Home Academy for Learning & Teaching Excellence Curriculum framework Co creation Learners

Learners

Overview

Including Students, Alumni, Students’ Union


The involvement of students as partners can develop an inclusive and effective learning and teaching environment. As highlighted by Dollinger, Lodge and Coates (2018), students have noted the value of co-creation in higher education; by adopting a co-creation approach, institutions and students can work together to improve educational experiences and enhance students’ ability to act as partners. In support of this, research undertaken by Lubicz-Nawrocka (2018), which examined the benefits of co-creation of curriculum initiatives in the Scottish higher education sector, students found the initiatives to be beneficial in fostering a sense of shared responsibility, trust, and respect. Additionally, they can enhance students’ satisfaction and personal development within higher education, and develop self-authorship.

Guidance

Co-creating with learners

Learners are arguably the most important consultant when it comes to curriculum and assessment design. There are however a number of considerations to take into account before involving learners in co-creation. Firstly, are the students ready for co-creation? Do they understand what it means, what impact they will have and how to engage in co-creation?

The relationship between the academic staff and the learners is a key component of co-creation. Before endeavoring to involve learners in curriculum, teaching or assessment design, a relationship based on trust and mutual respect must be built. Co-creation is only as strong as the relationship between the lecturer and the students. According to Bovill (2019) evidence shows that a positive student-teacher relationships and interaction both inside and outside of the classroom can increase student’s academic performance and success as well as their personal development. It can build student confidence and in turn increase their motivation and satisfaction with their institution.

Once the initial relationship with the learners is established, you need to clarify what the co-creation relationship will look like. There are a number of challenges and barriers that you may face when undertaking co-creation. Answering the questions below will set clear expectations for all involved to make for more cohesive co-creation.

  • How involved in the co-creation will learners be? Decide at what level the learners will be involved and how much influence they will have over final decisions. The power dynamic may be a challenge at first as staff and learners may be more familiar with a more traditional hierarchical structure. This can make it difficult for the learner voice to be heard equally with that of staff and for learners to feel empowered. To address this, both parties must be committed to a culture of mutual respect and shared decision-making (O’Hara, 2023)

    According to Bovill & Bulley (2011) there are varying levels of learner and tutor participation roles in co-creation; they devised a ladder of participation to represent the varying levels of autonomy and decision-making power each level provides learners. The balance of power and responsibility over the curriculum gradually shifts from the tutors to the learners, the further up the ladder the co-creation project is. It is important to establish at what level co-creation will take place for each project. Policy and university regulations should be consulted to determine the level of learner involvement authorised and policies that must be adhered to. Once this is established, you can then begin to design the structure of the co-creation.

  • How will you engage and communicate with learners? Communication can be a challenge in any situation and can be especially challenging in a co-creation context. Effective communication is the key to effective co-creation. (Bovill et al., 2015) It is important to establish the channels of communication, means of communication and any terminology that may be unclear, early in the process. Communication should always be two-way; decide how you will gather student views and opinions and how you will feed information back to them.

  • What do you expect learners to contribute and what can learners expect in return? Clearly explain to learners what is expected of them, what they can expect from you and other consultants, and how their contributions will be used. Clear expectations from the start will limit the chances of misunderstanding and increase the satisfaction of the co-creation experience (Advance HE, 2024)

  • What will the logistical and managerial challenges be? Establish a clear and transparent plan from the start. Ensure that all involved are clear on their roles and responsibilities as well as those of others to ensure a cohesive working environment. All involved will have busy schedules and demands on their time, making it logistically challenging for some to engage. Adequate support and recognition of contribution needs to be in place to fully engage all learners in the process and ensure that no one is disadvantaged, or their contribution minimised due to the logistics of meetings and deadlines (O’Hara, 2023)

  • What can you change? How much autonomy do you and the students have over the curriculum and assessments? This needs to be established early on and all parties need to be aware of policy or frameworks that will govern the project. Be open with how student input will be used and ensure that expectations are clear and realistic to avoid making empty promises.

