The students-as-partner experience

Perspectives from the students and the faculty

Authors

  • Nathan Millar Mount Royal University, Research Assistant. Department of Child Studies and Social Work https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1251-1214
  • Bria Scarff Mount Royal University, Department of Child Studies and Social Work
  • Patricia Kostouros Mount Royal University, Full Professor, Department of Child Studies and Social Work

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v8i1.5607

Keywords:

co-construction with students, scholarship of teaching and learning, students as partners, research assistants

Abstract

This article offers a case study of a student-faculty partnership. Focusing on the perspectives of two student research assistants and a faculty member, the authors utilize current literature on student-faculty partnerships to support their perspectives. This case study adds to the body of research suggesting student-faculty partnerships enrich and mutually benefit those involved. This article explores the working partnership of the consultation team and their work as part of a large collaborative project amongst post-secondary institutions and community-based organizations. Over the course of 3 years, success was evidenced by the outcomes of this project. The team has led workshops on the subject matter, and, additionally, contributed to the co-creation of a workbook/e-course on mitigating vicarious trauma for English language learning teachers. The research team published two subject-related articles. This article explores the facets that impacted the quality of the partnership.

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Author Biographies

Nathan Millar, Mount Royal University, Research Assistant. Department of Child Studies and Social Work

Nathan Millar holds a Bachelor of Child Studies, with a major in Child and Youth Care
Counselling from Mount Royal University. He has worked as a Child and Youth Care
Counsellor in varying roles for 20 years. In addition to emerging interests around the use of
the arts in therapeutic counselling, Nathan works as a Program Supervisor in a Youth Transitions to Adulthood program, and as a Research Assistant at Mount Royal University studying vicarious trauma.

Bria Scarff, Mount Royal University, Department of Child Studies and Social Work

Bria Scarff is a graduate of the Bachelor of Child Studies with a major in Child and Youth Care
Counselling from Mount Royal University. Bria has worked as a Research Assistant with Mount
Royal University for four years. Bria’s areas of research include vicarious-trauma, child and youth care pedagogy as well as teaching and learning in post-secondary settings. Bria has a strong belief of personal strength and resilience that can be achieve through education. Bria works with children and youth in schools and therapeutic campus-based care settings.

Patricia Kostouros, Mount Royal University, Full Professor, Department of Child Studies and Social Work

Dr. Patricia Kostouros is Full Professor in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work at Mount Royal University. Patricia’s research includes intimate partner violence, post-secondary student wellness, vicarious trauma/compassion fatigue, and trauma-sensitive teaching. Patricia co-chaired the post-secondary student mental health initiative across Canada. Prior to academia Patricia managed a youth shelter, a women’s shelter, and was the Executive Director of a residence for women with a trauma history and a dual diagnosis. Her publications include a variety of articles and edited books.

References

Acai, A., Akesson, B., Allen, M., Chen, V., Mathany, C., McCollum, B., Spencer, J., & Verwoord, R. E. M. (2017). Success in student-faculty/staff scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) partnerships: Motivations, challenges, power, and definitions. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2017.2.8

Barradell, S., & Bell, A. (2021). Is health professional education making the most of the idea of “students as partners”? Insights from a qualitative research synthesis. Advances in Health Sciences Education: Theory and Practice, 26(2), 513–580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-020-09998-3

Bonney, K. M., (2018). Students as partners in the scholarship of teaching and learning. International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 12(2), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2018.120202

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, 195–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9896-4

Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2016) Cultivating student–staff partnerships through research and practice, International Journal for Academic Development, 21(1), 1–3, https://doi.10.1080/1360144X.2016.1124965

Hill, J. T., Thomas, C., & Brown, B. (2019). Research assistant as partner: Collective leadership to facilitate co-production. International Journal for Students Aas Partners, 3(2), 129–138. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i2.3674

Mercer-Mapstone, L., Dvorakova, L.S., 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 for Students as Partners 1(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3119

Mount Royal University. (2023). Child and youth care counsellor, BCST. https://catalog.mtroyal.ca/preview_program.php?catoid=31&poid=5704&returnto=2514

Northouse, P. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Sage.

Thomas, D. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214005283748

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Published

2024-05-13

How to Cite

Millar, N., Scarff, B. ., & Kostouros, P. (2024). The students-as-partner experience: Perspectives from the students and the faculty. International Journal for Students as Partners, 8(1), 215–223. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v8i1.5607

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2024)

Section

Case Studies

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Nathan Millar, Bria Scarff, Patricia

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