Guide to instituting student partnerships v0 8

Guide to Instituting Student Partnerships

This document is based on a review of current and past innovation, change and quality initiatives that have involved curriculum/student
experience innovation/development (which may involve technology) together with student partnerships & engagement. It concludes that
there are four key dimensions for instituting student partnerships: (1) Partnership set-up; (2) Partnership implementation; (3) Capabilities,
development and accreditation and (4) Evaluation, impact & sustainability. A set of practice points has been developed for each of the four
dimensions. For each practice point, “Top Tips” are given (based on reports and evidence from the initiatives and research) together with
guides to sector resources that are available.

This guide has been initiated and funded by Jisc.

Reference:

Guide to Instituting Student Partnerships V0-9.docx

Version:

0-8

Date:

5 march 2014

Author:

Peter Chatterton


Contents
1.

Rationale for working in partnerships with students .............................................................................................................................................................. 3

2.

Practice points for instituting student partnerships ................................................................................................................................................................ 4

3.

Top Tips and guides to sector resources for each practice point ............................................................................................................................................ 5
3.1

Partnership set-up ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

3.2

Partnership implementation .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

3.3

Capabilities, development and accreditation ................................................................................................................................................................ 31

3.4

Evaluation, impact and sustainability ............................................................................................................................................................................ 38

4.

Innovation, change and quality initiatives in student partnerships ...................................................................................................................................... 48

5.

Case studies of student partnership/engagement ................................................................................................................................................................ 60

6.

Useful resources..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 68

Quotes; why is student engagement important?
“Students as partners is not just a nice-to-have, I believe it has the potential to help bring about social and educational transformation, as long as we know
what we are trying to do and we maintain a critical attitude about the ways the concept is adopted and used.”
Rachel Wenstone, Vice President (Higher Education), NUS – A Manifesto for Partnership (November 2012)
‘Student engagement and learning is more effective, gratifying, and personally meaningful when all stakeholders (eg. instructors, students, course
designers) are collaboratively involved in co-creating and developing a community of practice around a course’. These principles imply that students are not
viewed simply as knowledge consumers who are passive recipients of information that is fed to them through lecture and textbooks but rather they are
active co-creators of knowledge – apprentice researchers, authors, teachers, scholars and practitioners – who are learning to take full ownership of their
own learning processes. "Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using online learning activities" Emerald Group: Bingley.
“…productive engagement is an important means by which students develop feelings about their peers, professors and institutions that give them a sense of
connectedness, affiliation, and belonging, while simultaneously offering rich opportunities for learning and development.”
Bensimon, E .M . (2009) Foreword . In: Harper, S .R . and Quaye, S .J . (eds .) Student Engagement in Higher Education . New York and London: Routledge, pp
. xxi-xxvi .

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1. Rationale for working in partnerships with students
A number of institutions have pioneered projects to work in partnership with students to advance educational innovation, many sponsored by Jisc and the
Higher Education Academy (HEA). Though it could be regarded as early days for such partnerships, there are clear benefits emerging:
Students

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Gain an experience of leadership.
Gain experience in influencing change.
Gain experience of using research to shape change.
Students can gain recognition through awards such as leadership awards, extra-curricular awards and awards accredited
through external bodies.
Enhances student experience.
Increases confidence & skills (e.g. communication, team-working, management, research skills).
Enhances networking with e.g. employers, community.
Improved employability and job prospects.

Staff

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Closer working/learning engagement with students.
Learning from students – and an important dimension to their CPD.
Raising of individual profiles in their institutions and in the sector.
Enhanced input into research and papers via student engagement.

Institutions

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Opportunity for students to gain skills to support employability, and greater involvement in the learning and teaching
experience.
Aids retention.
Develops enhanced working/learning/assessment engagement between students and tutors.
Engages students with research-led change.
Students inspire academics in technology-led educational innovation.

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Employers can benefit from students experienced in leading research led change.
Stimulates students to engage with employers and communities.
Students more likely to become leaders in their professions & communities.
High levels of volunteering by Alumni.

Employers &
communities

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2. Practice points for instituting student partnerships
A review of current and past initiatives involving development of student partnerships focused on educational innovation, change and digital media
concludes that there are four key dimensions for instituting such partnerships as follows:

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Partnership set-up
Partnership implementation
Capabilities, development and accreditation
Evaluation, impact & sustainability

Within each dimension of instituting student partnerships, the following practice points have been identified as being key for success (note: dimensions are
not necessarily sequential):
1 Partnership set-up

2 Partnership implementation

3 Capabilities, development and
accreditation

4 Evaluation, impact &
sustainability

1.1. Carry out a baseline study to research
current position.
1.2. Establish the case for student
partnerships and align with strategies
and policies.
1.3. Establish motivation, reward and
recognition options for students and
staff
1.4. Devise novel recruitment and induction
approaches for students.
1.5. Identify a partnership model that
encompasses options for different
student roles together with a range of
stakeholders.
1.6. Identify an outline project plan
including resources and funding
1.7. Identify and learn from exemplars and
case studies of student partnerships

2.1. Establish, implement and monitor a
project plan (based on agile
methodology)
2.2. Develop a set of principles of good
practice to follow for student
partnerships
2.3. Allocate significant time and resource
for stakeholder engagement and
communications
2.4. Develop/acquire guides, toolkits and
resources
2.5. Clarify detailed student and staff
roles, responsibilities and activities.
2.6. Identify risks and how to manage
them
2.7. Establish/join external and internal
communities of practice

3.1. Define core student capabilities,
attributes and development
frameworks for student innovation and
change activities.
3.2. Develop/acquire courses and
training/learning resources for students
and staff
3.3. Implement student personal &
professional development planning
using reflective practice and eportfolios
3.4. Develop academic and professional
body recognition and accreditation
opportunities for students
3.5. Provide student/staff support
3.6. Provide relevant staff training and link
to CPD

4.1. Identify the rationale and need for
evaluation.
4.2. Choose appropriate qualitative and
quantitative evaluation approaches
4.3. Adopt a range of data collection
techniques to support evaluation.
4.4. Identify impact on a range of
stakeholders and the institution
4.5. Develop case studies for use with
stakeholder communications and
engagement.
4.6. Develop recommendations for
sustaining student partnerships as
part of evaluation
4.7. Explore options for institutionally
embedding student partnerships.

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3. Top Tips and guides to sector resources for each practice point
For each of the practice points (in each of the four dimensions), guides and “top tips” are provided below:

3.1

Partnership set-up
Practice point

1.1 Carry out a baseline study
to research current position.
Questions
 To what extent are there
already student
engagement initiatives
across the institution?
 To what extent are
students and staff “ready
and motivated” to work &
learn in partnership?
 To what extent are
institutional practices,
policies and processes
“ready” for student
partnerships?

Top tips
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Areas to research include:
o policy and strategy
o institutional processes and
systems
o infrastructure
o support services
o LT&A practice, expertise
o staff CPD (inc. digital literacy)
o MIS and infrastructure
o communications, stakeholder
needs, views and expectations
o other institutional initiatives.
o student employability skills,
graduate attributes and digital
literacy
Use base-lining to inform planning
at project and institutional levels.
Develop a set of impact
indicators/measures of success to
allow change and impact to be
evaluated and measured.
Use both qualitative and
quantitative approaches.
Use research/evaluation data from

Guide to sector resources
The Jisc Design Studio contains the following resources relating to baselining and which have been
developed as an output of a number of e-learning programmes e.g. Developing Digital Literacies,
Assessment and Feedback programme and Jisc Curriculum Design and Delivery programmes. Many
of the links include example baseline reports as well as useful baselining tools and resources:


Baselining digital literacy
The page collates resources for conducting a baseline review of digital literacy at an institutional
level, as carried out by the 12 institutional projects and 10 professional associations of the
Jisc Developing Digital Literacies (DDL) programme – see also examples of DL baseline reports.



DL baseline framework for projects
This page outlines areas in which projects conducted baselining in the Developing Digital
Literacies programme.



Baselining approaches and findings on the Assessment and Feedback programme
Projects in Strand A of the Assessment and Feedback programme drew on qualitative and
quantitative evidence from a range of stakeholders and information sources to provide a baseline
review of assessment and feedback practice in their institutions – this page presents approaches
and findings.



Tools and resources for DL baselining
A list of tools and resources for baselining that were used on the Developing Digital Literacies
programme.

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Practice point

Top tips

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1.2 Establish the case for
student partnerships and align
with strategies and policies.



Questions
 Is there a clearly identified
rationale and case for
student partnerships?
 Which institutional policies
and initiatives will student
partnerships benefit?
 Will student partnerships
support employability skills
and graduate attributes?

