Learning and Teaching Services have collated a range of resources exemplifying excellence and innovation in both curriculum design and teaching practice related to Students as Partners (SaP). They are drawn from across the institution and cover different Topics and teaching areas. Some have been intentionally designed, while others have developed organically. Each model of partnership varies in its depth, breadth and longevity. This growing repository adds to our collection of resources which is continually growing and being updated. If you have a resource you would like to include or wish to provide feedback on existing material, please let us know.
Abstract
The approach to encouraging students as partners captured by this case study focuses on a change to an assessment item in a 2nd year Development Studies topic. Closely aligned with humanist learning approaches the changes to assessment allows students to focus on their own areas of interest and encourages their engagement in academic discipline-specific skill-development.
Motivation
In 2020, I taught the development studies topic INTR2100 Reimagining the Global South for the first time and determined that an assessment innovation was required. I was motivated to redesign topic assessment for two reasons. First, the topic had several small assessment items. In line with Flinders’ recommendations, I aimed to consolidate these into fewer, larger assessment items. Second, whilst topic assessment items had been designed to fulfill specific topic objectives, they did not directly develop competencies related to the field of development itself. I knew that this topic would include several later-year and final-year students who would shortly be embarking upon their professional pathways. For this reason, I wanted to design an assessment item that would develop competencies relevant to development practice.
Context
INTR2100 Reimagining the Global South is a small, later-year option topic that attracts students with a specific interest in development issues. INTR2100 is an option topic in the Bachelor of International Relations and Political Science (BIRPS). The topic typically has an enrolment of about 30 students, attracting those in the second, third or fourth year of their degree. It is not available to first-year students. Given that INTR2100 covers development studies content, and not a core topic to the BIRPS degree, it is typically taken by students with a specific interest in development issues. The topic is core for students undertaking a development major which further contributes to producing a student cohort with a specific interest in development.
Learning approach
In redesigning a major assessment item for INTR2100, I aimed to apply humanist learning principles to assessment design. The humanist learning approach considers education as a whole-of-person experience that encompasses both cognitive and affective dimensions (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2006). A humanist approach to learning acknowledges that academic competencies are important. However, alongside intellectual capability this approach suggests that if the learner is emotionally engaged with enthusiasm, interest, and a sense of purpose in their studies, the learning will ultimately be more effective.
In designing this specific assessment item, I drew on two central characteristics of effective learning suggested by a founding thinker of the humanist approach, Carl Rogers (2007). The first principle is that of personal involvement. This principle engages the affective dimension; it refers to the extent to which a learner feels personally engaged with the learning event. A learner may feel engaged because the educational experience is relatable to their own life experience or because it is a subject of particular interest and they therefore have personal motivation to carry out the educational task. The second principle is that of self-initiated discovery. This principle refers to the fact that where a sense of discovery on a learning journey is intrinsically generated, the educational experience will be more satisfying for the learner and better retained (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2006, 283; Rogers 2007).
The innovation
Based on the motivation to facilitate students’ personal involvement and self-initiated discovery, I designed an assessment item that simulated a real-world Development Project Proposal. For this assessment item, students were required to assume the role of lead investigator and propose a unique development project that engaged development concepts and challenges discussed in the topic. The Development Project Proposal was designed to very closely simulate a real-world grant proposal for a development project – as per the templates typically provided by development agencies in calls for proposals.
Three elements of the Development Project Proposal design were intended to facilitate students’ personal involvement and self-initiated discovery. First, the assessment task required that students assume the role of lead investigator, thereby situating themselves as a development specialist and actively navigating the challenges and complexities of development from this perspective. This was expected to contribute to both personal involvement and self-initiated discovery. Second, the parameters of the Development Project Proposal were intentionally broad. The central parameter was that students were required to engage with material covered in the topic regarding development challenges when discussing their proposal. This was specified to ensure that the assessment item engaged academic discipline-specific skill-development as well as engaging the affective learning dimension. However, the project itself was entirely open to students’ own direction. Students could choose a country and an issue of interest to them personally and were encouraged to do so by the topic coordinator. This learner-directed approach was expected to enhance personal involvement of students with the assessment task.
Finally, the Development Project Proposal closely simulated a real-world brief. The Development Project Proposal was presented in the typical template of a real-world application form for a development grant. Such applications are a common mechanism to secure funding for projects in the development sector. The proposal sections were adjusted to integrate reference to specific topic material – such as core development concepts – however, beyond this, they aligned with the length and content of a typical development proposal. Research has shown that a simulated real-world task enhances student interest in and enthusiasm for a learning activity (Asal and Blake 2006). Therefore, this factor was expected to contribute to students’ personal involvement.
