Students often learn best “on the job” through holistic real-world projects. These can benefit student experience and attainment and provide the subject-specific and transferable skills (and networking contacts) needed to improve post-graduation employability. One approach is to create Learning Experience Triangles (LETs): three-way partnerships between students lecturers and external link organisations to embed authentic experiences into curricula. Such collaborations can involve developing real-world modules with novel assessment whereby the organisation becoming the “client” for student consultancy work. Others options include placement-based dissertations or internships or students working as partners on staff-led research and co-publishing articles. The common denominator is that a three-way partnership is created between a link organisation academic and student(s) to make a genuine contribution to knowledge answer real questions or solve an actual problem with tangible benefits. LETs also help break down the traditional school-based teacher/learner divide that is typically unhelpful in developing students as advanced learners.