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a range of sources e.g. student
surveys, data from research
projects.
As well as established research
techniques (e.g. focus groups,
surveys), use multimedia/technology-based
approaches e.g. process maps, rich
pictures, video interviews, social
media.
Identify drivers and needs for
students, staff, the institution and
others stakeholders such as
employers.
Identify potential benefits and
impact for students, staff,
employers and the institution.
Map the potential benefits and
impact to institutional strategies &
policies (e.g. relating to student
experience, employability)
Don’t be afraid to “think big”,
though ensure there is buy-in to a
clear vision.
Engage stakeholders from across
the institution in establishing the
case for student partnerships.
Engage employers and
professional/sector bodies in
establishing the case for student
partnerships.
Where possible, try to keep

The HEA commissioned a review of research on student engagement by Professor Paul Trowler and
Vicki Trowler and this led to the development of:


an evidence summary (PDF, 784KB)

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an international literature review (PDF, 472KB)

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a Framework for Action for institutional decision-makers (PDF, 196KB)



a set of case studies (PDF, 1240KB)

The value of student engagement as an important factor in educational gain was also highlighted by
an HEA publication authored by Graham Gibbs, Dimensions of Quality.
Key conclusions from the evidence summary::




Regarding student engagement in individual student learning:
o
student engagement improves outcomes;
o
specific features of engagement improve outcomes;
o
engagement improves specific desirable outcomes;
o
the value of engagement is no longer questioned;
o
responsibility for engagement is shared .
Regarding student engagement with structure and process:
o
student engagement in university governance benefits student representatives;

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Practice point

Top tips

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

partnership voluntary and focus on
recognition and rewards (e.g.
enhanced employability and
potential accreditation).
Establish cross-institutional
approaches to working
collaboratively.
Ensure issues and opportunities
identified in base-lining are
considered.

o
o



student representation on committees in the UK is generally felt to be effective;
high-performing institutions share several ‘best practice’ features regarding student
engagement in governance;
o
high-performing institutions share several ‘best practice’ features regarding student
leadership;
o
the most commonly reported form of ‘engagement’ of students in the UK is through
feedback questionnaires .
Regarding student engagement with identity:
o
prior characteristics do not determine whether students will engage;
o
engagement benefits all students – but some more than others;
o
engagement requires successful transition;
o
some students experience engagement negatively

It was also stressed “Virtually every report ….emphasized to varying degrees the important link
between student engagement and desired outcomes of college”
Since the HEA research, there have been a number of innovation, change and quality enhancement
initiatives in institutions across the UK that have further developed the concepts of student
engagement and partnerships whereby there is much greater emphasis on student action and with
the student as driver for innovation and change (these are listed in the section “Innovation, change
and quality initiatives in student partnerships”.
Quote; why is student engagement important?
‘Student engagement and learning is more effective, gratifying, and personally meaningful when all
stakeholders (eg. instructors, students, course designers) are collaboratively involved in co-creating
and developing a community of practice around a course’. These principles imply that students are not
viewed simply as knowledge consumers who are passive recipients of information that is fed to them
through lecture and textbooks but rather they are active co-creators of knowledge – apprentice
researchers, authors, teachers, scholars and practitioners – who are learning to take full ownership of
their own learning processes. "Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using online learning
activities" Emerald Group: Bingley.
1.3 Establish motivation,



Identify incentives for students,

The Jisc Design Studio contains useful guidance in relation to motivation, reward and recognition for

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Practice point

Top tips

reward and recognition options
for students and staff

Questions
 To what extent have the
pros and cons of different
ways of motivating and
rewarding students and
staff been considered?
 To what extent should
recognition for student
partnership work support
students in gaining
employment and in
developing their
employability skills?
 To what extent should a
student partnership
initiative align with the
work of other institutional
departments which focus
on e.g. employability,
careers.

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such as:
o remuneration
o improving job prospects
o developing personal, academic
and professional skills
o working with employers
o academic & professional
accreditation and recognition.
Consider the pros and cons of
alternative ways of engaging
students e.g.:
o Paid interns
o Casual employees of the
institution
o Unpaid volunteers
o Participants on an accredited
module of study.
o Participants on a co-curricular
programme which contributes to
e.g. a graduate award, eportfolio or HEAR record of
achievement.
o Participants engaged in research
projects as part of scholarly
culture.
Work with partners to establish
recognition pathways for students
e.g. professional institutions, HE/FE
sector bodies and aim to build on
established accreditation
frameworks.
Work with institutional
employability and careers

students and staff e.g.


Student digital pioneers
Summary of issue within the Developing Digital Literacies programme.
The Oxford Brookes ePioneer approach offers students recognition pathways with partners such
as the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), Association of Learning Technologists (ALT)
and Evaluation of Learner Experiences of E-learning Special Interest Group (ELESIG).

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The Graduate Recruitment Intelligence project
The Graduate Recruitment Intelligence project has developed e-transcripts which allow
graduates to showcase academic and other achievement data held in university corporate
systems in ways that are attractive and meaningful to employers. The GRI project also relates to,
and supports the implementation of, the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR).

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Practice point

Top tips

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1.4 Devise novel recruitment
and induction approaches for
students (1)
Questions
 Have the skills and
attributes for students
been defined?
 Are traditional recruitment
processes suitable for
identifying students with
the appropriate skills and
attributes?
 To what extent have
suitable guidance and
induction resources been
developed to help students
decide whether they want
to engage in partnership
work?

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departments to join-up approaches
and initiatives.
Ensure there is mutual benefit for
both staff and students.
Provide multiple opportunities to
allow students to showcase their
achievements, including with
external audiences such as
employers and professional bodies.
Define the skills and attributes of
students that are wanted e.g.
o a diverse skill set
o a high degree of intrinsic
motivation
o the ability to work autonomously
and communicate with a broad
range of stakeholders
o ability to work as a dynamic
member of a research team and
across disciplines and academic
years.
Set-up and facilitate an online social
media forum to support student
recruitment and networking.
Design recruitment processes to
allow students to demonstrate their
strengths, attributes and abilities
e.g.
o effective working in diverse
groups
o motivation to work on a project
o ability to research and present

The University of Greenwich has developed a novel student recruitment process as part of their
Digital Literacies in Transition project where an Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) was at the
heart of the project, involving students from a range of campuses, academic years and disciplines.
Oxford Brookes ePioneer Recruitment and briefing pack.

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Practice point

Top tips



1.4 Devise novel recruitment
and induction approaches for
students (2)
Questions
 Have the skills and
attributes for students
been defined?
 Are traditional recruitment
processes suitable for
identifying students with
the appropriate skills and
attributes?
 To what extent have
suitable guidance and
induction resources been
developed to help students
decide whether they want
to engage in partnership
work?

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new ideas in a clear way using a
variety of digital tools
o ability to show initiative,
creativity and working in a range
of situations.
Develop contract and compliance
documents covering e.g. data
protection, H&S, privacy, ethics,
copyright, IPR etc.
Develop clear briefing guides and
resources to explicitly describe the
why, what, how, when, where, who
of the project covering e.g.
o needs and benefits
o remuneration
o activities
o roles and boundaries
o what can be expected from
others such as staff
o reward and recognition
o making use of digital tools.
Develop and run briefing sessions
for students, building on the
briefing guides and resources.
Instead of traditional recruitment
techniques consider techniques
such as
o asking students to prepare some
of artefact for a defined purpose
(e.g. a video, web-resource)
o participate in workshops where
they have to engage with teams

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Practice point

Top tips



1.5 Identify a partnership
model that encompasses
options for different student
roles together with a range of
stakeholders. (1)
Questions:
 Have a range of different
student roles been
considered?
 Have a broad range of
opportunities for student
partnerships been
identified?
 To what extent will
student partnerships align
with employability
agendas and initiatives?



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


to carry out a range of activities
(using digital tools).
Consider branding student-led
initiatives (e.g. the University of
Greenwich Interdisciplinary
Research Group - IRG).
Identify at what level to set-up
partnerships e.g. institutional,
faculty, disciplinary, crossdisciplinary.
Identify who should be involved e.g
o academics
o professional support staff
o students
o alumni
o prospective students
o employers,
o local community
o employer/ sector/ professional
bodies
o external experts
o mentors and assessors
Review the various models of
student partnerships that different
institutions have adopted and
develop an appropriate model for
the institutional and/or local
contexts – which may be phased.
Integrate with employability
agendas and activities.
Develop an academic
lead/champion at each local level.

There are a number of models for student partnerships e.g. the University of Exeter Integrate project
framework with four key student roles (representing differences in how active/leading students are):


Student as evaluator of their HE experience (the student voice)
Students offer feedback, views and opinions and are listened to on an institutional basis, in order
to build an evidence-base as a basis for enhancement and change. Decisions for action tend to be
taken at subject and/or institutional level.



Students as participants in decision-making processes
Students engage in institutional decision-making, in order to influence enhancement and change.
Decisions tend to be taken collaboratively with staff and students but do not involve students in
action.



Students as partners, co-creators and experts
Students are collaborative partners in curriculum provision and professional development, in
order to enhance staff and student
learning. Decisions for action tend to be taken at subject and/or institutional level.



Students as agents for change
Students are collaborative partners in pedagogic knowledge acquisition and professional
development, with the purpose of bringing about change. Decisions for action tend to be
promoted by students and engaged with at subject and/or institutional level.

