Student-faculty Partnership Research Articles

A mixed-method investigation of faculty perspectives on the benefits and challenges of engaging in student partnership activities in science

There is a growing interest within higher education to engage with students as partners to reposition students from consumers to producers of knowledge. The purpose of this study was to gather insights into the benefits, barriers/challenges, and best practices for engaging in student-faculty partnership activities for science faculty members. Supervising or working with graduate teaching assistants, working with students on university committees, collaborating with undergraduate or graduate students on a new or existing research project, and co-authoring manuscripts with graduate students were regarded as the most impactful partnership activities. Common benefits of student partnership activities included: collaboration and relationship building, broadening perspectives and gaining feedback, personal satisfaction, and institutional and career-related benefits. Common barriers/challenges reported were interpersonal dynamics and maintaining relationships, student management, and external influences. Best practices consisted of planning and setting expectations, developing students’ agency, using open communication, and facilitating peer-to-peer collaboration and peer mentoring.

An ethics module on academic integrity and generative AI

AbstractThis article explores the intersection between academic integrity and generative AI (GenAI). It presents a tested framework for a versatile 3‐h module applicable to various disciplines. Since ChatGPT's emergence, GenAI's impact on academic integrity has raised concerns, challenged established norms, and blurred lines of authorship. Engaging students in this topic encourages critical reflection and ethical use of these technologies. This approach draws on experiential learning and student–faculty partnership approaches to activities and assessments, providing students with a platform to not only navigate the responsible application of GenAI in assignments but also foster a dialogue between students and faculty on crafting effective policies for GenAI use.

Fostering Students as Partners: A Faculty-wide Examination of Science Undergraduate and Graduate Students’ Perspectives of Pedagogical Partnerships

There has been a growing discourse within higher education to engage with students as partners and harness the strength of students and faculty working together. Engaging in student-faculty partnerships activities offers benefits to both students and faculty, yet there is less research on these practices within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The purpose of this study was to conduct a Faculty-wide investigation to identify the benefits and challenges of engaging in student-faculty partnerships activities within a Faculty of Science at a mid-sized university in Ontario, Canada. Using a mixed-method approach of surveys and semi-structured interviews with undergraduate and graduate students, we examined the types of student partnership activities existing within a Faculty of Science as well as gathered insights into students’ perspectives of the benefits and challenges they experience engaging in these activities. Collaborating with faculty on research projects, teaching assistantships, being a student leader in an organization with faculty guidance, and co-authoring manuscripts with faculty members were considered the most impactful partnerships activities. Students reported social, personal, and career development benefits from their involvement in student-faculty partnership activities. Common barriers included difficulties finding opportunities to engage in partnership activities, social barriers (e.g., financial stability), power imbalances, difficult working environments, and personal challenges. Implications for supporting student engagement and collaboration through advantageous student-faculty partnerships are discussed.

A Novel, Mutually Beneficial Student-Faculty Partnership to Develop Real-Time Formative Assessments Aligning with the Preclinical Undergraduate Medical Curriculum.

A shortage of curriculum-aligned formative multiple-choice questions (FMCQs) remains despite their known learning benefits in preclinical medical education due to limitations on teaching faculty time and other reasons. In response, students often use extramural resources such as commercial or collaborative question banks; however, these options are often expensive and cannot be aligned with the content of each school's unique curriculum. In addition, students need feedback on their learning in a manner that parallels the format of summative assessments. In this pilot, the authors aimed to enhance student learning by creating an intramural formative practice resource that was developed as the curriculum unfolded under the direction of the faculty leading the concurrently running curricular units. The authors developed a workflow known as Professor-Reviewed Exam Practice (PREP) in 2023. PREP partnered preclinical medical students and faculty to create vignette-style, single best response FMCQs with feedback for every lecture and self-guided learning module in multiple preclinical blocks of The Ohio State University College of Medicine undergraduate medical curriculum. PREP established a sustainable, student-led, faculty-guided workflow that created high-quality, curriculum-aligned FMCQs for student use in the preclinical medical curriculum over a 14-month period. Usage rates were high across multiple preclinical blocks, reflecting high student demand for FMCQs of this nature and their value as a study aid. Survey data showed faculty agreed that their time commitment and role in the PREP workflow was appropriate. Future work will evaluate the benefits of PREP to students by exploring the potential impact of PREP FMCQs on summative assessment performance and if writing FMCQs confers benefits to PREP team members. Faculty survey indicated that performance data from PREP FMCQs could be used to tailor upcoming teaching and learning methods, which is an area for future inquiry.

