Evaluating factors contributing to positive partnership work in a students-as-consultants partnership program

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i2.4095

Keywords:

Students as Partners, course design, experience, structure

Abstract

McMaster University pioneered its Course Design/Delivery Consultants Program (CDDCP) in fall 2016. This program pairs an instructor partner who is teaching or preparing to teach a course with a student partner to obtain a student’s perspective on teaching and learning in their classroom. Although the CDDCP was based on Healey, Flint, and Harrington’s (2014) eight values of partnership, the contribution of other factors to its success was of interest. Participants’ experiences were analyzed using a framework informed by these values. Qualitative analysis showed that these values were reflected in participants’ experiences. Additionally, it was revealed that participants’ experiences in the CDDCP were enhanced by two additional factors: (a) prior experiences and experiences gained through CDDCP participation and (b) the extensive program structure of the CDDCP. These findings suggest that partnership programs involving students, instructors, and coordinators should (a) explicitly acknowledge the value of participants’ experiences and (b) facilitate face-to-face time among participants.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Chang, H., Longman, K. A., & Franco, M. A. (2014). Leadership development through mentoring in higher education: A collaborative autoethnography of leaders of color. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 22(4), 373-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2014.945734

Clancy, T., Ferreira, C., & Thompson, P. (2019). Student-faculty partnership as a foundation for authentic learning. Papers on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching: Proceedings of the University of Calgary Conference on Learning and Teaching, 3, 144-149.

Cook-Sather, A. (2010). Students as learners and teachers: Taking responsibility, transforming education, and redefining accountability. Curriculum Inquiry, 40(4), 555-575. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40962986

Cook-Sather, A. (2014). Student-faculty partnership in explorations of pedagogical practice: A threshold concept in academic development. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(3), 186-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2013.805694

Cook-Sather, A. (2015). Introduction: Extended student-faculty partnerships: Deepening insights, transforming relationships. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, 15, 1-6. Retrieved from https://repository.brynmawr.edu/tlthe/vol1/iss15/

Cook-Sather, A. (2016). Undergraduate students as partners in new faculty orientation and academic development. International Journal for Academic Development, 21(2), 151-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1156543

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle Creek, NJ: Pearson Education.

Flint, A., & Millard, L. (2018). “Interactions with purpose”: Exploring staff understandings of student engagement in a university with an ethos of staff-student partnership. International Journal of Students as Partners, 2(2), 21-38.

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i2.3410

Goff, L., & Knorr, K. (2018). Three heads are better than one: Students, faculty, and educational developers as co-developers of science curriculum. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(1), 112-120. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3333

Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teaching-higher#:~:text=to%20Knowledge%20Hub-,Engagement%20through%20partnership%3A%20students%20as%20partners%20in,and%20teaching%20in%20higher%20education&text=identifies%20tensions%20and%20challenges%20to,addressing%20challenges%20and%20future%20work.

Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.4.2.3

Jensen, K., & Bagnall, D. (2015). Student teaching and learning consultants: Developing conversations about teaching and learning. Journal of Education and Innovation, Partnership and Change, 1(1), 167.

https://doi.org/10.21100/jeipc.v1i1.167

Marquis, E., Jayaratnam, A., Mishra, A., & Rybkina, K. (2018). “I feel like some students are better connected than others”: Students’ perspectives on applying for extracurricular partnership opportunities. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(1), 64-81. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3300

Marquis, E., Puri, V., Wan, S., Ahmad, A., Goff, L., Knorr, K., Vassileva, I., & Woo, J. (2016). Navigating the threshold of student-staff partnerships: A case study from an Ontario teaching and learning institute. International Journal for Academic Development, 21(1), 4-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144x.2015.1113538

Martens, S. E., Sprujit, A., Wolfhagen, I. H. A. P., Whittingham, J. R. D., & Dolmans, D. H. J. M. (2019). A student’s take on student-staff partnerships: Experiences and preferences. Assessments & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(6), 910-919. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1546374

Matthews, K. E. (2017). Five propositions for genuine students as partners practice. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i2.3315

Mercer-Mapstone, L., Dvorakova, S. L., Matthews, K. E., Abbot, S., Cheng, B., Felten, P., Knorr, K., Marquis, E., Shammas, R., & Swaim, K. (2017). A systematic literature review of students as partners in higher education. International Journal of Students as Partners, 1(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3119

Ntem, A., & Cook-Sather, A. (2018). Resistances and resiliencies in student-faculty pedagogical partnership. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(1), 82-96. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3372

Oleson, K. C., & Hovakimyan, K. (2017). Reflections on developing the student consultants for the teaching and learning program at Reed College, USA. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3094

Downloads

Published

2020-10-29

How to Cite

Foran, G., Knorr, K., & Taylor, R. L. (2020). Evaluating factors contributing to positive partnership work in a students-as-consultants partnership program. International Journal for Students as Partners, 4(2), 27–44. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i2.4095

Issue

Section

Research Articles