Setting up staff-student partnership working

Setting up staff-student partnership working 13/05/2014 Sarah Knight #CAN2014 www.changeagentsnetwork.co.uk

Change Agents’ Network – Students as partners Rachel Wenstone, Vice President (Higher Education), NUS • ‘Students as partners is not just a nice-to-have, I believe it has the potential to help bring about social and educational transformation, as long as we know what we are trying to do and we maintain a critical attitude about the ways the concept is adopted and used.’ A Manifesto for Partnership (November 2012)

Benefits of student partnerships/change agents • Benefits for students: • Gain an experience of leadership and influencing change. • Gain experience of using research to shape change. • Students can gain recognition through awards such as leadership awards, academic credit, extra-curricular awards and awards accredited through external bodies. • Enhances student experience. • Increases confidence & skills (e.g. communication, team-working, management, research skills). • Enhances networking with e.g. employers, community. • Improved employability and job prospects.

Benefits of student partnerships/change agents • Benefits for staff: ‘… the novice-expert dynamic has been overturned. Two years into the project, we have observed and reflected on the fact that it is not us who are privileging the Student Fellows by awarding them with these important roles, but rather we who are privileged because of the insights we have gained from being allowed into their worlds. Student Fellows have given us an honest insight into what goes on behind the scenes when technology is brought into the mix and how re-shaping feedback influences their confidence, self-belief, well-being, subject knowledge and collaborative skills.’ Bath Spa University and University of Winchester, FASTECH project

Benefits of student partnerships/change agents • Institutional benefits: • Opportunity for students to gain skills to support employability, and greater involvement in the learning and teaching experience. • Aids retention. • Develops enhanced working/learning/assessment engagement between students and tutors. • Engages students with research-led change. • Students inspire academics in technology-led educational innovation.

Change Agents’ Network @CANagogy #CAN2014 • http://www.changeagentsnetwork.co.uk and join can@jiscmail.ac.uk by visiting www.jiscmail.ac.uk • Enhancestudent change agents’ understanding of effective practice and change issues. • Identify and share effective practice in the area of students/student groupsas change agents working in partnership with staff. • Provide a forum for support and sharing of ideas with events and webinars. • Create and link to resources to support staff and students promoting the use of student change agents sector wide. • Developing a framework to support accreditation through SEDAand possibly ILM. • Developing an open access Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change – call in April and launched in Autumn 2014.

Institutional case studies • Some examples of institutional approaches to engaging students as partners, champions and collaborators in the use of technology to support learning and teaching: • Students as digital pioneers– Oxford Brookes University, University of Winchester/Bath Spa University • Working in partnership – University of Reading, University of Bath and Queen’s University Belfast • Students as change agents – University of Greenwich, University, University of Exeter and Birmingham City University

Students as digital pioneers – Oxford Brookes University • Oxford Brookes InStePP project - Student partnerships offer a way to join up provision for digital literacies for staff and students across the institution by establishing, supporting and building recognition for the role of student ‘ePioneers’ within existing core academic and e-learning development activities. • Resources available: • 3-way partnership agreement model • Development wheel • Recruitment documentation • ePioneerRole descriptors • Endorsed professional body (ILM) scheme: FutureConsultants course outline

InStePP Development Wheel ‘Students in partnership with staff can motivate staff to adopt new digital learning and teaching practices. It indicates that the impact on practice is potentially broader than just the use of technology. Student partners have helped staff to hear the student voice, gain insights into learners’ perspectives, and stimulated them to think differently about learner needs than they did before.’ InStePP Institutional Story, http://bit.ly/1s2PW4m

Students as digital pioneers - University of Winchester & Bath Spa University (FASTECH project) • Aim – to investigate, develop and pilot technology-enhanced solutions to assessment and feedback issues • Piloted with 16 Student fellows across 14 degree programmes • They receive a bursary, training and support from project developers, and work as members of their programme team. • Particularly involved in the creation of A&F enhancement pilots and helped gather and evaluate data. • Student fellowships rolling out institutionally at Winchester in 2013-14 Developing digital literacies

Student as partners – University of Reading • Focus: Student Employability and Digital Literacies • “ensure all of our students have the opportunity to experience work-based and placement opportunities whilst at the University” • Promote the student engagement agenda • Engaged with students in a number of small initiatives • Partnered with academics to research, implement change, and learn • University placement schemes • Positive experiences • students for enhancing their skills and employability prospects • staff for the input by students • Establishment of the Partnerships in Learning and Teaching Scheme supporting student-led initiatives

Students as Partners - University of Bath - PRIDE project ‘The project has been an excellent demonstration of the working ethos of the University where students are active partners in their learning environment. Students have played key roles as part of the faculty learning communities, the Steering Group and the project team including the students who helped to create the tools that emerged as part of the process.’ Alexander Pool, Education Officer, Students’ Union, (2012-13) Developing digital literacies

Students as Partners - Queen’s University Belfast • As part of ‘Changing together’ • Overall methodology has been Appreciative Inquiry – a positive approach to change • Intention was that as well as students providing information, some would collaborate with academic staff to develop the use of technology and/or redesign assessment and feedback • Also a student on core project team Developing digital literacies

Students as change agents – University of Greenwich • Greenwich Digital Literacies in Transition project - cross-university studentships foster a community of student-led research to support and feed into all other aspects of the project. Termed the IRG (Interdisciplinary Research Group), this group of students, their mentors and members of staff from all aspects of the institution will engage in baselining activities as well as develop digital literacy OERs. • Resources available: • Student journey questionnaire • Student journey badges • Resources relating to the Interdisciplinary Research Group e.g. recruitment process • Student blogs sharing their experiences are available from http://dlinhe.ning.com/

Students as Change Agents – Birmingham City University • The JiscT-SPARC project engaged with students through the University’s Student Academic Partners (SAP) programme as part of a review of curriculum design practices and processes. • SAP aims to integrate students into the teaching and pedagogic research community within BCU in order to develop collaboration between students and staff. • The T-SPARC project also produced a wider stakeholder engagement model which could be used when considering the development of student engagement activities. • http://www.bcu.ac.uk/about-us/celt/student-engagement/student-partnerships http://www.bcu.ac.uk/about-us/celt/student-engagement/student-partnerships

Students as Change Agents – Exeter University (Cascade project) • 17 student interns: post-graduate researchers • Digital innovators and emerging subject specialists • Influence undergraduates and staff • Undertake programme of personal development • Acting as co-researchers • Leading digital literacy development in their academic setting • Focusing on taught modules identified during baseline process • Project also working with student-facing services across the university • http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/StudentsChangeAgents.pdf Developing digital literacies

http://bit.ly/diglitds Developing digital literacies

Resources for your use…the Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 18

Top tips cards http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 19

Jisc Summer of Student Innovation 2014 • How it works: • Create – Make a video to explain your idea • Share – Upload your video and encourage people to vote • Vote - If you hit the voting target we will consider it for funding • So if you have a brainwave, come and join us for a Summer of Student Innovation: • jisc.ac.uk/student-innovation

Find out more… www.jisc.ac.ukhttp://bit.ly/diglitds http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/digital-literacies/ http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org http://www.changeagentsnetwork.co.uk #CAN2014 @CANagogy can@jiscmail.ac.uk Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND

Setting up staff-student partnership working