Students-as-partner experience

This article offers a case study of a student-faculty partnership. Focusing on the perspectives of two student research assistants and a faculty member, the authors utilize current literature on student-faculty partnerships to support their perspectives. This case study adds to the body of research suggesting student-faculty partnerships enrich and mutually benefit those involved. This article explores the working partnership of the consultation team and their work as part of a large collaborative project amongst post-secondary institutions and community-based organizations. Over the course of 3 years, success was evidenced by the outcomes of this project. The team has led workshops on the subject matter, and, additionally, contributed to the co-creation of a workbook/e-course on mitigating vicarious trauma for English language learning teachers. The research team published two subject-related articles. This article explores the facets that impacted the quality of the partnership.

Exploring the importance of backstage conversations in student-faculty partnerships

Exploring the importance of backstage conversations in student-faculty partnerships

Design thinking and shared ignorance as a framework for student-faculty partnerships

This case study describes and discusses how student-faculty partnerships can be strengthened through design thinking and the establishment of shared ignorance, i.e., an awareness of how none of the involved parties understands the problem or knows the optimum solution of the partnership project. As a case, we use a student-faculty project that aimed to develop course material for an electrical engineering course based on project work involving wicked problems. This project illustrates, through student and faculty reflections, how design thinking and shared ignorance can be used to subvert implicit power structures and strengthen the partnership and project outcomes.

In partnership, for partnership

After almost a year of planning an international conference on student partnership for humanitarian action with the UN Refugee Agency, a student-faculty partnership reflect on the learning process they undertook, and how years of working together built a strong foundation for this project. Working in partnership to communicate the importance of partnership to address complex global issues signifies the importance of engaging multi-level stakeholders in new, innovative solutions. This introduction to the special section titled after the conference provides the context for this challenging yet rewarding feat made possible with a community of partnerships.

Student-to-staff partnership experience in a university-based humanitarian organization

My journey of student-faculty partnership is one that I did not anticipate joining when I signed up for the International Students Overcoming War (ISOW) Scholarship Initiative. ISOW is part student-club, part humanitarian organization that provides students the opportunities to hone their leadership skills as they administer the operations of the scholarship program. The partnerships between students, staff, and Faculty create (experiential) learning for all that enhances personal and professional development in this community. Over the course of four years, with progressive leadership responsibilities ranging from Secretary to a full-time contract position, I have been able to experience partnership from the student and staff perspective. In this essay I share the key lessons I have learned about partnership as I moved through these roles and experienced the challenges of self-reflection, holding multiple identities, and moving on.

Co-creating with students to promote science of learning in higher education: An international pioneer collaborative effort for asynchronous teaching

Recent insights from Science of Learning (SoL) are informing instruction, training, and curriculum. Here, we present a project on promoting SoL-related content through co-creating online asynchronous learning resources. By building a 7-person cross-institution team, we strategically harnessed (1) student-faculty partnerships as a mechanism to promote training and professional development, (2) co-creation as a model to curricula development, (3) blended asynchronous learning as a modality for content delivery, and (4) internationalization as a strategy to embrace globalization. This co-creation of curricula project included three stages—literature review, design and production, and evaluation. The project evaluation deployed a mixed methods approach with 6 student evaluators across both participating institutions, who explored the effectiveness of the learning resources. In addition, student partners contributed reflective statements on their co-creation experience. This paper reports on the procedural pipeline to co-creation and the project evaluation, as well as on new insights emerging for curriculum development. We conclude that project's co-created learning resources may enhance effectiveness of instructional design and students’ learning experience. Further, we demonstrate that student partners acquire new knowledge and research, design and delivery skills, futureproofing their academic progression.

