Education Day 2015: 'students as partners'

Over 150 51³Ô¹ÏÍø staff, students and external guest speakers came together to discuss the possibilities and practicalities of engaging 'students as partners'.

Wednesday 11 March 2015
Sir Alexander Fleming Building
South Kensington campus

Innovative developments at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and beyond inspired the theme for 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Education Day 2015: ‘students as partners’. The event addressed the following questions:

  • What do we mean by students as partners?
  • Why engage students as partners at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø?
  • What benefits and challenges of these partnerships arise for staff and students?

In the spirit of this theme the event was planned and delivered by staff and students in partnership. The afternoon event commenced at 13:00 with a joint welcome from the President of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College, Professor Alice Gast, and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College Union President, Tom Wheeler. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø staff and students shared examples of partnerships on programme design, assessment and feedback, and research. Our external presenters were leading expert , author of the recent HEA publication (at ) and (at ), a leader on the TESTA project (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment). A panel session involving audience Q&A concluded the formal event and informal discussions continued during a reception.

Education Day March 2015

Event recordings

Welcome address

Keynote speaker

  • -

Examples from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø: student - staff partnerships

  • - Dr Lorraine Craig, Academic Tutor, Department of Earth Science and Engineering and Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching, Engineering; Sarah Dodd, Super GTA, Department of Earth Science and Engineering and Isobel Mackay, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA), Department of Earth Science and Engineering
  • - Dr Bridgette Duncombe, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Chemistry and Chemistry student partners Ollie Benton, Oli Robotham and Athanasius (Nas) Andriopoulos
  • - Professor Pietro Spanu, Senior Tutor, Department of Life Sciences; Moira Sarsfield, Senior Learning Technologist, Department of Life Sciences and Biology student partners, Kirelle McManus and Sinziana Giju
  • - Dr David Dye, Reader in Metallurgy, Department of Materials and Materials student partner, Iacopo Russo

Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment (TESTA)

  • -  (at )

Panel discussion and Q&A

  • - Chair: Dr Martyn Kingsbury, Head, Educational Development Unit; Professor Mick Healey; Dr Tansy Jessop; Pascal Loose, ICU Deputy President (Education); Dr Anita Hall, Co-ordinator, Teaching Fellow Network and Rachel Vaux, GSU Rep and AWO for Life Sciences
Teaching strategy exchange

A form has been set up to share information about teaching strategies used at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. If you would like to share information about a teaching strategy that you have used, that would enable another 51³Ô¹ÏÍø staff member to develop it for their context, please complete the .

‘Break-in’ workshops - unpacking the idea of students as partners

Preceding the afternoon programme, morning 'break-in’ workshops took place in the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College Union, and provided opportunity for more direct student-staff discussion on ways and means for working in partnership around programme design, assessment and feedback, and research.