Student-staff Partnership Research Articles

Rapid Transition to Blended Learning

The University of Glasgow Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree programme is a practical clinical professionally regulated discipline. Given the mode of transmission of SARS Cov-2 the dental profession and associated programmes of study have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating a rapid pivot to online and blended learning. This case study shows how the work of early adopters of technology enhanced learning and teaching (TELT) at the dental school, and a timely staff-student partnership helped to lay the foundations for this pivot in response to the challenges brought about by the pandemic.
 A large amount of teaching required modification and adaptation to support remote delivery and, through collaboration, innovation and supported creativity, we were able to produce some very effective models for learning and teaching. To illustrate this, two specific examples have been presented: a novel approach to support the delivery of essential local anaesthesia training for second year dental students using collaborative wikis and online learning; and the use Microsoft Teams to support student integration and a sense of community among our first year dental students through active, small group collaborative learning.
 The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have provided the opportunity to align the teaching of practical skills with technology and instil a positive shift in institutional practices. The effectiveness of this shift within the BDS degree programme and the impact on the development of our students will remain the focus of the school’s TELT partnership.

A Partnership Outcome Spaces framework for purposeful student–staff partnerships

ABSTRACT The benefits of student–staff partnerships are widely reported in the Students-as-Partners literature. It is envisaged that partnership initiatives can have a transformative effect on institutional cultures, however, how this transformation might be achieved is less clear. Building on transdisciplinary and systems change perspectives, we propose a Partnership Outcome Spaces framework to develop an understanding of how student–staff partnerships might influence institutional cultures. We identify four outcome spaces: situation, knowledge, learning and relationships, with reflexivity and a structured partnership methodology as key enablers of these outcomes. This framework is applied to a case study examining a Student Services Hub project in one Australian university. Through this analysis, the importance of less tangible and relational outcomes arising from student–staff partnerships are highlighted. To influence institutional culture change, we encourage student–staff partnership practitioners to purposefully negotiate the various possible outcomes of their initiatives as an integral part of the partnership process.

Be SMART: A BAME staff-student partnership to enhance graduate employability

This case study explores ‘Be SMART’, a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff-student collaboration to enhance graduate employability, piloted at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. It provides a novel insight into how students, staff and external organisations working in partnership can successfully engage BAME students in enhancing their employability skills and experiences. Be SMART offered BAME students the opportunity to access mentoring, leadership and professionalism workshops and also flexible paid internships. We explore the impact of Be SMART by means of a questionnaire and a series of semi-structured interviews with participants. Our findings show that participants, who widely reported significant improvements in their self-confidence, acquired a range of professional-level skills from their engagement. They also developed a stronger sense of belonging to the University, enhanced their peer network and were subsequently more likely to engage with the Careers Service. Our case study critically explores the success factors of Be SMART to facilitate wider uptake of BAME-targeted, co-created employability initiatives in United Kingdom higher education.

Partnership status: It’s complicated. Reflections on the “undiscussables” in a student-staff partnership.

Our intention in this reflective essay is to make sense of the ways our partnership worked and didn’t work, the inherent tensions within it, with the hope of contributing to broader scholarly conversations about engaging in student-staff partnerships.

Partnership values: An evaluation of student-staff research projects at a UK higher education institution

This research study contributes to understandings of partnership approaches through an evaluation of a number of student-staff research partnership projects that took place across one higher education institution. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with both the staff and students involved in the twenty research projects, our data were analysed to surface the underpinning values that informed the partnership process. As a result, this article offers an opportunity to evaluate partnership projects in context, as well as to explore how partnership may serve as a disruptive force in higher education. We conclude with a consideration of how investigating the ways in which students and staff conceptualise student-staff partnership can be valuable, and with recommendations for others considering similar partnership projects.

Hand over the reins: A case study for student-staff partnership in designing module assessments

This case study of a student-staff partnership project to design assessments in a new undergraduate Law module, emphasises the importance of building trust and an equitable partnership before handing over the reins and enabling students to fully control an aspect of curriculum design. The case study focuses upon a model for partnership in module design with students as active partners in co-creation, having full control within clear boundaries. Outcomes include a positive impact for the student partners as it helped them to develop employability attributes from their involvement in the project, as well as giving them an understanding of the other side of the student-teacher relationship. The partnership also had a broader positive impact on the student community, by amplifying their voices and breaking down the power dynamic between staff and students to enable students to engage meaningfully with module design, which has led to further positive partnership working.