Another model is from the Oxford Brookes InStePP project, where they have developed student
partnerships that revolve around one or more roles depending upon the setting:

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Practice point

Top tips

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Student as researcher
Students act as partners in research e.g.
• Pedagogic knowledge development
• Institutional research in e.g. digital literacy, TEL including students setting their own agendas
• Evaluating institutional change e.g. in level and development of digital literacy, TEL
• Evaluating use of technology by other students in peer-assisted learning role
• Creating and managing digital outputs for undergraduate research conferences



Student as resource creator
Students create usable and accessible resources e.g.
• Resources and guides for curricula or commercial purposes
• Scoping user requirements and develop resources
• Developing employability resources



Student as mentor
Students act in the role of mentor e.g.
• Providing support for staff and other students on a range of digital literacies, tools and TEL



Student as entrepreneur * /change agent
Students act in the role of entrepreneur / change agent e.g.
• Providing expertise on special projects arising from within the University community
• Providing consultancy/change agent services to the University, employers and other
stakeholders
• Supporting curriculum innovation and quality enhancement



Student as trainer
Students act in the role of mentor e.g.
• Reverse tutoring (to train staff on setting up courses in VLE and other digital environments,
tools etc.)
• Peer assisted learning among students

*Note: Oxford Brookes instep project concluded that “the entrepreneur role be withdrawn as

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Practice point

Top tips

inappropriate for a voluntary scheme whose incentives and rewards are intended to be academic and
employability-related.”

Student as Change agents: New Ways of engaging with learning and teaching in higher education
Elisabeth Dunne and Roos Zandstra, University of Exeter
http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/14767/1/8242.pdf
The University of Exeter has developed an innovative and exciting student-led action research
initiative that brings students and staff together to improve experiences of higher education.
Students from across the university have contributed to this initiative, carrying out a series of
research projects on their learning and teaching environment, selecting concerns raised through
student-staff liaison committees (SSLCs), and providing recommendations and solutions to improve
their experience. A small amount of funding was made available from the University’s learning and
teaching budget to support this initiative.
A FRAMEWORK FOR PROMOTING CHANGE IN TECHNOLOGY USE THROUGH ENGAGING STUDENTS
The framework is designed around two key dimensions:
 The extent to which any activity is led by students, or led by the institution
 The extent to which any activity is premised on active engagement by students in change, or is
based on more passive forms of representation
 The framework may allow a better understanding of formal engagement with students, the
different forms that this can take, and where responsibilities lie.
The University of Greenwich employed cross-university studentships to foster a community of
student-led research as part of their Digital Literacies in Transition project (part of the Developing
Digital Literacies programme). Termed the IRG (Interdisciplinary Research Group), this group of
students, their mentors and members of staff from all aspects of the institution will engage in
baselining activities as well as develop OERs that link attribute development to DL skills and
opportunities.
The University of Winchester and Bath Spa University created the concept of Student Fellows to act
as Change Agents in their FASTECH project focused on enhancing Assessment and feedback though
the use of technology. Student Fellow responsibilities were to work with the FASTECH team, lecturers

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Practice point

Top tips

and students to develop technology for specific assessment problems, and to evaluate its use.
Student fellows are co-constructors of the research and development on FASTECH, acting as insiders
and change agents, developing an understanding of assessment principles, familiarity with
technology, and research skills. See the Briefing paper on the Student Fellow scheme for further info.

1.5 Identify a partnership
model that encompasses
options for different student
roles together with a range of
stakeholders. (2)



Questions:
 Have a range of different
student roles been
considered?
 Have a broad range of
partnerships been
identified?
 To what extent will
student partnerships align
with employability
agendas and initiatives?


Identify a broad range of
partnerships in educational
innovation and change to focus on
e.g.
o curriculum design & delivery.
o assessment and feedback.
o digital literacies.
o library and information services.
o student experience, support and
guidance.
o digital resources.
o staff development.
o learning resources.
o student records, administration,
management and information
systems.
o institutional processes e.g. QA,
induction.
o institutional polices.
Based on the defined partnership
model, develop options for different
student roles e.g.
o student as researcher
o student as resource creator
o student as expert
o student as mentor
o student as change agent student

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Practice point

Top tips


as trainer (staff and peer trainer)
o student as evaluator
o student advisor.
1.6 Identify an outline project
plan including resources and
funding




Questions
 To what extent has the
development of a project
plan been a collaborative
exercise?
 Have measures/indicators
of impact been identified?
 Are there appropriate
governance measures in
place?











Develop an outline project plan for
setting up and implementing
student partnerships.
Use the practice points from this
guide as a check-list for the project
plan.
Adopt an agile and flexible
approach to project planning – in
order to allow the project to adapt
to problems, emerging
opportunities and changing
contexts.
Ensure that the project plan has
clear overall aims and objectives as
well as defining outputs and
outcomes – particularly potential
impact on institutions, sector and
individuals.
Aim to develop indicators of impact,
though this might need to wait
post-baselining.
Ensure representatives of all key
stakeholder groups help to develop
the plan.
Place considerable focus on
engagement – both formal and
informal - and using social media to




Jisc InfoNet guide to project management.
JISC RSC Wales: Social media for student engagement

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Practice point

Top tips


1.7 Identify and learn from
exemplars and case studies of
student partnerships




To what extent have
experiences and lessons
learnt from other student
partnership initiatives
been researched and
contextualised?
To what extent have these
experiences and lessons
learnt been shared with all
stakeholders?












underpin this.
Develop appropriate governance
structures including the formation
of a steering group that represents
a broad cross-section of roles and
interests (including external
representatives).
There has been a considerable
number of student partnership and
engagement projects undertaken by
institutions and much can be learnt
from their experiences, therefore it
is worthwhile taking the time to
learn from these to supplement this
guide.
Identify likely issues and challenges
and how other institutions and
projects have addressed and
managed them.
Look for partnerships in your own
institution – these are not always
actively promoted.
Use the lessons learnt to inform the
development of your “principles of
good practice” in student
partnerships.
Ensure you share the lessons learnt
from the exemplars/case studies
with all those involved with setting
up and implementing student
partnerships – and facilitate
dialogue on how such lessons can

Examples of student engagement/partnership projects:


“Student Engagement: Identify, motivation and community” – book by Claus Nygaard, Stuart
Brand, Paul Bartholomew, Luke Millard, Libri Publishing ISBN 978 1 907471 65 0



Oxford Brookes InStePP project - Student partnerships offer a way to join up provision for digital
literacies for staff and students across the institution by establishing, supporting and
building recognition for the role of student ‘ePioneers’ within existing core academic and elearning development activities.



Greenwich Digital Literacies in Transition project - cross-university studentships foster a
community of student-led research to support and feed into all other aspects of the project.
Termed the IRG (Interdisciplinary Research Group), this group of students, their mentors and
members of staff from all aspects of the institution will engage in baselining activities as well as
develop OERs that link attribute development to DL skills and opportunities.



Reading Digitally Ready project has worked with students as partners in digital projects with
academics, students as researchers, students feeding in their stories to inform work on the
project and students undertaking work directly for the project.



Student Fellows at Bath Spa and Winchester: The FASTECH project is focused on enhancing
feedback and assessment processes through the use of technology. The project has recruited
Student Fellows to participate in research activities, generate ideas, develop case studies, write
blogs and attend and present at conferences. They are the interface between the project team
and students and lecturers. Further guidance on the student fellows scheme is available here



University of Exeter - Students as Change Agents: Students have been given opportunities to
work in partnership with university staff in order to address the challenges of using technology

Page 16

Practice point

Top tips




be adapted to you own needs and
contexts.
Maintain a shared online resource
of links to exemplars and case
studies.

with large and diverse cohorts. They have undertaken research on student views and
perceptions, provided recommendations and solutions for practice, and have supported staff in
bringing about wide-scale changes in teaching. Much of this work evolved through the Integrate
project . Resources are available on the project website. The work continues through projects
such as the CascadeDigital Literacies project which involves postgraduate researchers. Podcast :
Students as Agents of Change at Exeter


Birmingham City University – Student Academic Partners: The T-SPARC project engaged with
students through the University’s Student Academic Partners (SAP) programme as part of a
review of curriculum design practices and processes. SAP aims to integrate students into the
teaching and pedagogic research community within BCU in order to develop collaboration
between students and staff. The T-SPARC project also produced a wider stakeholder
engagement model which could be used when considering the development of student
engagement activities. This video collates student voices to influence curriculum design (format
- wmv, mp4)

What works? Student Retention and Success
(HEA, HEFCE, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Action on Access)
Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: a summary of
findings and recommendations from the What Works? Student Retention & Success programme.

3.2

Partnership implementation
Practice point

2.1 Establish, implement and
monitor a project plan (based
on agile methodology)

Top tips
Develop a project plan and ensure that
project participants buy-in to their roles
and responsibilities.

HEA Students as Partners Change Programme Resources
A useful collection of resources from the programme e.g. for dealing with change, embedding and
sustaining.

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Practice point
Questions
 To what extent is your
project working in an
uncertain environment?
 What issues and
challenges are your
projects likely to
encounter?
 To what extent do the
project team members
work well together?