Where to start

Co-creation is different to just consulting or listening to students, it means actively engaging with them. To do this, Times Higher Education (Katz, 2021) suggests the following four considerations:

1) Start Small: As mentioned above, co-creation is a shift from the traditional hierarchal structure, this shift will take time. Start with small projects such as updating classroom materials, reading lists, feedback structure and informal formative assessments. This will set the foundation for larger projects and allow for challenges and issues to be identified and rectified before moving to larger curricular shifts. This will support the change in mindsets for both learners and staff on teaching and learning processes and demonstrate the impact and benefits of co-creation (Bovill et al., 2015)

Below are some suggestions of some areas where co-creation with learners can be put in place easily to start to dismantle traditional power dynamics and supports student learning and outcomes through staff–student partnerships.

  • Working with students to select learning materials.
  • Enabling students to select themes or case studies that reflect their interests and backgrounds by inviting them to opt for alternatives or make suggestions at the beginning of a unit.
  • Creating some flexibility for students to influence assessment formats or topics.
  • Creating opportunities and mechanisms for students to provide observations and feedback on the curriculum and assessments (e.g. focus groups, in-class surveys, informal discussions), and scheduling these at appropriate times during the unit/course.
  • Involving students in research projects oriented to enhance teaching, learning and assessment.
    Involving learners in the discourse on appropriate use of AI in the classroom and assessments.

2) Invite Student Feedback: Listen to the student voice, create an environment where learners feel safe and confident to voice their feedback, both positive and negative and know that it will be acted upon. Feedback cannot be tokenistic; it should have an impact on practice. Learners need to have the opportunity to see their feedback has an impact and be taught to reflect on their experiences of new teaching and assessment processes to improve the quality of feedback provided and motivate them to actively engage with their learning and with co-creation. (Bovill et al., 2015) This will support the learners to develop their metacognitive skills and give them more autonomy over their learning. (Kaminskiene et al., 2020)


3) Engage in Reflective Practice: Co-creation between learners and academic staff should be a reflective process. Co-creation experiences should be reflected on by both staff and learners to provide a catalyst for further development and refinement of processes. Reflection should centre around not only teaching and learning practices, but also pedagogical approaches, values and the motivation behind adopting co-creation. (Killam, 2023) This will increase the impact that co-creation has on practice and learning.


4) Consider Assessment and Ungrading: Ungrading focuses on assessment for learning and providing frequent formative assessment without grades. (Kenyon, 2022) This formative feedback should go both ways and a dialog with learners should be established to create a cycle of feedback, reflection and development, not only for learners, but also of teaching practice and co-creation processes. For more information and guidance, see the Framework strand on Assessment

Examples of co-creation schemes at the University of Bedfordshire

Student Curriculum Consultants - This project piloted activities to explore ways students can be supported to contribute to embedding equality, diversity and inclusivity into the curriculum. Staff–student collaborations included co-organising and co-facilitating in staff development dialogues. It also provided Schools with recommendations to make the curriculum more accessible, inclusive and reflective of our diverse student population.

Student Voice - This was an Education, English and Sport Faculty-wide action research project for 2021/22. It generated data on the academic experiences of Black and Asian students and students from IMD1–2. The outcomes informed enhancements in curriculum, pedagogy, student support and peer-assisted learning.

Student Experience Leaders - Since AY 2022/23, this scheme has facilitated student co-production projects across Faculties and professional services

References

Dollinger, M., Lodge, J. and Coates, H. (2018). Co-creation in higher education: towards a conceptual model. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 28(2), pp.210–231. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2018.1466756.

Lubicz-Nawrocka, T.M. (2018). Students as Partners in Learning and teaching: the Benefits of co-creation of the Curriculum. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(1), pp.47–63. doi:https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3207.