The Special Interest Group (SIG) 'The Student Experience' started in 2004 with its first meeting during the EAIR Forum in Barcelona, Spain. You find the meetings of earlier years under archive.

Coordinators:
Uulkje de Jong
Universiteit van Amsterdam
the Netherlands
U.deJong@uva.nl

James Williams
Birmingham City University
United Kingdom
james.williams@bcu.ac.uk

SIG meeting 28 August 2011, Warsaw (Poland)
Chairs: James Williams and Lynn Fulford • Birmingham City University • United Kingdom

Transformative learning and teaching in HE

This meeting of the EAIR Special Interest Group: The Student Experience explores different experiences of how students engage with higher education. In particular, it focuses on how students’ make transitions through higher education and how to make the student experience a genuinely ‘transformative’ process.

This meeting topic follows on from last year’s discussion of the ways in which students engage with the governance of higher education. That discussion was itself inspired by the work of several members that analyses the ways in which students are involved in higher education governance across Europe.

The meeting will begin with a short case study of a scheme currently managed by Birmingham City University and this will be followed with a workshop in which participants discuss key issues and share experience and practice.

The Case Study: Birmingham City University's Student Academic Partnership (SAP)
Birmingham City University's Student Academic Partnership (SAP) scheme was awarded the Times Higher Education award for outstanding support for students in 2010. Nationally it is now recognised as a highly innovative way of engaging students through partnership in curriculum developments.

As part of this scheme, students in the Faculty of Education, Law and Social Sciences embarked on a project to enable staff and students to work together to improve the student experience. A Student Advisory Board was established, primarily to look at

However, as the year has progressed the Advisory Board has increasingly taken on its own momentum, with students taking a far greater lead than was anticipated! This section will explore in detail some of the material developed from the scheme and discuss how we plan to use it in the future to work more closely in partnership with our students.

SIG meeting 1 September 2010, Valencia (Spain)
Chair: James Williams • Birmingham City University • United Kingdom

Different aspects of the role of students in governing Higher Education
The idea will be to discuss different aspect of the role of students in governing Higher Education, and the specific aims will be to share experiences and understand the similarities and differences between different Higher Education cultures. As usual, however, this event is a great opportunity to meet new people and old friends in a friendly setting..

SIG meeting 23 August 2009, Vilnius (Lithuania)
Chair: James Williams, Co-Chair: David Kane • Birmingham City University • United Kingdom.

Assessment and Feedback
Recent surveys, especially in the UK, have suggested that students are less satisfied with the assessment of their work and feedback from their lecturers than they are with other aspects relating to their course experience (Surridge, 2007). As this is one of the most important aspects of the student learning experience, it is essential that we understand what lies behind such results.

This SIG meeting will explore:

  • Current experience of assessment and feedback across Europe and beyond;
  • Student perceptions of assessment and feedback;
  • Institutional responses to student concerns.

The SIG will aim to identify successful approaches to assessment and feedback, the impact on student satisfaction with their experience and posit alternative models of assessment and feedback practices.

The SIG meeting will be based on a series of short discussion groups and plenary sessions, in which participants will focus on specific questions relating to their experience of assessment and feedback in their own institutions. Participants will be asked to prepare data in advance of the meeting in order to contribute effectively to the dialogue.

SIG meeting 24 August 2008, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Chair: James Williams • Birmingham City University • United Kingdom

Collecting and using feedback from students to improve their experience
Collecting feedback from students on their experience of higher education is increasingly central to quality processes in the sector. The methods used by institutions in collecting and using this feedback are varied and there is often little understanding of how to do either effectively.

The workshop in Copenhagen was aimed at identifying key principles in developing student experience feedback questionnaires that are useful to the continuous quality improvement process.

The main objectives were to:

  • understand the importance of the feedback and action cycle;

  • explore and identify effective approaches to questionnaire design;

  • identify ways of determining questions;

  • explore analysis and reporting of data;

  • explore the uses of action and 'Closing the Loop'.

Part 1 - Feedback and action cycle.
This session focused on the gap between reporting and action. An important distinction will be made between institutional and module-based questionnaires.

  • Activity: buzz-group with participants to explore different experiences trans-nationally.

Part 2 - Developing a questionnaire.
This session focused on the value of student-determined questions and explore ways in which focus group and students' comments that are made on survey questionnaires can be used.

  • Activity 1: analysis of data from actual student focus groups and identify areas of relevance for a questionnaire.

  • Activity 2: comparing different types of questionnaire. E.g. national student surveys such as the Australian CEQ or the UK's NSS and institutional surveys such as the Student satisfaction survey. In this session, we would explore the differences between on-line and paper questionnaires.

Part 3 - Analysis and reporting of data.
This session explored different approaches to analysis and reporting of data. We will explore the problems with presenting raw statistics. The session will examine the example of A-E tables for non-statistically minded. One facet of using student feedback as part of a continuous quality improvement process is that changes over time can be represented in longitudinal graphs. In addition, the session will explore the use of comments that are made by students on questionnaires.

  • Activity: compare different approaches to reporting on student surveys. Groups will discuss the different types of reporting (full, summaries, paper, on-line, private public) and the different types of analysis (statistical, codified numerical (A-E), qualitative data).

Part 4 - Conclusion
Action and 'Closing the Feedback Loop'. The conclusion focused on the link between reporting, action and reporting direct action back to students.

  • Activity: buzz group discussing appropriate ways/different experiences of feeding back to students.

The workshop was composed of small sessions in which participants explored, in groups of about 6, approaches to collecting student feedback.