Top tips
In early stages of student partnerships
adopt light-touch management
approaches – though this might need to
change as such partnerships evolve.
Adopt an agile and flexible approach
that allows for responding to changing
issues, contexts and policies.
Where appropriate, work with other
institutional departments/support
services/initiatives to identify areas of
mutual benefit e.g. helping them to
meet their own goals.
Engage the student union as a key
partner.
Ensure there is sufficient initiative
funding particularly seed-funding.
Encourage cross-faculty/department
working to minimise “silos”.
Adopt and encourage business-like and
entrepreneurial approaches.
Always be aware of the need to build
capacity in both the student body and
with staff.
Encourage best-practice team-working
through e.g. developing team skills and
appropriate team-building exercises.
Review the partnership on a regular
basis.

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/change/SAP_resource_page#Startup
HEA: Student as Partners: The challenge of student engagement
Professor Stuart Brand, Director of Learning Experience; Luke Millard, Head of Learning Partnerships
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/change/SAP/TL1_SBLM_BCU_SAP.ppt
Based on the HEA’s experience, effective change initiatives are characterised by:
 A shared vision
 A sound evidence base
 A strategic approach
 Senior management buy-in
 Strategies for managing resistance
 Student engagement
 An evaluation strategy
 Flexibility and agility
 Good project management
 Effective team working
Useful tips about managing student partnership projects can be found in the following:


Oxford Brookes Jisc-funded InStePP project (e-Pioneers) final report and evaluation.



Student perspective: Newcastle University: The Creation of an Independent Study Module



Student perspective: University of Manchester: Feedback, Evaluation and Development of an
Enquiry Based Learning Module



Student perspective: University of Exeter: Students as Change Agents



University of Glasgow: Students and staff co_creating the curriculum



University of Glasgow: Enhanced student engagement through collaborative evaluation



Leeds Trinity University College: Rewriting the French Revolution

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Practice point

Top tips

The LFHE Student engagement toolkit for leaders provides some useful pointers for practices that
leaders found effective in enhancing Student engagement in Higher Education:

















Bringing student representatives onto all kinds of university structures, including those
concerned with changes to systems, structures or processes (such as building project boards) in
material ways – such as equal numbers of staff and students on programme committees.
GOAT (go out and talk) & GOAL (go out and listen) - speaking informally, and often, to leaders
and representatives of other sectors (students, senior managers, staff leaders, etc), to gauge
their feelings and views, and developing strong personal relationships based on mutual respect
Actively involving the university in students’ union activities
Ensuring that the student representative system is truly representative of all constituencies
within the student body, including “invisible” groups such as part-time students, student parents
or students from elsewhere
Active student involvement in the selection of senior managers with a high level of personal
commitment to student engagement – and then holding them accountable to this commitment
Reviewing procedures to ensure that these don’t themselves give rise to problems or complaints,
and lightening the bureaucratic load
“Closing the feedback loop” – ensuring that everybody sees the results and can celebrate the
“wins” of engagement
For managers and staff, wanting to see things from students’ perspectives, and being genuinely
committed to ensuring students have a positive experience at university
Shifting the official rhetoric to reflect a genuine prioritisation of partnership and community, and
the prioritisation of student engagement, and ensuring consistent messages from senior
management
Not being A Manager – working against a “managerial” image to connect in a way that is
meaningful to students / staff
Replacing a culture of compliance with a culture of permission, tolerating “mess” and uncertainty
Dogged persistence until the mindset and the culture change, so that collaborative approaches

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Practice point

Top tips



become automatic and can be self-sustaining
“Finding the right people”

Involving Students in Change – planning document and guidance
Student engagement is also a strong theme in the Changing the Learning Landscape
programme, and the NUS have produced a useful planning document and guidance notes
for anyone wishing to think through how students will be engaged in any new
initiative: Involving Students in Change.
2.2 Develop a set of principles
of good practice to follow for
student partnerships



Questions
 To what extent will a set of
good practice principles
help guide your project?
 How could such principles
be communicated to
stakeholders?
 Could such principles be
used to inform institutional
policies and curriculum
design?











Develop your own set of principles
of good practice to follow for
instituting student partnerships and
aim for about 7 key principles.
Ensure principles are short, focus on
headline argument, action oriented
e.g. using action verbs, point to
aspirations and use accessible
language.
For each principle, identify why it is
important and any evidence to
justify it.
Use the principles as a core
component of your stakeholder
communications and engagement
plan.
Develop specific resources to help
communicate the principles e.g.
printed cards.
Use every opportunity to re-enforce
the principles in communications

The HEA emphasise that partnerships is a process and a way of doing things. It has developed a set of
principles around student engagement and effective partnership working:















Authenticity: where there is a clear rationale for students – and others – to work in partnership,
each partner has a stake in the agenda and in taking the work forward
Inclusivity: the absence of barriers that prevent engagement in partnership work
Speaking ‘with’, not ‘for’ or ‘about’ students
Being open to radical transformation, not just slotting partnership work into existing structures
and processes
A need for partnership work to be acknowledged and assented to by all parties involved
Development of shared purpose, values and principles
Taking time to understand our perceptions of one another and how that affects partnership
relationships
Joint decision making and accountability arrangements
Equality of value whist recognising difference and the unique contribution each partner makes
Acknowledgement of power relationships: being clear about where ownership for issues and
agendas lies and how outcomes of work will be used. Being prepared to challenge structures and
practices that re-affirm existing inequalities.
Taking time to build trust
Creating an environment that encourages risk taking
Identifying resources to support partnership working

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Practice point

Top tips






2.3 Allocate significant time
and resource for stakeholder
engagement and
communications




Questions
 To what extent will there
likely be resistance to
student partnership
initiatives?
project evaluated different
stakeholder’s interests and
motivations with student
partnerships?
project evaluated how best
to engage different
stakeholders?








and in documents, resources and
publications that are created.
Collaboratively develop a set of
“practice points” for each principle
that can help give students and staff
ideas of how to put the principles
into practice.
As student partnerships mature,
consider embedding principles in
strategies, policies and processes.
Use principles to inform and guide
curriculum design.




Develop and implement a
engagement plan using sector
toolkits.
In developing such a plan, take time
to better understand how students
as partners can help different
stakeholders to meet their goals
and interests.
Celebrate successes and ensure
external recognition is a key
element of such a plan.
Continually re-enforce the notion of
students as equal partners (not
assistants) and partnership working
as the norm.
Set high, but achievable
expectations and continually ensure
these are fully understood by all
stakeholders.

The University of Exeter has published its own Good Practice Guide on Engaging Stakeholders and
includes a 10-minute tool designed to help other institutions consider how these strategies may work
in their own context.

Embracing a shared commitment to evaluation and learning
Celebrating successful outcomes of and approaches to partnership working

The following HEA documents are useful for addressing resistance to change:
53 Interesting Ways in which Colleagues Resist Change and
53 ways of managing resistance to change
Steve Outram, Senior Adviser Higher Education Academy
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/resources/database/id554_complex_change_in_he
is_paper6.doc
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/resources/database/id555_complex_change_in_he
is_paper7.doc
The Birmingham City University T-SPARC project produced a stakeholder engagement model which
could be used when considering the development of student engagement activities.
There are a range of Jisc resources and toolkits that support stakeholder communications and
engagement:

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Practice point

Top tips




Seek support and drive from senior
management and ensure they
understand how students as
partners can help them fulfil their
strategic and personal goals.
Ensure communications and
engagement with the wider student
and staff bodies (i.e. not just those
involved directly with partnership
initiatives or the “educational
elite”).






Jisc Infokit Communication and Collaboration
Collaborative Online Tools
Change management
Sustaining and embedding innovations good practice guide

The Jisc good practice guide includes the following guidance for planning stakeholder
communications and engagement:
Better understand the needs and concerns of different stakeholders.
Different stakeholders will have different needs and concerns – for instance, practitioners are more
likely to want to know why they should adopt and prioritise your project (as opposed to other
innovations), if there is good evidence to support its pedagogical value, how it will benefit them/their
students and the degree of support that they can expect, whilst heads of
faculties/schools/departments maybe more likely to be concerned with resourcing, budgets and how
to integrate innovations into their policies/plans.
Develop a shared understanding of what they want to achieve by communicating and engaging
with each stakeholder group.
Too often, projects are concerned with purely producing the project outputs that they specified in the
project plan. However, these outputs will be meaningless unless they are adopted by stakeholders –
in the short, medium and long term. It is therefore worthwhile identifying what they want to achieve
for each stakeholder group and ensuring these outputs are usable. For example, defining how many
academics/teaching staff will make an informed choice as to whether they wish to adopt the
innovation or establishing whether or not the innovation has been integrated into institutional or
faculty/school/departmental strategies, processes, services and systems. It must, however, be
recognised that projects may have to carefully balance the articulated needs from different
stakeholder groups.