Trilateral partnership: An institution and students’ union collaborative partnership project to support underrepresented student groups

This case study describes a staff-student partnership project from the perspective of three staff members based across independent departments within a UK higher education institution (HEI) and its students’ union. The authors, drawing upon an intersecting passion for advancing student equality, diversity, inclusion, widening participation and student engagement, developed a cross-collaborative and student-centred partnership project to create a series of guides specifically for underrepresented student groups. The guides, which sought to provide appropriate information and guidance in order to actively enhance students’ overall experience whilst navigating university life, were developed and co-created through lived student experience. This case study critically reflects upon this form of partnership, along with its benefits and challenges, and considers its contribution to literature on staff-student partnership beyond the formal realm of learning and teaching.

The student perspective of a staff-student partnership scheme.

The student perspective of a staff-student partnership scheme.

An evaluation of the experiences of the hidden curriculum of Black and minority ethnic undergraduate health and social care students at a London university

ABSTRACT Black and minority ethnic (BME) students are less likely to achieve a first or upper-class second degree than White students. This evaluation investigated the experiences of BME Health and Social Care students at a London university of the hidden curriculum, thematically analysed through a critical race lens. Four overarching themes were identified, (1) super-visible ethnicity, (2) the negative depiction of BME lived experiences, (3) self-depreciation and self-confidence and (4) separation. Recommendations at an institution-level are made in the areas of staff diversity, language support, student registration experiences and canteen costs. Recommendations at a course-level are made in the areas of co-creation of the curriculum, student belonging, academic and literacy skill development. The recommendations are underpinned by a critical pedagogy, including culturally sensitive teaching strategies and the development of meaningful staff-student partnerships. The recommendations made may be applicable to other Higher Education Institutions with a diverse student cohort where the attainment gap is prevalent.

Student Perspectives on Learning Experiences in a Higher Education Active Blended Learning Context

This article focuses on university students’ perceptions of their learning and social experiences in the context of an institution-wide pedagogic shift to Active Blended Learning (ABL). It explores students’ perceived enablers and barriers to learning in the new environment. Thematic analysis was conducted on data collected through focus groups involving 60 students. Three key categories emerged: (1) learning experiences, (2) social experiences and (3) support provision. Findings suggest that quality learning experiences are necessary but not sufficient to provide a quality overall student experience. Tutors play a key role in both. Staff-student partnerships are central to promote learner engagement and a sense of belonging. Students value, above all, regular synchronous and asynchronous interaction with peers, tutors and content, enabled by sound pedagogic design and the appropriate deployment of digital technologies. Employability-focused activities that explicitly link theory and practice are regarded as an essential ingredient in learning and assessment. Students view support as a holistic term that integrates academic and pastoral aspects.

Academic Tutors/Advisors and Students Working in Partnership: Negotiating and Co-creating in “The Third Space”

In this perspectives piece, we argue that technology can be used to create and facilitate “Third Space” advising, via a model of “flipped advising” which focuses on the development of quality staff–student partnerships. “Third Space” advising, using technology, encourages students and staff to work together to create and validate knowledge, connect experiences, and improve the learning culture of the organization. It also aligns with Hockings’ (2010) definition of inclusive practice in learning and teaching. While so much focus has been on the development of the advisor, the concept of Students as Partners (SaP) and “The Third Space” offer important lenses within which to shift the focus of advising practice away from the development of advisors and toward the development of staff–student partnerships, with a view to improving the impact and outcomes on students themselves.

