment across and academic year. The LDRs have helped to inform and gather feedback to feed into both projects. Students in the Faculty rejected the proposals for assessment scheduling, so in partnership the Faculty Directors and LDRs worked to come up with alternative solutions. This partnership approach meant that solutions were able to be co-created.
(Dunne & Zandstra, 2011, p.17)

8. HAS: leading development of new timetables
One model: students as change agents
HAS: leading development of new timetables
Students as agents for change
In HAS, notably Nursing and Midwifery, Student Reps are now active participants in programme management meetings, helping to shape and organise the very courses they study. Student Reps have been leading the development of new timetables to fit their needs based on feedback gathered from their cohorts and departments in the Faculty – they have gone to the drawing board to design effective methods of engaging with their many distance, part time and placement students.
(Dunne & Zandstra, 2011, p.17)

9. Student partnership in policy, processes & pedagogy
Curriculum Design: e.g. Enhancement Framework
L, T & A: co-created essay titles, assessment criteria, agreed pedagogic approaches – transparency
Subject-based research: our student conference
Scholarship: student-led pedagogic projects
(Healey et al, 2014, p.25)

10. Your examples of and ideas for student partnership in policy, processes & pedagogy

11. Towards a UWE model of student partnership
Rationale - benefits for:
Students (prospective, UG, PGT, PGR, graduates…)
Staff (all)
UWE Bristol
Connections to:
Strategies & projects
Graduate Attributes
Self-reliant and connected
Ready and able
Enterprising
Globally responsible
Future-facing
Developing pedagogies
Co-curricular activities
Challenges
e.g. SU community projects, enterprising mindset, mental wealth & belonging

12. Next steps… Collating your examples & ideas
Academic Practice Directorate student partners
Working collaboratively with staff & students across the University
Building on the Principles of Student Representation
Gathering more examples & ideas
Exploring modes of participation
Further developing the UWE model
Stay involved (if you would like to)!
Put your name & against your example / idea; or
Write your name & on a post-it