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Practice point

Top tips

Collaboratively develop a common set of key messages to communicate to different stakeholders
as well as a plan to use both traditional and new media communications techniques.
It is not uncommon to find different project team members giving out totally different key messages
about the project. A collaborative exercise to develop key common messages about the innovations
project will help to provide a more coherent approach to engaging with different
stakeholders. Having stated that the development of “shared messages” is important, the emphasis
on communications must be on interaction, dialogue and engagement – bearing in mind that the
word “dissemination” has a rather one-way feeling about it!
Communications plans should aim to convey simple messages based on the WHY – WHAT – WHEN –
WHO – HOW principles e.g.






WHY: Why should academic/teaching staff change their teaching and learning practices?
WHAT: What should academic/teaching staff change in their teaching and learning
practices?
WHEN: When best to make changes e.g. at curriculum review time?
WHO: Who needs to be involved in the change?
HOW: How to make the changes e.g. is it a DIY approach and what support is available?

An excellent example that demonstrates effective communications is how the TESEP project based at
Edinburgh Napier University helped to transform teaching and learning by providing simple messages
e.g. based on:





Why do we need to change learning and teaching practice?
Planning to transform.
Rethinking your practices.
Transformation stories.

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Practice point

Top tips

The NUS/QAA report 'Understanding the barriers to student engagement', is designed to
contribute to the knowledge of the higher education sector on the barriers to engaging
students in their learning experience.

2.4 Develop/acquire guides,
toolkits and resources



Questions









To what extent has “best
practice” in student
partnerships been
established?
To what extent have the
needs of different
stakeholders for guides,
toolkits and resources
been established?
To what extent has the
project researched the
availability of third-party
guides, toolkits and
resources e.g. from other
institutions and
educational agencies?











Engage with different stakeholders
to identify their needs for guides,
toolkits and resources.
Adopt the “Top Tips” and, if
appropriate, customise these to
institutional needs and contexts.
Use the “Viewpoints for student
engagement” toolkit as part of
initiative planning and teambuilding exercises.
Recognise that best practice is
continually evolving and join the
Change Agent Network to keep upto-date with new approaches,
toolkits and resources.
Capture detailed case studies and
share via the community of
practice.
Develop resources and toolkits that
clearly and simply describe
partnership models, role cards for
staff and students (defining e.g.
activities, responsibilities and
logistical info), contract templates,
briefing/induction resources etc.
Regularly revisit the web-sites of the
key educational agencies/bodies

The Change Agent Network is a network of staff and students developed and funded by Jisc to
support curriculum enhancement and innovation. It offers peer-support for students working as
change agents and staff working with students in this capacity. Also available is institutional guidance,
support and consultancy. Through the network there are possibilities for project promotion and
dissemination as well as guidance on routes for recognition. The network is also able to run
workshops and events.
LFHE Student engagement toolkit for leaders
This LFHE toolkit has been designed for use by leaders in Higher Education wishing to enhance and
promote student engagement in, and beyond, their institutions. It can be used alongside the NUS /
HEA Student Engagement Toolkit, which focuses on improving three specific areas of student
engagement, namely representation, module feedback, and curriculum design. In this toolkit you will
find:






Conceptual Overview of Student Engagement
Leading for Engagement in Higher Education
Powerpoint presentations on Student Engagement
Workshop Resources
References and Resources

Oxford Brookes e_pioneers – support and resources
NUS: Student Engagement Toolkit
The Student Engagement Toolkit has useful info in Enhancing Engagement Practices e.g.
Student engagement card-sort exercise
The purpose of this activity is to enable pairs or small groups to discuss their beliefs and views about

Page 24

Practice point

Top tips



which have major initiatives in the
field of students as partners and
change agents e.g. HEA, Jisc, HEFCE,
HEFCW, SFC, NUS, sparqs and QAA
Arrange access by students and staff
to appropriate technology resources
to support engagement, efficient
partnership working, knowledge
sharing and reflective practice.

the role of students in institutional change, to support participants in clarifying their thinking in this
area and to understand where there may be differences of opinion. The activity can be used with
staff, students, or mixed groups.
Enhancing engagement practices self-reflection task
Using the four-stage picture of engagement as a reflective tool, this exercise challenges students’
representatives and institution managers and academics to evaluate their current student
engagement practices. The focus of this task is to think about the outcomes of engagement activities
and the impact that policies and practices have on students.
Self-reflection task record matrix
This matrix can be used to record the results of the self-reflection task.
Representation systems benchmarking tool
This tool, developed by NUS in partnership with the Association for Managers in Students’ Unions
(AMSU), is designed to support students’ unions and institutions in evaluating their student
representative structures. It can be used in isolation or to support the evidence-gathering process in
the self-reflection task.
The HEA’s Student Retention and Success programme has published the following:
 Building student engagement and belonging in higher Education at a time of change: Final
report from the What Works? Student Retention & Success programme.
 An Executive summary: Summary of findings and recommendations from the What Works?
Student Retention & Success programme.

2.5 Clarify detailed student and
staff roles, responsibilities and
activities.



Questions


project evaluated options



Define options for student roles
together with associated key
activities, how the roles will develop
students, what students will bring
to the roles and logistical
information such as time
commitments, training and support.
Student change projects/activities

The Oxford Brookes: InStePP Student e-Pioneer partnerships provides useful guidance on defining
student and staff roles, responsibilities and activities e.g.






3-way contract
Preferred partnerships
Development wheel
Roles and schedule
Role cards

Page 25

Practice point




for different student roles?
project specified what
these roles entail in terms
of activities, time
commitments, skills
required etc.
project defined
commercial, contractual
and compliance
requirements?

Top tips















should involve students in planning,
developing and delivering change in
conjunction with staff support.
Consider two key staff roles:
partnership lead and development
lead role.
Consider employing student
intern(s) to support and facilitate
projects.
Partnership lead should logistically
support students with e.g.
workplace induction, review
progress against role descriptions.
Provide sufficient and a broad range
of student opportunities to work on
innovation/change projects.
Develop a three-way contract
between students, development
lead and partnership lead,
incorporating role descriptions,
responsibilities, activities and
compliance with institutional
procedures and requirements.
Ensure the contracts incorporate
engagement with induction,
dissemination, support, record
keeping, team-building and
progress review and evaluation.
Development lead should provide
students with learning and support
opportunities, reflective activities
and feedback as well as exploring



Managing commissions

The Jisc Design Studio outlines different student change agent roles e.g.
Student Fellows at Bath Spa and Winchester
The FASTECH project is focused on enhancing feedback and assessment processes through the use of
technology. The project has recruited Student Fellows to participate in research activities, generate
ideas, develop case studies, write blogs and attend and present at conferences. They are the interface
between the project team and students and lecturers. Further guidance on the student fellows
scheme is available here
The FASTECH project also produced Student Fellows Briefing Paper about the Winchester BSU model
Report of the ‘Leading academic engagement with students and students’ union’ project (LFHE and
University of Winchester)
Over the last decade there has been a steady and considerable increase in focus on student
engagement. Rather than rehearse the well versed arguments about whether student engagement is
important or not – it clearly is – this project has sought to examine 4 leading models of student
engagement to capture their strengths and benefits for the students involved.
Greenwich Digital Literacies in Transition project
The University of Greenwich employed cross-university studentships to foster a community of
student-led research to support and feed into all other aspects of the work of a project Greenwich
Digital Literacies in Transition project. Termed the IRG (Interdisciplinary Research Group), this group
included students, their mentors and members of staff from all aspects of the institution. Also see the
4Rmodel of student change agent engagement.
University of Exeter - Students as Change Agents
Students have been given opportunities to work in partnership with university staff in order to
address the challenges of using technology with large and diverse cohorts. They have undertaken
research on student views and perceptions, provided recommendations and solutions for practice,
and have supported staff in bringing about wide-scale changes in teaching. Much of this work evolved
through the Integrate project . Resources are available on the project website. The work continues

Page 26

Practice point

Top tips


options for accreditation.
The development lead role focuses
more on student learning and
development and the partnership
lead focuses on making the
partnership succeed.

through projects such as the Cascade Digital Literacies project which involves postgraduate
researchers. Podcast : Students as Agents of Change at Exeter
Birmingham City University – Student Academic Partners
The T-SPARC project engaged with students through the University’s Student Academic Partners
(SAP) programme as part of a review of curriculum design practices and processes. SAP aims to
integrate students into the teaching and pedagogic research community within BCU in order to
develop collaboration between students and staff. The T-SPARC project also produced a
wider stakeholder engagement model which could be used when considering the development of
student engagement activities, and collaborated on a student engagement brochure with case studies
from around the university.
Reading Digitally Ready project has worked with students as partners in digital projects with
academics, students as researchers, students feeding in their stories to inform work on the project
and students undertaking work directly for the project.
Synthesis of findings on leadership and student engagement
Involving Students in Change – planning document and guidance
Student engagement is also a strong theme in the Changing the Learning Landscape programme, and
the NUS have produced a useful planning document and guidance notes for anyone wishing to think
through how students will be engaged in any new initiative: Involving Students in Change.

