RAISE Special Interest Groups (Early Career Researchers and Research & Evaluation) Collaboration: A Case Study

In the academic year 2022/23, the RAISE Special Interest Groups for Early Career Researchers and Research & Evaluation collaboratively developed a professional development programme for HE colleagues new to writing about student engagement. The diverse audience ranged from Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to colleagues new to academic writing including those interested in writing about Student Engagement. The programme featured three online events (alongside virtual on-demand support) covering themes around barriers and challenges to publication; enabling collaboration and co-creation across institutional/disciplinary contexts and the opportunity to participate in an academic writing workshop. This case study will present an account of the process and experiences of delivering these events looking into the barriers and challenges experienced by ECRs, the community-based, peer-learning approach adopted (CoPs) to address these with the aim to facilitate the publication process and make it more inclusive and accessible for (a diverse range of) participants. The example is framed and contextualised through relevant literature and a wider higher education backdrop of work-life balance, principles of staff-student partnership and a ‘publish or perish’ culture

Q&As - A Conversation with the Editors

A conversation piece among the guest editors on their experience of collaborating between two Special Interest Groups for this Special Issue of the journal

Real‐life research projects improve student engagement and provide reliable data for academics

Student engagement can have a positive influence on student success. Many methods exist for fostering engagement but tend to be generic and require tailoring to specific contexts, subjects, and students. In the case of undergraduate science students, practical classes are a popular tool for increasing engagement. However, despite strong potential for improvement via links with “real life” research projects (RLRPs), few academic staff incorporate research participation with teaching activities. This is potentially due to poor time availability and low opinions of students' ability to collect reliable data. This study aims to examine whether involvement with RLRPs can generate reliable scientific data and also act as a motivational tool for engaging tertiary science students. A preexisting core activity for first‐year biology and marine biology students was modified to include a short RLRP component. Student‐based data collection and a questionnaire about experiences were used to examine the reliability of student‐collected data and student perceptions of RLRPs. Results indicated that error rate in student‐collected data was minimal. Irrespective of participating in a “normal” practical class or a class with a RLRP component, students collected equally accurate data. However, when the topic aligned specifically with their degree subject, student accuracy was higher. All students surveyed reported high motivation with the idea of RLRP participation, placing high importance on this from an educational and employability perspective. Yet, students were not confident about participating in RLRPs until they had engaged with one, suggesting that introducing such projects into taught sessions early‐on may encourage students to seek further opportunities in the future. In conclusion, incorporating RLRPs into the curriculum of undergraduate science courses has considerable potential benefits for both students and academic staff

Exploring a potential correspondence between the structural conditiions of universities and stratified graduate work

This thesis examines the nature of the relationship between the educational environment of UK universities and the graduate labour market through the lens of correspondence theory. This theory was developed by Bowles and Gintis (1976), who asserted that there is a structurally reproductive relationship between the conditions of education and labour. One of the key aims of this research is to test the usefulness of this theory to contemporary UK higher education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 students and key staff members in the Law faculties of three different status universities; Elite, Old and New. The interviews covered a number of key topics including class sizes, relationships between students and staff, career preparation and routines of working. Documents outlining the nature of the courses (e.g. prospectuses) were also collected and analysed. These data revealed that at Elite University, subject specific knowledge is the primary purpose of learning and the students encounter an intense working environment but are afforded high levels of autonomy. At New University, the educational experience for students is much more structured, with much less pressure on students to perform and a central focus upon employability. Old University occupies a position between these two universities, offering a form of education that encourages some autonomy within a structured teaching environment and values both employability teaching and subject specific knowledge. The significant differences between the teaching and conditions at these three universities reflect characteristics associated with different levels of graduate work thus indicating the continued analytical value of the correspondence theory

Control, freedom and structure in student-staff partnerships

This chapter discusses the role of pragmatic philosophy in moving towards a supportive culture for student–staff partnership. Many advocates of partnership approaches base their arguments in a critical pedagogy tradition. While we agree with this as an end goal of partnership, we believe that we live in a neo-liberal society and need to gradually shift this position to bring people and practices with us. We consider the importance of recognising our context to create both partnership practices that are considered successful and the conditions under which they can proliferate. We discuss the importance of working to change this context to one that is more supportive of redistributing power towards students. We focus on gatekeepers to institutional partnership schemes to discuss how they can both create protective spaces for partnerships and their role in bringing about cultural change