Student Engagement and

partnership inCombined Honours

Ruth Furlonger, Hannah Lincoln, Fae Rinaldo-Langridge, Jenni

Cannon and Colin Bryson

1. Student expectations and perceptions – match to the ‘personal project’ and interest in subject

2. Sufficient challenge and appropriate workload3. Degrees of choice, autonomy, risk, and opportunities for

growth and enjoyment4. Trust relationships 5. Communication and discourse6. A sense of belonging and community7. Supportive social networks8. Opportunities for, and participation in activities and roles

– to enable ownership, self-assurance and self-efficacy

Influences on engagement

Is a good thing in its own right (e.g. ethical and democratic)

Sharing control and responsibility between staff and students

Easy to do outside the curriculum So how do we co-own the curriculum?

The value of partnership

Co-created by students – wanted a way to explore interdisplinary nature of degree and create projects authentic to professional life

Truly independent and student led - reflected in assessment

Creates space in curriculum to be completely independent and gives students confidence to take risks

Diverse and innovative projects Students engage with subjects they're passionate

about with outstanding outcomes

Independent Research Project

My degreeChinese, French and Management

My projectHow can I relate it to my subjects?

Hannah’s Project

A Snapshot of my Project

Graduate Development Modules

Student working group on SSC designed the module

Opportunity to gain academic credit for roles in CH community – about 50% take part in module

Perfect vehicle for individuals to maximise the personal benefits from their roles

Partnership – allows for co-ownership of modules Students feel confident to take on ambitious

projects that benefit wider CH community

Initially chose module as a way to have more time to take on multiple roles – PASS and the SSC

Meant that they were a priority and not secondary to academic work – focus on self-reflection and goal setting means roles are a much more conscious undertaking

Not just ‘going through the motions’ Project – curriculum design

Opportunity to leave a legacy, create real change, and hopefully inspire other students to do the same

Jenni’s Journey

Personal motivation and interest in civic engagement related to career aspirations

Qualitative research: What kind of partnership? Has this changed them? How civically engaged are the students? Causal relationship between partnership and civic

engagement? Partnership as a microcosm of civic engagement and

a transformative catalyst Mixed results – partnership is a work in progress

An Investigation into the Impact of Partnership on Civic Engagement

Over to you now…

Adopting these ideas for your own practice and

context