2.6 Identify risks and how to
manage them



Questions







projects identified and
evaluated potential risk?
In particular, to what
extent could some

Develop a risk management plan
and review and update this
regularly.
Continually be aware of other
institutional initiatives and how
these impact on stakeholder
workloads and priorities with a view
to e.g. piggy-backing on and
working with such projects to
mutual benefit.

JISC infoNet (infoKits) provide the following:



Risk management
A 5 step risk management model

Page 27

Practice point



stakeholders react
adversely to students as
change agents?
projects identified creative
ways to address and
manage such risks?

Top tips










2.7 Establish/join external and
internal communities of
practice




Questions




To what extent could the
project influence students
to drive and facilitate a
community of practice?
To what extent could the




Be continually aware of “mission
creep” – high expectations need to
be balanced with realistic goals.
Be aware of the dangers of a
funding culture which can restrict
sustainability.
Identify likely points of resistance by
different stakeholders – drawing on
the experiences of previous sector
innovation and change programmes
– and develop appropriate
approaches to counteract such
resistance.
Be aware that student change
agents could possibly undermine
institutional professional support
staff – and develop win-win
approaches to counteract this.
Be aware of changing institutional
policies and goals and adapt
appropriately.
Encourage students to develop a
strategy and plan for an internal
community of practice.
Encourage students to lead the
community of practice in support of
partnership working between
students and staff.
Recognise the need for active
facilitation by students and ensure
that this is recognised as a key part
of change agent activities (&

The Greenwich Digital Literacies in Transition project featured cross-university studentships foster a
community of student-led research to support and feed into all other aspects of the project.
The Change Agent Network is a network of staff and students developed and funded by Jisc to
support curriculum enhancement and innovation. It offers peer-support for students working as
change agents and staff working with students in this capacity. Also available is institutional guidance,
support and consultancy. Through the network there are possibilities for project promotion and
dissemination as well as guidance on routes for recognition. The network is also able to run
workshops and events.
The Jisc Sustaining and embedding innovations good practice guide provides guidance in respect of

Page 28

Practice point
project learn from and
influence external
communities of practice?

Top tips











possibly incorporated into an
accreditation scheme).
Encourage students to join relevant
professional body communities of
practice.
Monitor the emergence of new
external communities of practice in
the area of student partnerships
and encourage links with these.
Specifically, encourage students and
staff to join and engage with the
Change Agent Network.
Develop processes to encourage
students and staff to draw out key
lessons learnt from their activities
and make these available to other
institutional staff and students.
Encourage students and staff to
read and contribute to the Journal
of Educational Innovation,
Partnership and Change.

developing communities of practice e.g.
http://raise-network.ning.com/
RAISE is a network of academics, practitioners, advisors and student representatives drawn from the
Higher Education Sector who are working and/or interested in researching and promoting student
engagement.
The network creates opportunities to come together for beneficial scholarly discussion and creating
collaborative projects, sharing good practice and lobbying for investment and better policies locally,
sectorally and across our international community.
http://studentlandtnetwork.ning.com/
The SLTN promotes active student engagement in learning and teaching communities. We provide a
student led space for people in further and higher education with a passion for learning and teaching
to meet, share experiences and empower others.
http://www.sparqs.ac.uk
Sparqs is an agency which puts students at the heart of decisions being made about the quality and
governance of the learning experience. We are funded by the Scottish Funding Council, hosted and
managed on their behalf by NUS Scotland, and directed by a Steering Committee with sector-wide
membership.
There are a number of critical success factors associated with successful Communities of Practice, as
follows:


Ownership
o Ownership primarily needs to lie with practitioners, not HE agencies.
o A core steering group should drive forward the CoP/SIG aims and objectives.



Communications
o CoPs/SIGs should develop a communications and stakeholder engagement strategy
and plan.
o Communications with stakeholders should be regular, high quality and profiled to
different stakeholder needs.
o Appropriate technologies should be adopted.

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Practice point

Top tips

o









Communications need to be co-ordinated and facilitated – though this does require
significant effort to achieve (some CoP/SIGs rotate responsibilities for this in order to
lessen the “load” on one individual).
Activities
o Steering Group members should commit to agreed “sweat labour” in respect of CoP/SIG
activities.
Resources/outputs
o The CoP should aim to produce useful outputs, resources and toolkits (as appropriate)
for use by its membership.
Sustainability
o Sustainability of CoPs/SIGs must be a core focus for the steering group and this must
take account of what contributions the steering group and membership can make.
o It must be recognised that the community membership and steering group will have
limitations on how much time they can contribute without being funded or rewarded in
some way. It is not good practice to adopt a total-funding approach, however, the
steering group should consider potential reward mechanisms e.g. sector recognition of
member’s work, publication of shared articles, journal and conference papers and
aligning the CoP/SIG goals/activities with development/innovation projects and
programmes.
Financial
o CoPs/SIGs should aim to seek funding – this could be in the form of e.g.
 Agency funding to cover basic operational costs (typically low-amount funds
from agencies such as the Higher Education Academy, JISC, QAA).
 Project funding to fund specific collaborative projects which have defined
outputs.
 Advertising/sponsorship.
 In-kind contributions e.g. institutions hosting meetings, travel funding.
o If operational funding is available, it should be prioritised towards effective
communications and stakeholder engagement.
o CoPs/SIGs should not become “funding junkies” – they should primarily be driven by
“sweat labour” from its membership and using micro-funding to cover operational
essentials such as travel/meeting budgets.

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3.3

Capabilities, development and accreditation
3 Capabilities, development and accreditation
Practice point

3.1 Define core student
capabilities, attributes and
development frameworks for
student innovation and change
activities (1).
Questions




To what extent have core
student capabilities and
attributes for working on
partnership/change
projects been identified?
What teaching, learning
and assessment
approaches will be
adopted to develop
student personal,
academic and professional
skills?

Top tips


Development frameworks focused
on student innovation and change
should consider addressing the
following student capabilities and
attributes:
o Becoming a change agent
o Working with stakeholders and
institutional processes.
o Analysing situations and
environments (e.g.

departmental, institutional,
sector, world)
o Planning, running and
evaluating a project.
o Effective communication,
negotiation, persuasion and
team-building.
o Identifying and describing
change.
o Planning, leading and delivering
change.
o Sustaining and embedding
change.
o Risk/conflict management and
dealing with uncertainties.
o Evaluating change, particularly
in relation to impact of change.

Oxford Brookes Institutional Student ePioneer Partnerships (InStePP Project) “Towards
Accreditation”
One of the InStePP project goals is to offer student ePioneers recognition pathways with Project
partners . They looked specifically at endorsed recognition from two professional bodies : theInstitute
of Leadership and Management (ILM) and the Association for Learning Technologists (ALT).
Brookes Careers and Employability Centre already run an ILM-endorsed course - theFuture Leaders
Certificate(.mov). The InStePP project has provided an opportunity to create a new endorsed
certificate (Future Consultants) specifically for the InStePP student ePioneers and includes an
adaptation of the ALT eportfolio framework (CMALT)and an adapted ILM learning skills framework.
See Future Consultants update, Course outline, and suggested learning pathways / evidence (excel
file) and the workshop on moving towards accreditation held with the cluster group on 27 March
2012.
The Oxford Brookes Development Wheel indicates the range of learning and development the
ePioneers undergo and the support that is provided while in Partnership.
Jisc Digital Literacies resources e.g.



Digital Literacies conceptual frameworks
Digital Literacies professional frameworks

Jisc InfoNet provides some useful guidance on student engagement analytics.

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Practice point

Top tips



3.1 Define core student
capabilities, attributes and
development frameworks for
student innovation and change
activities (2).



Questions




To what extent have core
student capabilities and
attributes for working on
partnership/change
projects been identified?
What teaching, learning
and assessment
approaches will be
adopted to develop
student personal,
academic and professional
skills?







o Effective use of technologies in
change projects.
o Ethical practices in change
projects.
The development framework should
specify learning outcomes, outline
curriculum design, support and
assessment, which should all be
aligned to relevant benchmarks and
best practice with e.g. external
accreditation bodies, QAA and HEA.
Development frameworks should
also focus on core student learning
and development, capabilities and
attributes e.g.
o How people learn
o Online learning
o Creativity
o Entrepreneurialism
o Self-awareness
o Reflection, personal and
professional development.
o Digital literacies.
o Communications skills.
Student development should be
aligned with career planning.
Development frameworks should
include taught (preferably online)
courses combined with a reflective
portfolio that centres on a student
change project/activities.
Student capabilities should be

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Practice point

Top tips


“stretched”.
3.2 Develop/acquire courses
and training/learning resources
for students and staff




Questions






To what extent do courses
and training/learning
resources already exist e.g.
as open educational
resources?
What is the potential for
undertaking collaborative
developments with other
institutions?
To what extent should
technology-enhanced
approaches be adopted?








