Teachers and students from around Australia gathered at Â鶹ÊÓƵ of Queensland to share insights and transform the learning experience together.
The second annual saw representatives from 23 national and international higher education institutions coming together.
National Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellow and project driver from Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s ), said it was a chance for staff and students to gain new perspective and insight into each other’s worlds.
“The event created a space for students and staff to grapple with the issues important to them, and to really work together to solve them,” Dr Matthews said.
“Bringing students into conversations typically reserved for staff reminds us that higher education is a joint enterprise between learners and educators, and invites students to become more active participants in shaping their student experience as genuine members of the university learning community.”
University of Queensland Pro Vice-Chancellor (Â鶹ÊÓƵ and Learning) Professor Doune Macdonald said the Students as Partners program sought to harness student and staff creativity.
“The program provides an opportunity to share practices, ideas and experiences while discovering new ways of engaging students as partners, co-creators and change agents in higher education,” she said.
“Students as Partners is the essence of transformative teaching – enabling students to collaborate with their teachers and drive their own learning.
“It is a way of thinking and engaging that can positively impact Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s culture and permeate every single aspect of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ student experience.”
Â鶹ÊÓƵ is in the early phases of implementing its which focuses on enhancing the student experience, improving graduate outcomes, offering flexible study options, blending active and digital learning, and creating engaging learning environments.
“We’re very pleased to have hosted this event once again, to highlight the project and enable other institutions to adopt such beneficial practices,” Professor Macdonald said.
The event featured international student partnership experts including , a leading scholar of student voice and Director of Â鶹ÊÓƵ and Learning Institute at Bryn Mawr and Haverford College; and , leading scholar on students as partners, higher education consultant and Emeritus Professor at the University of Gloucestershire.
More information on Students as Partners program at Â鶹ÊÓƵ is available
Media: Zarese Kisielewski, z.kisielewski@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 6211.