Student-Faculty Partnerships as Intercultural Encounters: Co-constructing the Pathways to Global Learning

Student-Faculty Partnerships as Intercultural Encounters: Co-constructing the Pathways to Global Learning

Co-designing formal health professions curriculum in partnership with students: A scoping review

There is growing evidence of the value of co-design and partnering with students in the design, development, and delivery of health professions education (HPE). However, the way in which students participate in co-designing HPE remains largely unexplored and there is little guidance on how to embed and strengthen partnerships with students. Using scoping review methodology, we identified and aggregated research reporting studies in which students were active partners in co-designing formal curricula in HPE. After searching five databases and screening 12,656 articles against inclusion criteria, 21 studies were identified. We found that most of the research was based in medical programs (n = 15) across Western contexts. Studies were mostly descriptive case reports (n = 10), with only three studies utilising participatory/action research designs. The co-designed outputs were mostly classroom-based learning on challenging HPE topics, for example, ethics, health inequities, racial and sexual bias, global health, and Indigenous health. Detailed descriptions of student-faculty partnerships and underpinning approaches were lacking overall. To optimise co-design methods, HPE and research require deeper engagement with critical research and pedagogical approaches and more robust evaluations of the processes, outputs and outcomes of co-design. In pedagogical practices, this necessitates challenging institutional structures, teaching and learning cultures and relational elements, such as through creating formal roles and opportunities for students as active co-design partners and fostering more equitable student-faculty positioning in HPE.

Exploring the Impact of Student-Faculty Partnership on Engagement, Performance, Belongingness, and Satisfaction in Higher Education

Exploring the Impact of Student-Faculty Partnership on Engagement, Performance, Belongingness, and Satisfaction in Higher Education

Exploring the impact of student-faculty partnership program at a Hispanic Serving Institution

Guided by a strength-based framework and counter-storying lens, we use a qualitative case study approach (Cook-Sather, 2020; Cook-Sather & Motz-Storey, 2016; Lechuga-Peña & Lechuga, 2018) to explore students’ and instructors’ experiences with a students as learners and teachers (SaLT) partnership program at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). This study includes five students and five faculty members who participated in the student-faculty partnership program. Data collection involved student partners’ self-assessment reflections and faculty members’ pre- and post-program reflections on their experiences. Several themes were identified following a phenomenological analysis of students’ and faculty partners’ self-reflections. Themes emerging from student participants included empathy, personal growth, solidarity, and feedback awareness. Faculty partners’ themes included receptivity, resistance, and collaboration. Implications for institutions of higher education and HSIs are provided.

Reflections on a student-faculty partnership on task design

Reflections on a student-faculty partnership on task design

Book Review of Building courage, confidence, and capacity in learning and teaching through student-faculty partnership: Stories from across contexts and arenas of practice, edited by Alison Cook-Sather and Chanelle Wilson

Book Review of Building courage, confidence, and capacity in learning and teaching through student-faculty partnership: Stories from across contexts and arenas of practice, edited by Alison Cook-Sather and Chanelle Wilson

University work-study programs transitioning from student employment opportunities to student-faculty partnerships

University work-study programs transitioning from student employment opportunities to student-faculty partnerships

Using Scenarios to Explore the Complexity of Student-Faculty Partnership

In this paper, we present and reflect on using scenarios and role-plays as an effective approach to engaging in the often complicated conversations about student-faculty/staff partnerships, particularly those involving the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Students as co-developers of pedagogical processes, as well as co-researchers in SoTL, has become an increasingly valued practice in higher education institutions around the world, one that promises to be transformative in its pursuit to break down the traditional hierarchies and establish more democratic and equitable relationships between faculty/staff and students. While there is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the value of creating spaces and processes to enhance teaching and learning, it can be challenging to know how to develop and implement partnership in SoTL. How do we actually do it? Many of us need guidance for where and how to get started, how to build effective partnerships, how to work through difficulties, how to share our experiences, and how to invite others into this practice. Informed by our own experiences of engaging in pedagogical SoTL partnerships and drawing upon materials developed for a conference workshop we delivered at the 2019 International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) conference, we argue that scenarios and role-plays, when informed by the principles of Scenario Based Learning (SBL), are effective tools that help explore partnership experiences of faculty/staff and students. We offer considerations for how readers can adopt and adapt scenarios in their contexts and invite further research on the ways SBL contributes to SoTL and partnership.

Collaborative parasitology: student partnerships in open education

Student-faculty partnerships can drive innovation in parasitology education and outreach. We provide recommendations for building successful partnerships during the design, implementation, and impact assessment stages. We also introduce a new series of freely available educational and community outreach materials available on a platform that the parasitology community can contribute to.

Developing lab activities for an introductory anatomy course: Reflections and recommendations from a student-faculty partnership

Developing lab activities for an introductory anatomy course: Reflections and recommendations from a student-faculty partnership