Outcomes
There are two categories of outcomes related to the implementation of this innovative assessment item: outcomes for students and outcomes for the educator. The first category of outcomes related to the learning task concern outcomes for students. The central question here is whether the assessment task achieved the outlined objectives of increasing students’ personal involvement and self-initiated discovery. Unfortunately, I did not engage in any systematic data collection concerning this question. Therefore, I have only subjective and circumstantial evidence from which to draw conclusions. Nevertheless, there are three factors that suggest that the learning task may have, at least partially, achieved these two objectives. First, supporting the outcome of personal involvement, almost all students appeared to approach the learning task in a personal way, selecting a development project of personal interest. Based on discussion in class and my own knowledge of students, it was clear that specific hobbies, countries, and issue-areas of personal interest were examined in depth in students’ proposals. A second factor supporting the generation of personal involvement was that several students voluntarily communicated to me verbally and in writing that they had particularly enjoyed this assessment task because of the broad scope and simulation of a real-world brief. Third, supporting the outcome of self-initiated discovery, students’ critical engagement in the proposal with development challenges likely to arise in their specific project – such as those regarding community engagement, power differentials and local buy-in – was particularly insightful, original and well-considered.
The second category of outcomes concerns the impact on myself, as educator and topic coordinator. We can consider teaching and learning as a reciprocal process in which the educator themselves is consistently improving their understanding and approach to teaching based on direct and in-direct student feedback to teaching practice (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2006, 289). In this regard, did the implementation of this assessment innovation contribute to my own personal involvement and self-initiated discovery? Regarding the first factor, I genuinely enjoyed grading each and every Development Project Proposal. The unique and personal nature of the task meant that every proposal was fresh and original and engaged my interest. Regarding the second factor of self-initiated discovery, several times whilst grading the proposals I had moments of personal insight and new understanding regarding development challenges and the role of development in diverse contexts that I had not previously considered. This was a satisfying and surprising experience.
Contacts
Jessica Genauer, College of Business, Government and Law
References
Asal, V, and Blake, E. L. (2006). Creating Simulations for Political Science Education. Journal of Political Science Education. 2(1), 1–18.
Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S and Baumgartner, L. M. (2006). Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide. (3rd ed). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
Rogers, C. (2007). Client Centered Therapy. (1st ed). London: Robinson.
Abstract
A focus on student experience becomes the pivot point for an array of benefits for staff, students and graduates.
Context
The happy coinciding of the establishment of the inaugural Flinders University Criminology Association and the appointment of several new staff members, signalled the beginnings of a jointly beneficial partnership. Against the backdrop of national interest in students as partners underpinning the Flinders University Student Association and executive leadership’s interest in nurturing these partnerships provided an ideal supportive context for the formation of this initiative.
Rationale
While the criminology program had been successfully running for many years, in 2019, led through the advocacy of several staff members within Criminology, an exploration of the match of the existing program to student expectations, hopes and ultimately employment opportunities, was brought into consideration. Staff enthusiasm for improved quality served as the catalyst for an investigation into student experience, with the primary intention of ensuring the match and establishing a working partnership.
Additionally, the burgeoning number of students studying criminology provoked the call for a student association; a student association that could shape up an identity for criminology to address questions about where it is positioned as a study/research area.
Description
Following involvement in a mentorship program within criminology, students were invited to inaugurate a student association (beginning 2019). Students eagerly responded to the invitation and in response to strong staff advocacy, members of fledgling FUCA (Flinders University Criminology Association) enthusiastically took up leadership positions and eagerly engaged and created opportunities to talk with staff members about their views, their concerns and their ideas for growing and developing the criminology program.
Initially, establishing a campus identity for criminology students through social events, Careers Day, weekly study sessions was focused on ‘getting the name out there’ and building a supportive community for criminology students. Having become affiliated mid-2019, available College funds and FUSA student association funding were used for events, merchandise and the setting up of an office area to facilitate the study sessions. The on-campus access to the criminology community & network via the office presence increased and sustained the support and engagement of students.
Beyond providing academic consultancy, a demonstration of a shift from students contributing at arms-length was the collaborative delivery of Open Day activities. While initially consulted about ‘good ideas’, students ultimately delivered presentations, were staffing information kiosks and counselling potential new students and their parents.
FUCA attributes their progress and development as an association to the Criminology staff members’ encouragement through their advocacy of the association but even more so their support through authentically partnering with students.
