Overview
The active participation of students in co-creating their learning experience can add value and insights to the student experience for staff, students and institutions, however authentic and inclusive co-creation is challenging. In this symposium we want to critically explore the role of all students as co-creators across all areas of their university experience. We invited students to identify the themes they considered important to discuss at the symposium to model co-creation and to hear this authentic critical voice.
Based on these suggestions the themes of the symposium will include:
The integration of co-creation as a continuous process within the student experience, with a particular focus on:
- Co-creation of principles, visions, policies, processes and systems at institutional, departmental or programme level.
- Co-creation to address structural or institutional biases and inclusion of underrepresented groups.
- Co-creation in academic governance and developing strategic policy.
- The benefits of co-creation for students, staff or institutions.
The four students who submitted themes for the symposium have been invited to join the plenary session for a critical reflection on the challenges of co-creation.
Symposium aims
The aims of this symposium are to:
- provide an open and supportive environment within which to share and discuss contemporary practice and initiatives in teaching and learning; and
- provide evidence-informed examples and ideas for university staff and students to address current challenges in higher education.
Who should attend?
Teaching practitioners including: heads of departments, academic programme leaders and developers, all lecturing staff, professional services staff supporting learning and teaching activities, and learning technologists.
Call for contributions
We are interested in submissions across the full range of activities in the co-creation cycle: Co-commissioning, Co-designing, Co-delivery and Co-evaluation and reflections that critically explore the challenges of authentic partnerships in co-creation
Submissions can include case studies, reflections, critical essays, reports or posters. Preference will be given to work co-authored with students. We particularly welcome papers that are co-delivered with students and we will work with authors to provide the technology and support to include student voices in their presentation.
Session types:
Oral Presentations should be 15 minutes in length and will be followed by 5 minutes of Q&A with delegates. This session type should be selected if your proposed session is a critical essay or reports on a co-creation project within your institution and should offer guidance on how others can replicate similar projects within their own institutions. Your session should include a PPT presentation or visual stimulus to accompany your talk.
Reflections should be 10 minutes in length. These will be grouped alongside other reflective pieces followed by a group Q&A session. Reflections can be from staff or students sharing their experiences of co-creation projects they have been involved in. The 10-minute reflections can be pre-recorded and can include shorter reflections from more than one student or staff member. As a minimum, the lead presenter will need to attend the symposium in person to participate in the Q&A session. The use of PPT slides for this session type is optional.
Case studies should be 15 minutes in length and will be followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. Case studies should focus on the impact of co-creation projects, both on the success of the project in achieving its aims and in the value gained by staff and students from their involvement. This session type should involve a mix of staff and student input.
Posters will need to be professionally printed and brought with you to the symposium on the day. Posters should be visually stimulating and include a mix of information about the project and reflections from staff and students. Ideally posters should be co-created with students. As a minimum, the lead presenter will need to attend the symposium in order to discuss the poster with delegates.
The deadline for submissions is 5pm, 14 November 2022.