Presenters:Luke Millard, Alistair Narnor, Paul Chapman, Oeiisha Williams and Stuart Brand

Implementing change through student engagement

Outstanding support for students

Content

• BCU Context• The journey to student engagement• Redesign of the Learning Experience (RoLEx)• Student Academic Partners• College collaborative networks

• Exploration of student engagement at your institution

Birmingham City University

• 25,000 students• 8 Campuses• 6 Faculties• Good employability stats• ‘Improving’ NSS Satisfaction (73%-80%)• Perceived lack of academic community• Diverse student demographic• High regional student base (FE and HE)

The original position (2008)

• Decentralised university• Little co-ordination/consistency of student experience• Students’ Union relationship with University• Students and staff – us v them• CELT – staff development focus• Falling student satisfaction

• Generating the Learning Community! (NSS/SES)

Implementing change

• Partnership approach with the Students’ Union Executive and SMT

• Institutional support – Directorate and Senate• Funding from CETL• NUS/HEA case studies in student engagement• Building on best practice– CBS student assistants– Northwest Missouri State – University of Pittsburgh

Student Academic Partners“The scheme employs students as active members of learning and teaching project teams based within Birmingham City University’s six Faculties and aims to create teams that ensure that students engage meaningfully as co-creators, as opposed to passive recipients of the learning experience.”

• Joint proposals – staff or student ideas• Evidence of partnership with students – recognition of power relationships• Alignment with the University’s learning and teaching strategy• Good value for money – impact on student learning experience beyond

the individual student• Students paid £10 per hour for up to 125 hours work• Employed through Students’ Union

SAP Number of applications Number of projects awarded

2009/10 52 25

2010/11 83 47 (69)

Applications in 2010/11 Number of project applications

Numbers of project awarded

Birmingham Institute of Art and Design 17 11

Business School 9 5Central services 4 2Education, Law and Social Sciences 9 9

Health 9 5Performance, Media and English 18 9Technology, Engineering and Environment 17 6

83 47

SAP projects•Student mentoring schemes for:• Criminology, Media and Education

•Management of community based live project for architecture students - Hayes Bridge

• Health and safety induction film for photographic studio

RoLEx

• Redesign of the Learning Experience• Credit structure change offered mechanism• Undergraduate and postgraduate• Greater student focus• Collaborative approach to curriculum design

RoLEx focus

• Assessment and feedback• Course organisation• Creating the learning community• Less of ‘us and them’ and more collaboration

RoLEX agenda

• 2009 evaluation – only a start• Change has happened – QAA recognition• Workshops in 2011• Son/daughter of RoLEX – shift focus to staff

and students?

Partnerships with Colleges

• University debate on engagement with feeder institutions – Pre-arrival prep

• Find out what Colleges wanted from working with a University

• Student engagement became the key and partnership with SU was the answer!

• Series of meetings with Colleges to identify collaborative projects

National Union of Students’ perspective

• New NUS student engagement project – supporting HE in College

• Focus on how to get students more involved in shaping their learning experience...“Good student representation

can help facilitate this”

• “There needs to be a partnership between students unions” at University and Colleges to support learning

“This is pioneering and really exciting. Thevirtual students' union is incredibly impressive, and the potential here is huge.”

Shane Chowen | Vice President (FE),National Union of Students UK

A co-ordinated approach ?

• Partnership with Student’s Union• Secondment opportunities• Student interns/SAPs• Engaging students to improve the university• Evidence of learning community • Change Academy

Discussion

• What is your level of student engagement?• What level do you want to achieve?

• Adapted by Freeman, R., Bartholomew, P (2009) as part of T-SPARC at Birmingham City University from ‘Levels of learner voice participation’ from ‘Rudd, T., Colligan, F. and Naik, R. (2006) "Learner Voice: a handbook from Futurelab". Bristol, Futurelab