Embedding student and staff co-creation in practice

Reflection prompts, tips for practice, introductory resources, and case studies.

Below are some reflection prompts to consider before embarking on a co-creation activity:

  • It is possible to start small rather than feeling you have to co-create everything immediately. E.g., do I want to co-create essay titles or negotiate a reading list with my students? Or, do I want to go big and co-create a whole new course together?
  • Am I interested in doing co-creation of the curriculum (co-design of a programme or course, usually before the programme or course takes place) or co-creation in the curriculum (co-design of learning and teaching within a course usually during the course)?
  • How could I find interested students to co-create teaching and learning with me (for co-creation of the curriculum? Or, do I want to involve the whole class (for co-creation in the curriculum?
  • Would I pay students if they are being involved outside of class time or reimburse them in another way? Or, if I’m planning co-creation in class, is course credit sufficient?
  • What sort of changes to my language or behaviour should I think about in the classroom in order to communicate to students that I wish them to have agency to influence their learning?
  • How will the power shift between me and my students?

Course design

Consider all the different aspects of course design and which of them you want to provide opportunities for students to co-design with you. For example, can you involve students in an ELDeR workshop or ask students on your Student-Staff Liaison Committee to feed in their views to the (re)design of a course or programme? If you are offering research projects and dissertations, would it be possible for students to co-create one of their own learning outcomes with their supervisor?

When you are trying to balance the knowledge students need to learn along with the skills they need and enabling them to develop their opinions and viewpoints in your discipline, how could you be involving students meaningfully in ways that model the decision-making and negotiation they will need in future careers? Think about how you can design-in choice for students within courses – choice of case studies to explore, choice of topics to research and then give a presentation on, choice of assessment. Choice is the start of a continuum towards students gaining more agency over their learning.

Learning activities

Heron (1992) argues that we make a choice at all levels of course design as to whether we take control, we negotiate with students or we delegate responsibility to students. The learning activities you use could be co-created with students, or they could be activities that enable co-creation. For example, students in the School of Medicine were involved in designing videos focused on the benefits of physical activity, to be used in a flipped classroom approach with other students: A student partnership project to enhance curriculum development in medical education.

Assessment

Co-creating assessment is becoming more common. There are many examples where staff and students are co-creating essay titles, students are designing multiple choice questions, students are choosing what method of assessment they will use, or students are co-assessing their work and that of their peers with staff. In one example from the University of Edinburgh, in Dr David Overend's course "Creating Edinburgh: The Interdisciplinary City," students are completing assessments that create resources for future students to use in their studies.


An introduction to student and staff co-creation of the curriculum: A blog post by Dr Tanya Lubicz-Nawrocka, who explains what the term ‘co-creation of the curriculum’ means, and how it can be an effective student partnership approach. Note the 'Ladder of participation in curriculum design' (Bovill & Bulley, 2011) image to help conceptualise how students can increasingly participate in curriculum design.

A co-creation of learning and teaching typology: What kind of co-creation are you planning or doing? (8 pages): A practical resource intended to support students and staff to reflect on, and discuss, their planned and current practice and to be able to identify what particular kind of co-creation they are planning or doing.

Shaping the future curriculum with students: In this blog post, Dr Cathy Bovill summarises her keynote talk presented at the 2022 Learning and Teaching Conference. The post provides an overview of student-staff co-creation methods and the benefits of these.

An overview of the differences between active learning, co-creation and partnership: A useful slide summarising the key differences between active learning and co-creation and partnership. Active learning requires students to be engaged in their learning, but co-creation and partnership require in addition, shared decision-making and negotiation. Partnership also requires a level of equality between partners – contributions which are not the same, but which are necessary to the partnership.


Reflections on Student and Staff Co-Creation: Are we there yet?

"Being recognised as a genuine partner was both a privilege and a gradual process. Advocacy for the student voice, especially underrepresented groups like carers, international students, and career-changers, was important to me. Navigating the complex organisational structure, I witnessed the challenges of staff taking on multiple roles, the culture of overwork and reliance on goodwill. [...]

With support from team and faculty when needed, I [a student partner] led student-related data gathering, analysis, and communication, facilitated brainstorming sessions, conducted surveys and interviews, and co-wrote sections on student engagement."

Co-creation and collaboration in course design: Our journey with Students As Change Agents (SACHA)

"Through Students As Change Agents (SACHA), students collaborated closely with faculty and data coaches to ensure curriculum relevance. Sessions with Aidan and Emma used Mural to bridge theory and practice effectively. Challenge hosts encouraged student engagement through surveys and feedback, enhancing curriculum engagement. [...]

During my group discussions, one standout idea that resonated with me was the suggestion to allocate 3% of a student’s semester grade based on their submission of a course feedback form."

Student-staff co-creation of a course: Understanding gender in the contemporary world

"Crucially, [Understanding Gender] was also co-created with students –through the course Social and Political Science in Practice, an SPS framework for Honours students to undertake faculty-student collaboration on research, teaching or public engagement. I piloted this framework for the first time in 2015-16, with a group of twelve final year undergraduate students from SPS and PPLS. The majority of SPS in Practice was run by these students, through group work where they identified topics core to the Understanding Gender course, and then piloted and tested themed learning resources and activities. A full overview of the structure, assessment and outputs of the SPS in Practice course is available here [...]"


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