The student voice in higher education curriculum design: is there value in listening?

Abstract

This article presents a case study illustrating the potential value of enhanced student participation in higher education (HE) curriculum development, in response to an absence of research in this area. Lecturers and students had divergent views of the effectiveness of a staff-led redesign of a module curriculum. Focus groups were used to investigate reasons for the opposing views informing a second, more successful, redesign evidenced by improved feedback, attendance and marks. We discuss how a closer alignment with the ‘student voice’ facilitated the emergence of perceptions not revealed by usual feedback routes. We suggest potential reasons why this occurred including how student views challenged staff assumptions about the learning and teaching process and our initial interpretation of literature. We discuss how our findings might enhance the development of the student voice in HE, and their relevance to continuing debate about the purpose of HE curricula.