Abstract
Students’ participation in teaching development has become one of the important strategies in the G3 Students taking ownership of learning and stepping out of comfort zone in the CUHK Strategic Plan 2021–2025. Involve students as partners (SaP) in teaching and learning development is an essential strategy that encourage students to take bolder steps in their learning journey. Meanwhile, SaP is a rather new concept to CUHK teachers. As teachers are the one to take initiations in engaging students, the concept, the benefits, the process and outcomes of SaP must be fully understood by them. Furthermore, there will be barriers to program design and difficulties in collaborative teaching and learning throughout the journey of SaP. Therefore, this proposal aims to conduct a pilot interactive platform to help teachers of CUHK to carry out SaP projects more easily by creating a full package of SaP, to (1) increase awareness of SaP developments at the university level; and (2) exchange ideas among academic staffs to facilitate SaP. The package includes (1) an interactive webpage; (2) Guidance tips for advisors to follow; and (3) series of workshops with experience sharing session of advisors.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
This project aligned with CUHK2025 Strategic Plan Goal 3 Students taking ownership of learning and stepping out of comfort zone. It aimed to help CUHK teachers to carry out students-as-partners (SaP) projects and (1) to increase awareness of SaP developments at the university level; and (2) to exchange ideas among academic staffs to facilitate SaP.
Activities, process and outcomes
The SaP package, including (a) an interactive webpage; (b) a handbook; and (c) series of workshops was prepared. The webpage and handbook were created under the new Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) website to be launched in the near future. 4 workshops were held in June, July, and December 2021 respectively. Quantitative survey was conducted as baseline research on the current SaP development in CUHK from academic staff’s perspective.
Deliverables and evaluation
The webpage and handbook were prepared to provide guidance on practicing SaP. Workshops were collaborated with local and overseas institutions to encourage ideas exchange. Quantitative survey was conducted. Results indicated that teachers mainly adopted SaP in lectures, tutorials, and projects. Most teachers welcomed the practice of SaP and CLEAR’s support on SaP pedagogy design and funding opportunities.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
Website with guidance and enquiry function was constructed for information dissemination and booking of consultation sessions. Workshops were held for sharing of good practices of SaP in local and overseas institutions.
Impact on teaching and learning
The platform and handbook will be the immediate resources for teachers to initiate their SaP projects from scratch. Backend data of the webpage to be collected in the future will serve as references to learn more about the needs of teachers on SaP. The workshops will provide insightful perspectives and encourage collaborations on developing SaP projects in different contexts.
