Engaging students and teachers as ACTIVE partners in evaluating teaching and learning

This session reports on the University’s redevelopment of an institutional evaluation framework, recognising and responding to the student success and quality mandates of learning and teaching in Higher Education. The institutional level redevelopment was grounded in the work of the Students as Partners project. This OLT funded project was a collaborative effort between USC staff and students, working together in the design of an alternative student feedback process as part of the evaluation of learning and teaching. A tangible outcome of the Students as Partners project was the ACTIVE student feedback process. The ACTIVE student feedback process was designed by students for students. Due to the success of the ACTIVE trial in Semester 2, 2017 across 10 courses in three disciplines, in Semester 2, 2017 the ACTIVE process was made available to all course coordinators on a voluntary basis. The ACTIVE process seeks to engage both students and their teachers to develop an open dialogue about the course while it was underway, to negotiate and share understanding about the process of learning. This changing view, from students as passive consumers to active participants in their own learning, required students and teachers to work authentically as partners in the process of learning (Healey, Flint, & Harrington, 2014; Pauli, Raymond-Barker, & Worrell, 2017). For some this was an easy extension of the relationship they already had and for others the role of teacher and student had to be re-negotiated. Implementing any new process institutionally is not without challenges. It also generated opportunities in that it empowered students to take more responsibility for their learning, encouraged teachers to design for and respond to students’ active engagement in the course experience in real time, with institutional support for the implementation of a ‘bottom-up’ process. Modelling a learning partnership approach, this session takes an active, collaborative approach to encourage open dialogue between the facilitators and the audience. It is an opportunity to learn from each other, share ideas and rethink scholarly approaches. The session facilitators include members from the Students as Partners project (the Narrators) and Course Coordinators and their students who have experienced the ACTIVE process (the Panel). The Narrators will provide context for deeper discussion on institutional processes, in recognition that the ACTIVE process contributes one data source to the emerging evaluation framework and allows staff to triangulate findings to develop a more comprehensive picture of learning and teaching quality and the student experience. The Panel provide context from a bottom-up process, responding to the reflective questions of: • Considering the course context, what is the purpose for using the ACTIVE process in course? • How did the ACTIVE process create a collaborative, engaging learning partnership between students and the teacher(s)? • Why have you sought an alternative to SETAC? • What would you highlight from your ACTIVE process experience? The audience are active partners in the generation of conversation, providing currency, meaning and application to the individual’s teaching and learning context