Kate Coulson – Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement
University of Northampton
“Never work with students”.
W.C. Fields (plus a K. V. Coulson embellishment)
In my role as Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement at the University of Northampton, I have a bullet point on my job description that states I must: ‘Lead on the development of mechanisms to enhance student voice involvement as co-creators in learning and teaching’. I have excellent working relationships with our Students Union and their sabbatical officers and take those relationships very seriously: we meet regularly, I support them, they talk to me about concerns and challenges, we work together to ensure students understand concepts such as anonymous marking. But I wanted to do more. With encouragement and ideas from our Visiting Professor Karen Fitzgibbon from the University of South Wales I set about establishing a pilot student panel.
I wanted the institution (by that I mean all staff regardless of role) to understand the student experience. And not by reading minutes of an SU meeting. I wanted students to answer questions in 3D to a live audience. For the pilot, we (SU sabs and I) agreed that the umbrella topic of “assessment and feedback” would be a good place to start. The challenge began when I wanted to engage some students to be on the panel! It was time consuming, frustrating and a few times I wondered if it was worth it. Eventually, it all came together and students volunteered from several areas – those working as student reps within faculties, some Black Advocate students (more on that project another time but we have a Black Advocates programme that employs Black students to mentor other Black students) and also some Learning Development mentors.
I know what you are thinking: they are all engaged students who understand their assessments, what you need Kate is students who aren’t already working with the university. And to some extent, I agree with you but also, I don’t. Keep reading:
https://aldinhe.ac.uk/the-power-and-impact-of-the-student-voice/
Take 5 