I nstitutions and students as partners Kate Wicklow Head of Quality and Student Engagement @katewicklow
In this session… What is Student Engagement and why are we talking about it? Passive vs active engagement What are the alternatives Help and support
Student engagement in UK • Lots of work on student engagement in learning, but also a focus on student voice embedded in processes and structures and the idea of students as partners. • Student engagement practices are not new … but student engagement as a policy priority is relatively recent. • Moving beyond systems … and instead describing concepts e.g. potential of individuals to influence their environm ent.
So what is Student Engagement? Many articles, conference papers and chapters on student engagement do not contain an explicit definition of engagement, making the (erroneous) assumption that their understanding is a shared, universal one. (Trowler, 2010, 17)
Student engagement literature Three types of engagement: • In students’ own learning • Rooted in identity • In structures and processes Trowler, V. (2010) Student Engagement Literature Review. York: The Higher Education Academy
Seven effective practices • student-staff contact • active learning • prompt feedback • time on task • high expectations • respect for diverse learning styles • co-operation among students Chickering and Gamson (1987) No surprises there! But having the evidence base behind them has really given colleges in America an incentive to drive forward changes in this area .
Student engagement in learning Engagement in this sense has been proven to improve outcomes: • Performance • Persistence • Satisfaction Much work in this area has led to improvements in teaching and learning practices.
Impact on retention Paul Hamlyn Foundation what Works? Project: • 37% -45% students consider leaving in their first year • academic issues • feelings of isolation and/ or not fitting in and concern about achieving future aspirations, are less engaged • Less understanding of the university
How does the QAA Code define it? The term covers two domains relating to: – Improving the motivation of students to engage in learning and to learn independently (Learning and Teaching Chapter) – The participation of students in quality enhancement and quality assurance processes, resulting in the improvement of their educational experience. (Student Engagement Chapter)
The UK Quality Code “Higher education providers take deliberate steps to engage all students, individually and collectively, as partners in the assurance and enhancement of their educational experience.”
How else is student engagement defined? • Individual • Collective • Governance and decision making
From student engagement to partnership • The 2010 NUS/ HEA Student Engagement Toolkit framed partnership as the goal of student engagement. • Need to build up to partnership: Consultation Involvement Participation Partnership
Rejecting consumerism • Student engagement is not happening inside a policy vacuum. • A narrative of ‘competition’ and ‘choice’ offers students an inflated perception of their power, when it is in fact limited to commenting only on what has been sold to them. • ‘Customer is always right’ devalues the role and expertise of educators.
Rejecting consumerism “Regardless of whether students agree with the values and characteristics of the funding model in which they sit, they may adopt behaviours we associate with consumerism unless we offer a new and compelling way of thinking about learning”
Re-thinking apprenticeship • Idea that a student attends university in order to gain mastery in a particular subject and spends time with experts in order to do this. • Advocates might be wary of ‘too much’ student engagement on the basis that students cannot be expected to know what they want to learn in advance of learning it.
Re-thinking apprenticeship • We don’t necessarily need to wholly reject this approach, but we do need to reim agine it. • Students are apprentices in the business of student engagem ent. • Support could come from sources other than academic staff, particularly the students’ union.
Re-thinking apprenticeship Students can never be ‘equal partners’ because they do not have the necessary ‘expertise’ to engage with academic staff on an equal basis … is what some people say. ‘Equality’ is as much about respecting each other’s views as it is about having similar levels of knowledge.
What is partnership? • Can we agree that partnership is about students and staff working together to improve education? • For NUS this is about students having a role in the academic community with all the rights and responsibilities that this status affords. • And about recognising that students will need to be inducted into their ‘community of practice’, not just expecting them automatically to adopt engaged behaviors. • The goal is preparing students for active, engaged citizenship – not a life of passive consumerism.
Students’ unions Individual students may engage in various forms in their learning, but a whole system of partnership must flow through the students’ union for it to be a true partnership.
Things SUs do to engage students in shaping their education Represent students on decision-making bodies Recruit, train and support course reps Research students’ experience and interpret student feedback data Organise students to campaign for education change Work with their institutions on student experience and engagement projects Support academic societies
Politics of student engagement Student engagement is political- contested space, no ‘right’ answer, different levels of power, people exerting their influence. Who describes the What benefits are on offer? boundaries of the terrain? What penalties for non- What motivates activity? participation? Who sets the agenda? Who has access? Who does the engaging and Who is excluded? who is engaged?
Talking to students Partnership is personal between your staff and your students Do have some data about students perspectives nationally Some students will need persuading!
What do students’ think? Q26. How involved do you believe you are in shaping t he cont ent , curri rriculum or or design of of you our r cou ours rse? Q27. How involved do you w ant t o be in shaping t he cont ent , curri rriculum or or design of of you our r cou ours rse? How involved do you believe you are in shaping the content of your course? How involved do you want to be? 31 28 21 20 17 14 14 13 13 10 7 5 2 2 1 - Not at 2 3 4 - 5 6 7 - Very all involved Somewhat invloved invloved Base: All answering Section 4 (3179)
What do students’ think?
CHERI
Passive vs Active Engagement Surveys Student representation Student led change
Example: Sheffield Hallam • Aim: to actively engage students in course (re)design in ways that go beyond surveys • Focus on early engagement to encourage more of a dialogue than a consultation • Students recruited as Course Design Consultants, trained by QE staff and line managed by a student placement • CDCs facilitated workshops with students and reported findings to course planners
Examples: Jisc Design Studio • Students as digital pioneers – Oxford Brookes University, University of Winchester/ Bath Spa University • W orking 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 http:/ / bit.ly/ diglitds
We are here to help! NUS offers materials and support to students’ unions in developing their student voice activity and develop relationships with their institution. TSEP works with academic staff, university managers, students and SU’s to develop student engagement across the institution. We are listeners, conversationalists and content creators! w w w .tsep.org.uk @TSEPartnership
Key Resources NUS Manifesto for Partnership: http: / / www.nusconnect.org.uk/ campaigns/ highereducation/ partnership/ a-manifesto-for-partnerships/ W hat w orks? Retention research: http: / / www.heacademy.ac.uk/ what-works-retention HEA fram ew ork for partnership: http: / / www.heacademy.ac.uk/ assets/ documents/ students_a s_partners/ Framework-for-student-and-staff- partnerships.pdf The Student Engagem ent Partnership: www.tsep.org.uk
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