Abstract
This paper describes three exemplars of practice inspired by emerging evidence that student-staff partnerships have the potential to significantly enhance many areas of higher education. Students and academics at the University of Adelaide have successfully implemented this collaborative approach across a range of learning and teaching contexts. The Design Thinking Framework, developed by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University, was utilised at a faculty, program, and course level to frame each of the exemplars, due to its implicit approach to creativity, collaborative development, and achievement of solutions. The iterative nature of the framework facilitated a review cycle for continuous improvement in each Students-as-Partners’ initiative. Analysing the outcomes of each exemplar has identified common hallmarks of successful partnership, and these indicators have the potential to contribute to the growing body of evidence that defines best practice in this pedagogy
Highlights
Contemporary research shows growing evidence that when students and teachers work together in an authentic partnership, there are tangible benefits for all (Mercer-Mapstone et al, 2017; Curran, 2017; Cook-Sather, Bovill, & Felten, 2014)
Inspired by this work in the co-creation space within a Students-as-Partners framework, academics and students at the University of Adelaide have trialled this collaborative approach across a range of learning and teaching contexts
The three exemplars of practice described in this paper demonstrate authentic approaches to co-creation and were chosen due to their diverse partnership settings (Healey, 2014)
Summary
Based on the collective outcomes of the three exemplars, building empathy in the cocreation teams is a key factor for success. Healey, Flint, and Harrington (2016) found that developing a sense of belonging increases chances of student success and state that “developing partnership learning communities among faculty and students can strengthen and sustain engagement” (p. 6). Building on the initial activities was important for the co-creation teams in each exemplar to define the purpose of the projects and why a positive outcome would benefit both students and teachers. The testing of the prototypes in each exemplar took more than one form It was underpinned by the consumer model approach as well as by identifying evidence of the student voice as described in Bovill and Bulley’s (2011) ladder of participation. Students and teachers in each exemplar experienced a sense of achievement when they recognised how their individual contribution led to a positive outcome This finding is echoed by a model of co-creation described by Bovill (2013), where active student participation led to “enhanced student responsibility for their learning, enhanced student performance and teachers’ satisfaction”
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