Ensure courses and training/
learning resources map to the
student development framework.
Adopt open source approaches to
course development including the
use of OERs (open educational
resources) – which could include
whole modules or reusable learning
objects.
Consider working collaboratively
with other institutions to share their
courses and/or share development
of new courses.
Engage students in course design,
review and development.
Adopt technology-enhanced
approaches to aid efficiencies,
flexibility and scalability.
Assessments should aim to exploit
computer-based techniques and
adopt e-portfolios to underpin the
student reflective portfolio.

Jisc Open Educational Resources infoKit:
Finding OERs
A number of search engines exist to search Open Educational Resources. These include:
 DiscoverEd - "Discover the Universe of Open Educational Resources"
 Jorum - "free learning and teaching resources, created and contributed by teaching staff from UK
Further and Higher Education Institutions"
 OCWFinder - "search, recommend, collaborate, remix"
 OER Commons - "Find Free-to-Use Teaching and Learning Content from around the World.
Organize K-12 Lessons, College Courses, and more."
 Temoa - "a knowledge hub that eases a public and multilingual catalog of Open Educational
Resources (OER) which aims to support the education community to find those resources and
materials that meet their needs for teaching and learning through a specialized and collaborative
search system and social tools."
 University Learning = OCW+OER = Free custom search engine - a meta-search engine
incorporating many different OER repositories (uses Google Custom Search)
 XPERT - "a JISC funded rapid innovation project (summer 2009) to explore the potential of
delivering and supporting a distributed repository of e-learning resources created and seamlessly
published through the open source e-learning development tool called Xerte Online Toolkits. The
aim of XPERT is to progress the vision of a distributed architecture of e-learning resources for
sharing and re-use."
 OER Dynamic Search Engine - a wiki page of OER sites with accompanied search engine (powered
by Google Custom Search)
 The UNESCO OER Toolkit links to further useful, annotated resources and repositories.
 JISC Digital Media maintain guidance on finding video, audio and images online, including those
licensed as Creative Commons.
 OER Glue - tool aiming to facilitate course building by 'stitching' together OERs from a range of
sources.
Jisc PADDLE project – Developing Digital Literacy
This JISC funded project brings together represenatives from Coleg Llandrillo, Deeside College ,Coleg
Harlech, Yale College and Coleg Menai who will be working collaboratively to develop staff and

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Practice point

Top tips

learner engagement through establishing online Communities of Practice.
Jisc Digital Literacies resources e.g.




3.3 Implement student
personal & professional
development planning using
reflective practice and eportfolios



Questions







student development be
based on personalised
development planning and
reflective practice
approaches?
To what extent can such
reflective practice and
partnership working be
supported using eportfolios?





Student personal and development
planning using e-portfolios should
align with the development
framework and defined learning
outcomes within the context of
their change projects/activities.
Students should be provided with
diagnostics/self-review tools to aid
them in developing their selfawareness and in processes of
reflection, personal and
professional development.
Students should be provided with
access to their own e-portfolio,
where they can choose who to
share this with (encouraging
“ownership” by the student).
E-portfolios can be used for
planning and setting goals,
reflecting, feedback, capturing and
storing evidence, collaborating (e.g.

Digital Literacies staff development materials
Digital Literacies conceptual frameworks
Digital Literacies professional frameworks

Jisc Moving e-portfolios into the mainstream: new resources demonstrate how e-portfolios can
transform the student journey
Three resources to help universities and colleges to implement e-portfolios effectively at scale
created from successful practice from the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The materials explore the
ways in which you can help to boost learner achievement, enhance employability and even support
the development of new courses. Key messages from from these resources have been synthesised in
to a short guide, ‘Crossing the Threshold’ , which summarises the issues and benefits experienced by
pioneer institutions and provides signposts to key aspects of the resources.
Jisc Studies of e-portfolio implementation (videos and toolkit)
Portfolio Special Interest Group (SIG) JISC CETIS
Centre for Recording Achievement (CRA)
Reports from the Australian Flexible Learning Framework in 2010, including: E-portfolios and Privacy
Concept Guides; VET E-portfolios Privacy Draft Guidelines; VET E-portfolios Privacy Impact
Assessment Research Report; Verifying VET Learner Attainment Data - 2010 Positioning Paper
Crossing the threshold: Moving e-portfolios into the mainstream
e-Portfolio Implementation Toolkit - an online resource providing rich stories of e-portfolio
implementation, and resulting models and guidance for managers and practitioners
Effective Practice with e-Portfolios
e-Portfolios infoKit

Page 34

Practice point

Top tips









3.4 Develop academic and
professional body recognition
and accreditation opportunities
for students





Questions



with mentors, peers and tutors) and
presenting to audiences (e.g. for
celebrating learning or sharing with
potential employers).
It should be stressed to students
and staff that e-portfolios should
underpin a high degree of
collaboration between students,
peers, mentors, tutors (&
potentially other stakeholders) at all
stages of student projects/activities.
Multimedia data (e.g. captured
from smartphones, tablets) can be
collected as evidence e.g.
audio/video interviews with
stakeholders in change projects.
Students should be made aware of
the possible benefits of sharing
their e-portfolios (including
multimedia evidence) with potential
employers.
Students should be made aware of
the potential to use/re-use/share eportfolio content for different
purposes and different audiences.

Australian ePortfolio Toolkit - a series of six guides designed to inform stakeholders in higher
education about the issues and opportunities associated with e-portfolio based learning. Includes
guides aimed at learners, managers, teachers and employers.
e-Assessment: Guide to Effective Practice Guidance on the use of e-portfolios for
assessment produced by the qualifications regulators for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Survey students in terms of their
preferences for recognition and
accreditation.
Consider assigning institutional
academic credit to “change”
courses e.g. as an academic module.
Work with academic and

Jisc Digital Literacies Associations (sector bodies and professional associations Jisc worked with in
their Digital Literacies programme):




ALDinHE DL - Association for Learning Development in Higher Education
ALT DL - Association for Learning Technology
AUA DL - Association of University Administrators

Page 35

Practice point




To what extent will
student’s work need to be
formally recognised and
accredited?
Who needs to be
consulted in determining
such recognition and
accreditation?

Top tips





professional bodies to develop
accreditation for students via e.g.
aligning student development
frameworks with their development
& accreditation frameworks.
Work in collaboration with staff
responsible for student
employability and careers to
explore such accreditation
possibilities.
Align student development
frameworks to graduate attributes
and employability.









HEDG DL - Heads of Educational Development Group
ODHE DL - Organisational Development in Higher Education
SCAP DL - Standing Conference on Academic Practice
SCONUL DL - Society of College, National and University Libraries
SDF DL - Staff Development Forum
SEDA DL - Staff and Educational Development Association
Vitae DL

CMALT (Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technologies) is the qualification
available through theAssociation for Learning Technologies which is actively reviewed on a regular
basis and is being used by a number of projects to enhance staff skills.
The Digital Department has pioneered a new CMALT accreditation scheme for teaching
administrators and other staff not typically identified as 'e-learning' professionals. Associated
resources include: mapping, professional development plan andaccreditation plan, CMALT
certification, timeline and guidance.
SEDA and other professional associations involved in the programme have developed a Guide to
Implementing the UKPSF in the Digital University, based on the UK Professional Standards Framework
for HE. SEDA also manages a Professional Development Framework for teaching staff which includes
named awards in Embedding Learning Technologies and Supporting Learning with Technologies.
Digital competence frameworks for FE were defined by the PADDLE project: managers, tutors,
learning resource staff, FE learners and ILS learners (learners with learning difficulties and disabilities
SCONUL has produced a Digital Literacy Lens on the Seven Pillars of Information Literacy. It has also
used the 8-folddefinition of digital literacies to audit current staff skills: although no mapping is
proposed there is a good fit with the currentChartered Institute of Library & Information
Professionals (CILIP) Body of Professional Knowledge.

3.5 Provide student/staff
support



A range of online resources should
be developed to support students
and staff such as:

Oxford Brookes ePioneers project details of support and resources for students and staff within their
overall set of Resources.

Page 36

Practice point

Top tips

Questions






To what extent do
students and staff require
support?
What are the most
appropriate and costeffective types of support?
technology-based
approaches to support be
adopted?








o Guides to setting up and
implementing staff/student
roles/partnership models
o General guidance and good
practice materials
o Induction materials
o Relevant forms and templates
e.g. contract templates,
consent forms, IPR forms
o Diagnostics/self-review toolkits
o Evaluation resources e.g.
guides to undertaking
evaluation and measuring
impact
o Guides on sustaining and
embedding projects.
o Compliance and etiquette
guides in relation to e.g. IPR,
data protection, privacy,
slander/libel, H&S, ethical
working, e-communications.
o Guides to technologyenhanced working,
communicating and learning.
Each student should be assigned a
member of staff “development
lead” to support them.
Consider providing mentoring for
students from external stakeholders
e.g. employers.
Support students in exporting eportfolio content for future use e.g.
in other systems and when moving

Page 37

Practice point

Top tips


into employment/further study.
3.6 Provide relevant staff
training and link to CPD



Questions



To what extent does staff
require training.
How should such training
align with existing staff
professional development
approaches, recognition
and accreditation?









