Student voice and partnership
The purpose of this page is to assist you in engaging the student voice and working in partnership with your students in a blended learning environment. In the current context, it is more important than ever to see students as co-creators in designing an environment that enables them to engage and connect with us and each other.
Student Voice and partnership working is critical to:
- ensure a high-quality student experience
- ensure all students are being are given the opportunity to influence their experience of blended learning
- ensure the student voice is represented in evidence-based decision-making and enhancement-led quality assurance processes
Top tips for flexible and blended learning and teaching from students
It is essential to support staff and students to communicate, collaborate and maintain effective student engagement by providing a range of opportunities to enable the diversity of the student voice to be heard. In preparation for Autumn term 2020/21, we asked Student Reps to reflect on their own experiences of studying online and share their thoughts and advice for students and colleagues working and studying in a flexible and blended environment at Reading.
The following Top-tips resources have been created in partnership with our students:
Flexible and blended learning: Top tips from students for students
Flexible and blended teaching: Top tips from students for colleagues
Working in Partnership - Student Partners scheme
CQSD employ students as ‘Student Partners’ to work collaboratively with academic colleagues to provide real-time feedback, and support for, the planning and delivery teaching and learning.
In preparation for autumn term teaching 2020-21, colleagues and student Partners worked in partnership to; review and co-design asynchronous core content in Blackboard; co-create resources to support connected and interactive learning; plan and deliver induction and orientation guidance and activities; and build an academic community.
To find out more about how you can work in partnership with students please see the below resources.
Partnership at UoR: A Guide for working in partnership with students
Evaluation and Closing the feedback loop
Offering the right opportunities for students to provide feedback, taking action and then closing the feedback loop can help students to feel valued, build a sense of community and improve satisfaction of the overall student experience. When closing the feedback loop is viewed as a dialogic process then there is potential benefit for both staff and students, as together they are able to work in partnership with a common goal of improving learning (Cooke-Sather et al, 2014).
The following guide and webpages provide tips and tools for evaluating teaching and closing the feedback loop.
Top Tips for informal light touch evaluation and closing the feedback loop in an online environment