Engaging students in collaboration and partnerships

The 13th annual Learning at City Conference took place on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June 2023 at City, University of London

The conference took place in person with some elements available as online activity.

There has been an increased focus on student engagement and partnership over the last decade and we know that this enhances the students’ sense of belonging. The Student Futures Commission in collecting evidence for their manifesto (2022) heard how students felt empowered during the pandemic when they worked with colleagues in the Universities to co-create solutions and initiatives to support learning and well-being.

There have been a range of examples of students engaging in partnership to enhance their learning through involvement in teaching and learning initiatives and co-creation of the curriculum (Bryson 2014 & Sather et al 2014). Healey et al (2014) produced a model for such activity and guidance to support colleagues develop partnership schemes.

Since this time there have been many successful projects within institutions. As City moves forward with the new strategy and a key focus on the student at the heart of all activity, focusing on any initiatives that involve students as partners would provide an opportunity to share good practice.

Within this theme there are a range of sub-themes:

• Curriculum design and review
• Assessment design
• Learning and teaching approaches
• Activities and strategies that support students through their programme
• Activities to build and support learning communities.

We anticipate that this topical theme will provide excellent opportunities for discussion and, debate during the conference.

References

• Bryson, C. (Ed.) (2014). Understanding and developing student engagement. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in teaching and learning: A guide for faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. York: HE Academy
• UPP Foundation Student Futures Commission (2022) A Student Futures Manifesto London Student Futures Commission  (accessed 15/12/22)

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Programme

Thursday 29th June 2023

09:15 | Registration and refreshments

09:45 | Welcome and Introduction – Professor Pam Parker,  Professor Juliet John & Professor Susannah Quinsee

10:00 | Key note – Dr Karen Gravett – Engaging students in higher education: partnership, connection and belonging

11:00 | Refreshments and networking

11:25 | Session one

1A [Papers x2]

Presenting on the uniquely reimagined Temporary Works Msc programme | Miranda Melcher, Dominic Pates and Thomas Hanley

Learning from and with alternative formats: A collaborative exploration of the benefits of making alternative formats of course materials with the Ally Tool in Moodle | Sandra Partington, Sumayyah Islam, Nikita Hayward

1B [Workshop] Learning from student experiences of assessment  | Sara Reimers, Pam Parker and Irene Ctori

1C [Workshop] The application of pair-work and group-work within English Pronunciation Teaching | Hongzhi Wang

1D [Papers x2]

Bringing together learning, clinical practice and research: involving students as collaborative partners in co-designing a novel therapy for people living with stroke and aphasia | Sarah Northcott, Jamila Nassor, Iqra Nazim, Ayan Omar, Therese O’Regan, Niamh Devane and Katerina Hilari

The Journalist Always Rings Twice? Using forum theatre as a co-creative learning technique to empower journalism students in trauma situations | Glenda Cooper

12:30 | Lunch

13:20 | Session two

2A [Papers x2]

A Co-created Class Charter for sensitive discussions in a large lecture setting | Sara Heitlinger, Belen Barros-Pena and Miranda Melcher

Student engagement and online collaboration since Covid-19 Lockdown | Anita Fromm

2B [Workshop]  Digital learning design – engaging and supporting students effectively in City Law School | Susan Blake, Danon Pritchard and Marc Mimler

2C [Workshop]  Using Generative AI in Teaching and Learning at City: a world café discussion | Jane Secker, Luis Pereira, Julie Voce and Simon Hayley

2D [Papers x2]

Revolution in learning through digitization: How technology is changing the landscape of education | Naeem Allah Rakha and Said Gulyamov (Tashkent State University of Law)

To evaluate whether the UCAS tariff points are useful metric to predict academic success in an undergraduate radiography programme | Caroline Vince and Stian Reimers

14:25 | Session three

3A [Papers x 2]

Building skills for student success in developing an educational research study: co-researching and co-inquiring | Grace Lucas and Shanice Freduah-Ayge

‘The most exciting experience in my uni life!’?: Co-producing EDI to Create Transformative Change | Diana Yeh, Catriona Brice and Zahra Mohammadi

3B [Workshop]  How could we enable City students to work and connect together? A pinch of Teams space, a Teaspoon of redesign, and a Dollop of trial and error. | Rae Bowdler and Elisabetta Lando

3C [Workshop] Cancelled

3D [Paper x1] City students designing City services | Eugenia Cacciatori, Lauren Regan and Ali Tabba

15:30 | Closing points and celebrating awards of PGCE in Academic Practice and HEA fellowships – Professor Anthony Finkelstein

Slides from-Closing-Points-and-Presidents-address-

Friday 30th June 2023

09:15 | Registration and refreshments

09:50 | Session four

4A [Papers x2]

Active learning strategies for promoting deep learning, improving attainment and progression in Foundation Mathematics at City | Maria Dymova and Sylwia Frankowska-Takhari

Using Narrative to enhance interactive experiences: From escape rooms to VR adventures and ChatGPT | Stian Reimers

4B [Workshop] Co-creating climate curricula ‘City 2030’ | Dominic Pates, Eleanor Sims and Arthur Shearlaw

4C [Workshop] Using modern interactive software to enable greater learner influence within a physical classroom | Linlan Huang, Yau Wan and Clive Holtham

4D [Paper x1] The symbiosis of old and new: Using LaTeX and H5P to quantify and maximise student engagement | Benjamin Evans and Marisa Rodriguez-Carmona

10:50 | Refreshments and networking

11:15 | Session five

5A [Papers x2]

Partnering with Students: A Collaborative Approach to Enhancing Hybrid Teaching at City, University of London | James Rutherford, Rebecca Wells and Miranda Melcher, Robbie Crammond

Curriculum development and learning and teaching strategies: students as partners | Tawhida Ahmed, Sarah Daniel, Romeesah Jalil, Helen Usual, Alice Porcaro and Lorisa Ibrahimi

5B [Workshop]  Creating and collaborating: how creativity in the classroom builds engagement and community | Johanna Payton, Kira Richards and India Rose Barge

5C [Workshop]  Can Mid-Module Feebdback Present an Opportunity for Collaborative Approaches to Enhancing Module Teaching & Learning | Lolita Alfred

12:20 | Key note – Professor Tamara Hervey (The City Law School) and Daniel Barrow (Civil Service Fast Steam) – Co-production of skills and values learning: What we’ve learned from each other, and what you might learn from our mistakes.

13:00 | Conference close – Professor Pam Parker

13:10| Lunch