Evaluating community-based research: Hearing the views of student research partners

Despite the increasing popularity in the academy of collaborative approaches to research, evaluating the impacts of Students-as-Partners (SaP) initiatives has thus far received less systematic attention. This paper presents an evaluation of a participatory community-based research project where academics partnered with 15 mature students in a socio-economically disadvantaged estate in the south of Ireland to co-construct a household survey and conduct field research to gather the views of fellow residents on the regeneration of their area. The paper reports the findings of a subsequent qualitative, participatory evaluation of the student’s experience of this partnership with academics and its impacts. The findings illuminate some of the benefits and challenges of community-based staff-student research partnerships and points to the imperatives of aligning institutional, funder, and community participants’ capacities and objectives throughout the research cycle and the importance of evaluation to inform good practice in community-based research.

A student and staff partnership in the development of a student directed independent learning toolkit

This case study offers reflection and evaluation on a student and staff partnership that utilises the principles of action research in the development of a practical toolkit to support directed independent learning by students. Since 2016, in an ongoing project under the auspices of the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law internship scheme, students have worked in partnership with members of staff to address the support for students’ development of independent learning skills to enable their full engagement with different university teaching styles. This project theme was chosen because it has the potential to have a significant impact on creating or supporting student confidence in students’ academic ability and associated mental wellbeing and sense of satisfaction and achievement. Students are best placed to provide solutions and inform the development of independent learning skills within a student-staff partnership project that facilitates active collaboration and the power to co-create.

Catastrophic co-production: A student-staff partnership for developing an educational game

We describe the production of an educational game (Catastrophic) for supporting biology learning in higher education (HE) that was developed through a partnership between students and academic staff. We consider the ways in which the development project intersects with the use of game-based learning in HE and with Students as Partners (SaP) practice. We describe the rationale for the project, discussing the use of games in the context of a shift from surface to deep learning during the transition to HE. We then reflect upon the development process and the resulting game, drawing on student and staff perspectives gathered using interviews. Finally, we make recommendations for others embarking on student-staff partnerships for the co-creation of teaching and learning tools.

Students as partners in e-contents creation: A case study exploring student-staff partnership for learning and student engagement using digital applications for co-creation of e-learning materials

In order to enable learners to take control of their learning needs and actively contribute in their learning processes, educators can partner with students in various reciprocal student-staff partnership (SSP) settings where students can be co-creators, co-producers, curators, or co-deliverers of the curriculum. Our project, undertaken to enhance the curriculum as part of a teaching qualification, places emphasis on educators partnering with first-year undergraduate students over e-content creation within an existing module, using readily accessible digital applications in order to promote active learning in students and improve student engagement. In this case study, we evaluate the extent to which SSP, as an approach to the creation of e-learning materials using digital applications, enhanced learning and student engagement in an existing module. Our student partners perceived SSP to be an excellent platform for learning, actively engaging in the classroom, and developing skills such as communication and digital literacy. However, they expressed some concerns about overcoming the traditional hierarchies within our SSP initiative

Respectfully distrusting ‘Students as Partners’ practice in higher education: applying a Mad politics of partnership

ABSTRACTAs a Mad person affiliated with Mad/psychiatric survivor/disability movements, participating in pedagogical partnerships over the past four years has been confusing and ethically fraught. Through engagement with the scholarship on Students as Partners (SaP) practice in higher education, the emerging discipline of Mad(ness) Studies, and my own experiences as a ‘partner’ on various projects, this paper seeks to synthesize a Mad politics of student-staff partnership in the academy. These politics are explored through four themes: (1) Equity? Attention to power dynamics and resulting trauma; (2) Interpersonal concord and consensus? Anger, conflict and collective action; (3) Mutual collaboration? Independence and survivor-led/controlled initiatives; (4) Inclusion? Partnership barriers and possibilities for Mad/disabled students. I end by proposing a politics of respectful distrust as Mad Studies and Mad/disabled people further explore opportunities for coalition-building and alliance with SaP colleagues.