3.4

Consideration should be given to
adopting the “student change
leader” development frameworks
and courses and customising them
for staff.
Link the staff development
framework in leading change to the
HEA professional standards
framework.
Engage with HR/staff development
teams to design the staff
development frameworks in leading
change.
Consider approaches such as
“buddying” where experienced staff
help to train and support their
peers.
Develop a community of practice
for staff and encourage experienced
staff to record good practice
techniques for sharing with peers.

Leicester digital literacies framework and self-assessment tool for teaching staff in schools
BCS Career Framework for IT professionals, relevant mainly to those working in the IT industry but
with some reference to IT professionals in other contexts e.g. HE
Institute for Learning Professional Formation statement, relevant to those teaching in Colleges
Embed-IT framework, a meta-framework developed by the Work-with-IT project to support the
embedding of IT related capabilities into a range of professional roles in HE.
The HEA UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF)
Changing the Learning Landscape: Online Activities
A series of online events run by the partnership supports the CLL Professional Development
Programme. This list will be updated as new webinars are confirmed. Click on the link for further
information.

Evaluation, impact and sustainability
4 Evaluation, impact & sustainability
Practice point

4.1 Identify the rationale and
need for evaluation.

Top tips


Evaluation can sometimes be
undertaken without fully

Learning Technology Dissemination Initiative (Heriot Watt University)
This article seeks to cover the principles for conducting an evaluation whether it is a small or a large

Page 38

Practice point

Top tips

Questions






What is the purpose of
evaluation and how will it
practically benefit the
project?
How can evaluation be
used to support
sustainability and
embedding of projects?
How can evaluation
support stakeholder
engagement?










appreciating the rationale – student
partnership projects should
therefore spend time questioning
the reasons for undertaking
evaluation, how it will be used and
for what potential benefits.
Evaluation should be used for
identifying impact rather than just
whether a project has met specific
deliverables.
As a formative “action research”
process throughout a project,
evaluation can support teams in
reflecting on and evaluating their
own progress, and support agile
acting on lessons learned and
responding to changing contexts.
Evaluation can play an important
accountability role.
Evaluation can drive the
sustainability and embedding
agenda though e.g. identifying longterm goals, and providing evidence
to align with (& influence)
institutional policies.
Evaluation can play an important
role in building capacity and wider
stakeholder engagement, through
e.g. providing valuable evidence and
resources to promote dialogue
around what is possible, effective
and what works.

project. An understanding of the theory and background to evaluation is beneficial in order to better
plan, design and conduct an evaluation programme. Above all there is no substitute for having a clear
purpose for an evaluation, defining the right question is a prerequisite.
Jisc Six Steps to Effective Evaluation
Oxford Brookes InStePP Final Evaluation Report Greg Benfield & Metaxia Pavlakou

Page 39

Practice point

Top tips




4.2 Choose appropriate
qualitative and quantitative
evaluation approaches.



Questions





How “ready” is the
institution, students and
staff to undertake student
partnerships?
How will the student
partnership project define
or indicate success and
impact?








Evaluation can underpin celebrating
student success and gaining
external recognition.
Evaluation can support
benchmarking/collaborative selfreview with other
institutions/student partnership
projects.
Carry out baseline activities to
evaluate the current situation, seek
stakeholder engagement and to
inform project planning and
evaluation plans.
Develop an evaluation framework
that focuses on measure/indicators
of success – both for the project and
for longer-term meeting of
institutional goals (i.e. supporting
the sustaining/embedding agenda).
Consider adoption of
formative/action research
approaches based on e.g.
implement, pilot, feedback, reflect,
modify and implement.
Consider appreciative enquiry
approaches e.g. inquire, imagine,
innovate and implement.
Consider a “balanced scorecard”
approach that uses a strategic
management tool to help focus on
different stakeholder’s
perspectives, processes, staff

Jisc: Learning the lessons through evaluation and research,
Synthesis of evaluation approaches from the Transforming Curriculum Delivery through Technology
Programme (Inspire Research – Rachel Harris)
Jisc Methods for evaluating the learner experience of e-Learning

Page 40

Practice point

Top tips


4.3 Adopt a range of data
collection techniques to
support evaluation.




Questions



How can students be used
to undertake evaluation?
What are the best
techniques to use to
evaluate student
partnership projects?












development and finance.
Consider use of external/internal
evaluators and/or critical friends
though ensure that their brief
encompasses project sustainability
and embedding.
When base-lining, take advantage
of existing data e.g. student surveys.
Students should be tasked to
research and evaluate projects as a
key component of their roles as e.g.
changes agents/researchers.
Evidence that students collect as
part of their e-portfolios can
potentially be used for student
partnership project evaluation,
though appropriate permissions
must be sought and agreed.
Consider use of cognitive mapping
techniques to aid triangulation of
responses from surveys.
Consider the use of focus groups
and informal discussions to explore
complex behaviour, clarify results
from surveys and add human
dimensions to impersonal data.
Consider use of visual data to help
convey complex concepts and seek
feedback on these.
Interviews enable in-depth
investigation of issues and minimise
individual interviewees being

Page 41

Practice point

Top tips




4.4 Identify impact on a range
of stakeholders and the
institution



Questions




What areas should the
project focus on to identify
impact on specific
stakeholders such as
students, staff and
employers?
What areas should the
project focus on to identify
impact on the institution?



influenced by others.
Questionnaires enable large
samplers to be collected at relative
low cost and in a standardised way
though there are many
disadvantages including survey
fatigue and dangers of being
incorrectly completed.
Statistics are useful for evaluating
usage patterns and tracking trends
and changes, though are generally
not useful for in-depth analysis.
Student partnership projects should
seek to evaluate impact on students
as follows:
o Student personal and
professional development
using e.g. the development
framework and graduate
attributes / employability
frameworks.
o Student satisfaction.
o Student success in seeking and
gaining employment.
o Student academic development
(e.g. scholarship, research,
learning).

Jisc evaluation resources (Design Studio)
Jisc Different Routes to evidencing value (Rachel Harris)
Synthesis of evaluation approaches from the Transforming Curriculum Design through Technology
Programme (Rachel Harris)

Impact on staff should be
evaluated:
o Staff satisfaction.
o Staff development e.g. though

Page 42

Practice point

Top tips


CPD frameworks.
o Staff culture.




4.5 Develop case studies for
use with stakeholder
communications and
engagement.

Impact on employers should also be
evaluated:
o Employer satisfaction.
o Employer networking,
engagement and partnerships.
o Alumni collaboration.
The impact on institutions should be
evaluated as follows:
o Contribution towards
institutional goals and policies.
o Recruitment and retention.
o Student project impact e.g. on
educational innovations, LT&A
enhancements, efficiencies.
o Contribution to institutional
processes and effectiveness.



The purpose of case study
production should be clearly
identified together with plans for
how they will be used as part of
stakeholder engagement and
project sustaining and embedding.
Case studies can review an overall
student partnership project as well
as individual elements e.g. specific
student projects, faculty
implementation, staff development.
Core “template” questions should

Questions





How can case studies best
be used to aid stakeholder
communications and
engagement?
How can case studies be



Jisc: The Guide to Researching Audiences: Case Studies

Page 43

Practice point



Top tips

used to sustain and embed
student partnership
projects?
What should case studies
contain?






be addressed such as:
o What were the background,
context, need and rationale?
o What were the aims and
objectives?
o What was undertaken?
o What was the impact and
benefits?
o What were the issues and
challenges?
o What lessons were learned?
o What were the unexpected
outcomes?
o What are the key points for
effective practice?
o Conclusions and
recommendations.
Case studies could also aim to
capture detailed “how to”
information to aid other
practitioners in planning similar
activities in different contexts e.g.
costs, resources required, impact on
staff/student workloads, costbenefits, IPR issues, ethics issues,
compliance requirements.
Multimedia techniques (e.g. using
smartphones, tablets, digital
still/video cameras, digital audio
recorders) can be used to capture
e.g. audio/video interviews and
testimonials all of which can be
used for both evaluation and in

Page 44

Practice point

Top tips




4.6 Develop recommendations
for sustaining student
partnerships as part of
evaluation.



Questions





How can evaluation
processes be used to
support the sustaining of
student partnership
projects?
How can evaluation best
be used to influence and
gain support from senior
managers?






wider stakeholder communications.
Case study data should be thought
of as “reusable data objects” i.e.
case studies should be presented in
different ways for different
audiences and contexts.
Collecting data for case studies
should commence early on in
projects (e.g. when base-lining
commences) and continue
throughout a project and align with
evaluation activities.
The evaluation processes should
aim to produce a clear set of
options for sustaining the project,
outlining the pros and cons of each
option and how they align with
institutional policies.
Each option should explore how
they can be implemented together
with challenges and risks as well as
time and resource commitments
required from staff.
Explore with senior management
how student partnerships can
support, influence and shape
institutional policies and responding
to changing drivers and needs as
well as how best to organisationally
take forward student partnerships.
Collaboration opportunities should
be explored with external

Jisc Sustaining and Embedding Good Practice Guide

Page 45

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Guide to instituting student partnerships v0 8