What Can Be Achieved through Staff-Student Partnership?
Student-Staff Partnerships give staff and students the opportunity to make valuable changes in their School/College, and the University.
SSP also give staff and students the opportunity to make greater personal achievements, these can include but are not limited to:
- Greater confidence working independently and as a team.
- Better communication skills.
- Experience working in an academic environment.
- Better understanding between staff and students.
- Increased knowledge and understanding of the University and how change can occur within it.
As described above skills, knowledge, and confidence can all be achieved through these partnerships. It should also be noted the tangible achievements that many past SSP projects have achieved.
Below are a few examples of the kind of achievements SSPs can obtain.
Dissemination Achievements
Throughout your SSP project, you will have multiple opportunities to share your achievements from your project through dissemination such as:
- Publishing reports
- Attending conferences
- Creating resources, i.e. toolkits, podcasts
Through any of these accomplishments, you can share the knowledge, and expertise you and your partners have acquired from your project. Additionally, through the act of dissemination you and your partners can have your work recognised by other academic peers which is a highly valuable achievement for both staff and students.
Making A Change in the University
One of the most valuable things you can achieve through a SSP project is being able to make change through the University.
During your SSPs, you will find that you are conducting research into what students are observing, and experiencing. By doing so, this research will aid in updating the University and ensuring students and staff have a say in how their School and/or College adapts to these changes.
For example, due to a SSP in Life Sciences students and staff were able to co-create more inclusive, anti-discriminatory teaching materials for a specific Statistics class within this degree.
This shows how SSPs can make a significant change in the University which is a great achievement for staff, students and the University.
Case Studies
To highlight the achievements that SSP can obtain, here are some particular case studies.
- Due to inclusion of near-peer mentoring in the School of Chemistry, students reported feeling more confident, and gained valuable academic, social and professional experiences. Additionally, due to it's intial success this mentoring has continued for three consecutive years.
- Also in the School of Chemistry, introducing Interactive Teaching Units were introducded which students reacted positively to, and has ran over the past two academic years.
- By implementing peer-assessed lab skills in collaboration with students, the School of Chemistry perceived an increase in confidence for their students who viewed this peer-assessment as enjoyable and fair method of assessment.
If you would like to find more case study examples, please follow this link.