Impact on students/staff
The cohesion and social bonds between staff and students and a sense of shared identity is highly valued both while at university and beyond. Networks established, nurtured and utilised between these partners, support the success of graduates from early in their career onwards. The strength of relationships in this reciprocal partnering, help ensure a dynamic and responsive program that sustains the specific needs as demands of the students and their emerging professional profile.
Framework reference
The areas of partnership demonstrated in this case study are: Learning, teaching & assessment; Curriculum design & pedagogic consultancy (Healey, Flint and Harrington 2014).
On the Student Engagement Continuum this initiative suggests student “Involvement – To work directly with students throughout the process to ensure that their concerns and aspirations are consistently understood. (Student Voices Australia, 2019).
Images
Contacts
Associate Professor David Bright: david.bright@flinders.edu.au
Past President FUCA Phillip Screen: phillip.screen@flinders.edu.au
Dr R. V. Gundur: rv.gundur@flinders.edu.au
https://fuca.info
https://www.facebook.com/flindersFUCA
References
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2).
Student Voices Australia http://studentvoiceaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Student-Engagement-Continuum_SVA.pdf
Abstract
Disenchanted with the lack of support from the Defence Force for veterans wanting to upskill in the tertiary environment, a veteran student saw an opportunity to call on the ‘Diggernet’ to build a university-wide platform for advocacy, understanding and support.
Context
In 2019, an Associate Professor from CEPSW was awarded a research grant to encourage young veterans to study at Flinders University. As part of the project conditions, a research assistant initiated formal and informal meetings and social gatherings to catalyse and formalise the links and connections amongst the veterans with university staff. Veteran students, already enrolled at Flinders, recognised the critical need for a support for veterans on campus and the opportunity offered to students via participation in the project.
Rationale
A veteran student, describing his experience in seeking support to upskill with tertiary study on leaving the defence force, commented that he felt abandoned by his own defence family and organisations. He recognised what was needed was someone to listen to the needs and concerns of veterans and provide necessary supports to assist their integration into the university life. Similarly, another veteran student who was working in Veteran Transitions from Army, acknowledged, veterans need to speak to someone they trust, someone who ‘gets you.’ Both recognised a genuine gap in support structures in the shift from a fulltime serving culture, often directly from secondary school to the culture on campus, frequently as the first member in their family to attend university.
Description
The first step in building a supportive environment at the university for veterans was to find them. Easier said than done! For one student, finding out after a year, that there was another veteran in her course was a revelation. It took several months of different approaches (e.g. word of mouth, posters around uni) to gather a group of students who identified themselves as veterans. These students met with the research project staff both socially and more formally in meetings. They provided the guidance and support to assist a small group of students to have an initial meeting from which they formulated a student association.
In July 2019 the association received resourcing (a grant of $1500) through the Flinders University Student Association (FUSA) which they used to grow the membership and provide social occasions where the veterans at university could meet.
A major influence on the initial executive of the association (President & Vice President) was the opportunity to attend an international conference for Veterans at Uni in the United States of America (funded by the research grant). Beyond the invaluable networking prospects, the opportunity to see and hear for themselves, what was possible as a student veteran association was instrumental to their progress in the following months.
The formulation of the ASVA (SA Chapter) in October 2019, meant that veterans on campus not only had networking opportunities provided for them but critically, advocates who could speak up for their shared needs and a group that created a sense of connection and belonging. Apart from the regular social events, a direct influence of this group has been the flexibility now offered for veterans around timetabling (see below).
Fig 1: An example of the impact of the advocacy of this student association
Impact on students/staff
The current executive is very clear about the possibility for advocacy beyond the campus including reaching out to potential students and providing networking opportunities for prospective employers. They can also envisage supporting current early career defence force members in preparing for a future beyond deployment.
The veterans involved describe not only feeling supported but also valued for their input and advice both from academics, professional staff and students.
The project and subsequent student association development has allowed the student veterans to seize the opportunity to leverage the unique experiences that serving in the armed forces offers, as a way of creating a strong, cohesive advocacy group for those entering the overwhelming world of tertiary education.
It’s vital that support systems and structures, intended for students, are driven by the students themselves. It seems obvious but bears repeating; Students understand their own needs and contexts best. As a result of this project initiative the ASVA (SA Chapter) at Flinders University was established. It is a vital, supportive and integrated network, sustained by students assisting one another to navigate the context of the tertiary environment. Important and continuing work of the association is the advocacy for current and potential veterans on campus. A direct benefit of the network is the forging of a new identity of belonging for diggers who previously could only say that the serving provided them a sense of ‘home’.
