By Chiara Bruno
What does truly putting students first look like in higher education? This key theme took centre stage at this year’s annual Education Conference, where colleagues from Leeds and Sheffield collaborated on a panel discussion during an afternoon plenary session.
During the conversation, which took place in front of over 200 delegates, we heard insights relating to interprofessional education, a student centred timetable, mainstreaming common adjustments, embedding employability, experiential learning, a sense of belonging, challenging hierarchies, assessment and feedback and more.
And all this in only 45 minutes! However, amongst all of these insightful points, three key themes stood out to me: students as partners, consistency and challenge.
The panel discussion emphasised the need for genuine student partnership if we want to achieve a truly student-centered education. This involves actively engaging students as co-creators in their learning journey, and getting them to share their thoughts and opinions on key areas including decolonising the curriculum, active learning strategies, and how to effectively surface skills.
By including student voices in learning design, it helps to cultivate a sense of ownership and ensure a more inclusive and relevant learning experience. It also promotes a stronger sense of belonging between the student community and university. It gives them a voice. An opportunity to make a change and improve their university experience. And ultimately, we know that when students feel heard and that they belong, a more inclusive and equitable learning environment is created for everyone, increasing success and motivation.
Consistency
Consistency across disciplines was another key area of discussion. Everybody wants our students to have a consistently good experience at university, regardless of which course they are enrolled in, which tutors they have and which modules they take. We want students to have a consistently fair experience, regardless of their background. And we want all students to have a consistently clear understanding of what is required of them in order to succeed.
Our colleagues from the University of Leeds mentioned that their NSS results for assessment and feedback have been poor in the past, which has also been the case at Sheffield. One way that Leeds are trying to make improvements is to look at the consistency in how staff members give feedback to students. Clarity of assessment briefs and marking criteria are also taken into account, as is what 'authentic assessment' actually means. One idea was to build time into Semester 2 to go through the feedback from assessments in Semester 1.
This reminded me of my time as an English teacher in secondary school. We always made sure there was time built into the next lesson to give students the chance to analyse, and more importantly, act on on their assessment feedback. We called it 'DIRT work' - Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time. While HE is very different from secondary school, it could be something that's worth trialling in Sheffield, especially if it proves to be a success at Leeds.
Challenge
While the panel offered many inspiring ideas, they also openly acknowledged the inherent challenges in implementing these student-centered approaches. For example:
- How can we maintain student engagement when working collaboratively?
- How can we avoid staff from feeling overwhelmed and overworked?
- How can we affect a change in culture where everyone is on board?
- How can we effectively track the impact of any changes made?
- How can key ideas, such as interprofessional education or feedback follow up time, be integrated smoothly into the timetable?
One way the final challenge is being looked at at Sheffield, is the development and implementation of a new student-centered timetable where students, staff and spaces are taken into account.
Overall, the discussion was insightful, interesting and generated new perspectives. It also cemented the fact that we are experiencing much of the same issues as our colleagues in Leeds, reinforcing the feeling that we’re all in this together and deepening our understanding of the HE sector, through a fellow White Rose university.
The biggest takeaway for me? That student opinion is an incredibly powerful force for making things happen.
The panel was made up of the following speakers:
Louise Banahene MBE, Director of Educational Engagement and Student Success, The University of Leeds
Professor Charlotte Haigh, Dean of Student Education (Educational Enhancement and Student Experience) Professor of Physiology Education, The University of Leeds
Dr Lisa Marshall, Pro-Dean for Student Education (Faculty of Environment), Associate Professor of Food Chemistry, The University of Leeds
Dr Vanessa Halliday, Faculty Director of Education for Health, Senior University Teacher, School of Medicine and Population Health, The University of Sheffield
Amy Jeffries, Associate Director, Student & Academic Services (Education Development Services), The University of Sheffield
Professor Matthew Marshall, Deputy Vice-President for Education, The University of Sheffield
Panel chair: Professor David Forrest, Deputy Vice-President for Education Professor of Film & Television Studies, The University of Sheffield
Chiara Bruno is an Academic Development Adviser in Education Development Services.