Individual Presentation Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency Conference 2019

Partnering with Students to Co-Design Quality Learning on the Block (#46)

Aleksandra Trifkovic 1 , Miriam Gelotte 1 , Trish McCluskey 1
  1. Victoria University, VIC, Australia

Victoria University has instigated a radical transformation of learning design and the student experience. In 2018 it embarked on an ambitious, but highly successful project, to completely transform it’s offering to students by delivering units of study, one at a time, in sequential four week blocks rather than the traditional four units concurrently over a semester. The Block Model enables students to study in small classes in a totally immersive environment where they work collaboratively on learning activities and get to know each other and their academic facilitator. VU’s Connected Learning Team has led the work to transform the curriculum into a more dynamic, interactive and authentic learning experience for students. Seven design teams were established comprising academic staff, learning designers, library staff, project officers and students-as-staff (SAS). Designing for a positive and engaged learning experience was pivotal and therefore the student voice and view was critical to the process. Students actively contributed in the design and development process and provided constructive feedback and ideas throughout. They also worked alongside academic staff and coached them on how to use a range of digital tools including the Learning Management System more effectively.  Student insights and experience has been invaluable in reshaping how courses are designed for block delivery and this has resulted in more active and authentic learning designs. This presentation will highlight the challenges and opportunities of productive partnerships with students and will feature Students as Staff (SaS) talking about their experience of teaching their teachers. It will also highlight the employment and career development advantages experienced by the SaS, some of whom have gone on to be employed as full time learning designers.

  1. Matthews, K. E., Dwyer, A., Hine, L., & Turner, J. (2018). Conceptions of students as partners. Higher Education, 1-15.
  2. McCluskey, T., Weldon, J., & Smallridge, A. (2019). Re-building the first year experience, one block at a time. Student Success, 10(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v10i1.1148