Cleverly, the instantly recognisable hoochie was displayed at the ASVA kiosk during O’ Week. It drew veterans who had no prior knowledge of the association on campus to it and sparked conversations between them with an immediate shared experience.
Staff sensitivity to the unique life world of the students is a necessary precursor to the bespoke features of this partnership. The success of the project and subsequent student association reinforced the value of staff sensitivity.
Framework reference
The areas of partnership demonstrated in this case study are: Learning, Teaching & Assessment and Scholarship & Teaching (Healey, Flint and Harrington 2014). On the Student Engagement Continuum this initiative suggests student Control – Students design and lead initiatives that matter to them and are in control of final decision-making. (Student Voices Australia, 2019).
Images
Flinders University 2020 O’ Week Event
Contacts
President ASVA – SA Chapter (at time of publication) - Chris Turner: turn0423@flinders.edu.au
Vice President - SA Chapter (at time of publication) - Cassie Cushing: cush0016@flinders.edu.au
Project Lead - Assoc Prof Ben Wadham:
Research Assistant - Piper Bell (RA): piper.bell@flinders.edu.au, ben.wadham@flinders.edu.au
https://www.facebook.com/FlindersUniASVA/
https://www.flinders.edu.au/study/pathways/military-veterans
References
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2).
Student Voices Australia http://studentvoiceaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Student-Engagement-Continuum_SVA.pdf
Abstract
Students take the lead, embracing social work principles to bridge a gap, heal tensions and rebuild a community and created a vision for moving forward together
Context
In 2018, two commencing international master’s students, in an effort to support the promise of a world class social work program struggling with the tensions between student expectations, social capital and the requirements of local accreditation, initiated a process to help ease those tensions.
International students often struggle with the demands of programs delivered in English, especially in the first six months. However, they also struggle with the fact that their cultural and social capital (Bourdieu, 1986), which is always grounded in context, is valued differently when overseas. In fact, cultural capital, which can be thought of as the dispositions and thinking systems, can be significantly disorienting for international students. In addition, staff who have limited experience of the context, background, expectations and hopes were faced with a curriculum designed for local students. As such, the Master of Social Work, as an accredited program (by AASW) must adhere to a strict set of guidelines and standards.
Rationale
In response to growing tensions and with a view to sustaining the world class quality of the program and increasingly aware of the extent and significance of the issues, several students stepped forward to seek an appreciative solution. Without a predetermined outcome, the students sought to harness what was working and build on that foundation to create a program that provided for both the orientation and engagement of otherwise disenfranchised students.
Description
True to the social work principles the students had been learning inside their degree, they embraced an appreciative process (suggested & encouraged by one of their professors) of gathering information about what was working, what they hoped for and what opportunities they saw for growth.
The student’s appreciative and strategic method involved leveraging their social acumen, networking, working within existing hierarchical structures, using sustained communication processes, adopting a multiple media approach, (surveys, individual interviews, focus groups) and the explicit use of social work principles. The culmination of these activities was an MSW student visioning process they named Have a Say - Have Fun, to be shared with MSW staff. (see below)
Impact on students/staff
The impact was felt in the lived experience of both students and staff. The creation of the vision allowed students to acknowledge explicitly the strengths of the teaching staff and the program. And so, there was an appreciable shift from tension, exclusion and anxiety to collaboration, participation and shared success.
The process provided constructive feedback to staff on three key areas; Classroom Education, Field Education and Peer Support and Mentoring (see below). The students acknowledged the active listening, receptivity and responsiveness of staff.
The MSW program has been re-accredited and endorsed by successive waves of international students.
Student participants highlight the critical role of key personnel including program and College Professors, Associate Professors and teaching staff. Their willingness to partner, contribute, support and encourage was precursor to the success of their program.
Relationships between the staff and students were sustained and strengthened through appreciative processes, enhanced by reciprocal communication and the valuing of the relationships.
By end of 2019, through this process, the student cohort had built social capital in their new context and staff had clarity and insight into student perspectives and expectations that ultimately enriched the program for both partners. In student’s words, they were able to ‘flip a crisis to an opportunity.’
Framework reference
The areas of partnership demonstrated in this case study are: Scholarship of Teaching & Learning and Curriculum design & pedagogic consultancy (Healey, Flint and Harrington 2014).
Contacts
Alumna: Yukiya Wake - yukiyawake33@gmail.com
Staff: Dr Keith Miller – keith.miller@flinders.edu.au
References
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In Richardson, J. Handbook of Theory and research for the Sociology of Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood: 241-58
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2).
Student Voices Australia http://studentvoiceaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Student-Engagement-Continuum_SVA.pdf
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