Curriculum enhancement through co-creation: Fostering student-educator partnerships in higher education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v7i2.5280

Keywords:

co-creation, curriculum, recognition, students as partners, enhancement

Abstract

This case study presents an institutional approach to curriculum enhancement and co-creation. It explores how these two elements of a university’s strategy interlink through institutional values, curriculum development initiatives, and the advent of a new recognition scheme for student co-creators at Queen Mary University of London in the UK. It explores how the delivery of curriculum enhancement projects has been made possible through co-creation with students and discusses its outcomes: curriculum enhancement resources for staff and students, recognition for students, and joint presentations and publications. This case study also reflects on the experience of student co-creators and the benefits and challenges for staff and the institution, considers the specific contexts required to promote a shift in institutional culture towards co-creation, and shares successes and recommendations for implementing this approach.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

AdvanceHE (2023). Professional Standards Framework. York. AdvanceHE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/teaching-and-learning/psf

Bovill, C. (2020a). Co-creating learning and teaching: Towards a relational pedagogy in higher education. Critical Publishing.

Bovill, C. (2020b). Co-creation in learning and teaching: The case for a whole-class approach in higher education. Higher Education, 79, 1023–1037. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00453-w

Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., & Felten, P. (2011). Students as co-creators of teaching approaches, course design, and curricula: Implications for academic developers. International Journal for Academic Development, 16(2), 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2011.568690

Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., Felten, P., Millard, L., & Moore-Cherry, N. (2016). Addressing potential challenges in co-creating learning and teaching: Overcoming resistance, navigating institutional norms and ensuring inclusivity in student-staff partnerships. Higher Education, 71(2), 195–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9896-4

Bovill, C., & Woolmer, C. (2019). How conceptualisations of curriculum in higher education influence student staff co creation in and of the curriculum. Higher Education, 78, 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0349-8

Bron, J., Bovill, C., & Veugelers, W. (2018). Distributed curriculum leadership: how negotiation between student and teacher improves the curriculum. Journal of Ethical Educational Leadership, Special Issue, 1, 76–98. Retrieved from Academia.edu

Charlton, J. (2000). Nothing about us without us: Disability, oppression and empowerment. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Cook-Sather, A., & Matthews, K. E. (2021). Pedagogical partnership: Engaging with students as co-creators of curriculum, assessment, and knowledge. In L. Hunt & D. Chalmers (Eds.), University teaching in focus: A learning-centred approach (pp.243–259). Routledge.

Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Dunbar-Morris, H., Barlow, A., & Layer, A. (2019). A co-constructed curriculum: A model for implementing total institutional change in partnership with students. The Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 5(1). https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/926

Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. Higher Education Academy.

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

Healey, M., & Healey, R. (2019). Essential Frameworks For Enhancing Student Success: Student Engagement Through Partnership. Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/essentail-frameworks-enhancing-student-success-student-engagment-through-partnership

Holen, R., Ashwin, P., Maassen, P., & Stensaker, B. (2021). Student partnership: Exploring the dynamics in and between different conceptualizations. Studies in Higher Education, 46(12), 2726–2737. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1770717

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), 47–63. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3207

Lubicz-Nawrocka, T. M. (2019). “More than just a student”: How curriculum co-creation fosters third spaces in ways of working, identity, and impact. International Journal for Students as Partners, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i1.3727

Lubicz-Nawrocka, T., & Bovill, C. (2021). Do students experience transformation through co-creating curriculum in higher education? Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1928060

Mercer-Mapstone, L., & Abbot, S. (2020). The power of partnership: Students, staff, and faculty revolutionizing higher education. Elon University, Center for Engaged Learning Open Access Book Series.

Owen, J., & Wasiuk, C. (2021). An agile approach to co-creation of the curriculum. International Journal for Students as Partners, 5(2), 89–97. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v5i2.4475

Queen Mary University of London (2021). The Queen Mary Education Approach. London: Queen Mary University of London. https://www.qmul.ac.uk/queenmaryacademy/the-queen-mary-education-approach/

Queen Mary University of London (2019). Strategy 2030. London: Queen Mary University of London. www.qmul.ac.uk/strategy-2030/

Downloads

Published

2023-10-16

How to Cite

Cabral, A., Fuller, S., De Wilde, J., Khama, K., & Melsen, M. (2023). Curriculum enhancement through co-creation: Fostering student-educator partnerships in higher education. International Journal for Students as Partners, 7(2), 111–123. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v7i2.5280

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Case Studies

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Ana Cabral, Stephanie Fuller, Janet De Wilde, Khahliso Khama, Marianne Melsen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process - this applies to the submitted, accepted, and published versions of the manuscript. This can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access).