The productive potential of pedagogical disagreements in classroom-focused student-staff partnerships

ABSTRACT Student-staff pedagogical partnership is a rapidly expanding practice documented by a growing body of scholarship. That scholarship includes a wide range of empirical examples of what students and staff experience through pedagogical partnership, an emerging set of theoretical frameworks for analysing those experiences, and practical guidelines to support participant engagement in this work. Many publications have focused on identifying the possibilities and the challenges of pedagogical partnership and on developing premises and approaches that can create common ground on which to build such countercultural collaborative efforts. In this discussion, we provide an overview of that scholarship to situate our findings from a study focused on what happens when staff and student partners might find common ground for collaboration but nevertheless disagree about basic pedagogical questions. Using a narrative analysis approach, we examined qualitative data gathered through an ethics-board-approved survey that asked about pedagogical disagreements in classroom-focused pedagogical partnership as experienced by students and academic staff at 16 colleges and universities across Canada, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Our findings suggest that when pedagogical disagreements arise, they can help clarify perspectives and pedagogical commitments, and when they do not arise, it may be due to the receptive and responsive stance students and staff take within their partnerships. These findings are important for the ways they normalise disagreement as a productive aspect of pedagogical partnership. They also point to opportunities for further research into how all staff and students might consider managing differences of perspective and disagreements.

Lecture capture and peer working: exploring study practices through staff–student partnerships

As lecture capture technology and practice become ever more widespread in UK universities there is a growing body of literature that assesses the impact of these changes. However, there is still much to be understood about lecture capture and the full impact on student learning, especially in different institutional and subject contexts. This article describes two projects from a UK Russell Group University that worked in partnership with students to gain insights into the student experience regarding lecture capture. The article highlights insights gained in terms of how and why students use lecture recordings. This article focuses on one area in particular which has been less reported and warrants further investigation – students’ use of lecture recordings in collaborative settings. The article considers some practical implications of such insights and argues that a nuanced understanding regarding the way students use lecture recordings for learning is required. The article also highlights how educationists can harness student partnerships to further our understanding of the complex interplays between technology and student learning.

Mind the gap: Teachers’ conceptions of student-staff partnership and its potential to enhance educational quality

Introduction: Student-staff partnerships as a concept to improve medical education have received a growing amount of attention. Such partnerships are collaborations in which students and teachers seek to improve education by each adding their unique contribution to decision-making and implementation processes. Although previous research has demonstrated that students are favourable to this concept, teachers remain hesitant. The present study investigated teachers’ conceptions of student-staff partnerships and of the prerequisites that are necessary to render such partnerships successful and enhance educational quality.Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 course coordinators who lead course design teams and also teach in 4 bachelor health programmes, using Bovill and Bulley’s levels of student participation as sensitising concepts during data analysis.Results: The results pointed to three different conceptions of student-staff partnerships existing among teachers: Teachers teach and students study; teachers teach and value students’ feedback; and teachers and students co-create. The prerequisites for effective co-creation teachers identified were: Teachers must be open to involve students and create dialogues; students must be motivated and have good communication skills; the organisation must be supportive; and teachers should have the final say.Conclusion: We conclude that teachers’ conceptions are consistent with Bovill and Bulley’s levels of student participation. Under certain conditions, teachers are willing to co-create and reach the highest levels of student participation.

4. That Which Is Worthy of Love: A Philosophical Framework for Reflection on Staff-Student Partnerships for the Future University

<?page nr="71"?>Abstract In this article we develop a philosophical understanding of student-staff partnership through a novel interpretation and development of Aristotle’s friendship arguments. In contributing to an emerging critical field of study of student-staff partnership, we begin by explaining the current state of being a student in the neoliberal university. In light of the polylithic changes neo-liberalism impresses on student being and becoming, and how partnerships are proposed paradoxically as both a counterculture and serving this agenda, we develop a typology of partnership that helps those working in, and proposing to work in partnership, to discuss their ethical basis. For Aristotle, “What is worthy of love?” in the relationship, is a salient question. Is it utility? Is it pleasure? Is it virtue and flourishing? In the typology we propose an additional form of partnership—where creativity is a central activity worthy of time, energy, and love. It is reasonable to suggest that student-staff partnerships are likely to remain, if not grow, in the future university, and are likely to have a significant impact on the being and becoming of the student. It is for this reason we develop the typology in order for participants, particularly students, to have clarity in understanding the ethical motivation and purpose of the partnership in the university. We see this clarity as enabling students to see how the partnership will contribute to their notion of the flourishing life.