Open badges to encourage class representatives’ reflection and achievement-sharing:A case study from Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA)

This case study describes how Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA) worked in partnership with the University of Edinburghs Information Services division to implement one of the first Open Badge schemes used in the UK higher education sector. Based on student feedback, EUSA developed an effective Open Badge model to recognise and reward students work as Class Representatives. The paper describes EUSAs model of badges, badge criteria and implementation, before focusing on qualitative examples of the positive impact of this pilot project for both individual students and for the Students Association. It provides examples of how students reflected thoughtfully about the impact of their work as Class Representatives to develop skills in negotiation, problem solving, diplomacy, leadership, and change management. EUSAs Open Badge scheme now rewards students for sharing their achievements. In turn, students Open Badge blog posts have helped EUSA to gain more meaningful insights into the broad work of Class Representatives and how students benefit when they engage fully with the role

Co-creation of the curriculum:Challenging the status quo to embed partnership

Many individuals in the higher education sector claim that co-creation of the curriculum is an innovative process of student engagement in which students and staff members become partners in curriculum development. This research analyses rare instances of co-creation of the curriculum in the Scottish higher education sector to understand individuals different conceptualisations of this collaborative teaching and learning practice. The researcher interviewed ten academic members of staff and ten students who participated in co-creation of the curriculum in Scotland to analyse their perspectives of the benefits as well as the challenges of this form of active student engagement. Staff and students participating in co-creation of the curriculum encounter such challenges as staff and students taking on different responsibilities, increased time and effort involved and institutional inertia as they challenge the status quo. This paper will explore how individuals have overcome these challenges to embed partnership and achieve strong benefits of co-creation of the curriculum, including shared ownership and the engagement of both students and staff in the learning community and their increased satisfaction and professional development resulting from working in partnership

Students as partners in learning and teaching:The benefits of co-creation of the curriculum

This research explores the benefits of co-creation of the curriculum, which is seen as one form of student-staff partnership in learning and teaching in which each partner has a voice and a stake in curriculum development. This qualitative research analyses participants’ perceptions of co-creation of the curriculum in the Scottish higher-education sector. Initial findings show that some staff and students participating in co-creation of the curriculum perceive it to benefit them by (a) fostering the development of shared responsibility, respect, and trust; (b) creating the conditions for partners to learn from each other within a collaborative learning community; and (c) enhancing individuals’ satisfaction and personal development within higher education. Using Barnett’s conceptualisation of supercomplexity and Baxter Magolda’s three-pronged view of self-authorship, the author suggests that critical and democratic engagement in co-creation of the curriculum can develop the self-authorship of both students and staff members, including their cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal abilities which help them adapt to an ever-changing, supercomplex world.</jats:p

Exploration of how curriculum co-creation advances student and staff aims for Scottish higher education

The Scottish higher education landscape has been evolving to place a greater emphasis on student engagement, in common with the higher education sector internationally. In the last ten years, discussion of curriculum co-creation and student/staff partnerships in learning and teaching have become increasingly prevalent in facilitating high levels of both student and staff engagement. My study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of what curriculum co-creation means in practice at Scottish universities, and how this approach affects students, staff, and their higher education institutions. My thesis focuses on how undergraduate students and staff at Scottish universities conceptualise co-creation of the curriculum, and how these conceptualisations relate to their aims for students within higher education. I draw on a wide range of interdisciplinary literature to examine aims for higher education and key themes in 21st Century higher education. I position co-creation of the curriculum within the wider literature on student development, student engagement, and student/staff partnerships while also looking at how different conceptualisations of the higher education curriculum affect how it can be co-created. I integrate different methodologies into my multi-phase, qualitative study. Through criterion and snowball sampling, I identified 24 staff and student co-creation practitioners at five Scottish universities who engaged in 15 curriculum co-creation initiatives. I conducted 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and one focus group discussion with these individuals during Phase 1. In Phases 2 and 3, I incorporated photo-elicitation methods embedded in an arts-based approach within four further focus group discussions and worked with two undergraduate student co-researchers using co-inquiry methods to learn from 25 students and staff who were not co-creating curricula. Drawing on aspects of a constructivist grounded theory approach, I analysed cross-cutting themes which emerged. My findings focus on participants’ aims for higher education, conceptualisations of student engagement and curriculum co-creation, and the benefits and challenges of co-creating curricula. I offer a new definition of curriculum co-creation that extends beyond broad notions of student/staff collaborations in curriculum development. I define the term as the values-based implementation of an ongoing, creative, and mutually-beneficial process of staff and students working together to share and negotiate decisionmaking about aspects of higher education curricula. Examining further the notions of creativity in curriculum development, innovation to develop enjoyment of learning and resilience, and democratic engagement to promote positive civic impact are particular contributions that my research makes to deepen current understandings of cocreation of the curriculum. I advance connections between risk in curriculum cocreation and the development of self-authorship to help individuals face complex challenges and develop stronger democratic societies. Curriculum co-creation enacts participants’ aims to foster not only individuals’ personal and professional development but also their ability to advance social justice and have a positive impact on their communities

Eating the Family Dinner and Digesting Active Citizenship

The family dinner is an important social event that contributes to children’s growth as active citizens in their community. This sociological study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to study the family meal and finds that this meal is strongly correlated with the development of social cohesion and strong relationships among family members. There are many obstacles to achieving the family meal such as social class, work schedules, TV, and gender expectations. When families overcome these challenges and develop meaningful family routines and traditions, parents often teach their children societal, cultural and familial values during the family meal. Furthermore, the family dinner is correlated with how children develop self-confidence, think independently, form empathy and compassion for others, and learn to contribute in meaningful ways to their community. This study examines how the family meal summons both individuals and their society to the dinner table while family members overcome obstacles to eat together, form a sense of social cohesion, share their beliefs and practices, create family traditions, and teach children to become active citizens who will shape the 21 st Century