Abstract
Against a backdrop of rising interest in students becoming partners in learning and teaching in higher education, this paper begins by exploring the relationships between student engagement, co-creation and student–staff partnership before providing a typology of the roles students can assume in working collaboratively with staff. Acknowledging that co-creating learning and teaching is not straightforward, a set of examples from higher education institutions in Europe and North America illustrates some important challenges that can arise during co-creation. These examples also provide the basis for suggestions regarding how such challenges might be resolved or re-envisaged as opportunities for more meaningful collaboration. The challenges are presented under three headings: resistance to co-creation; navigating institutional structures, practices and norms; and establishing an inclusive co-creation approach. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of transparency within co-creation approaches and of changing mindsets about the potential opportunities and institutional benefits of staff and students co-creating learning and teaching.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahlfeldt, S., Mehta, S., & Sellnow, T. (2005). Measurement and analysis of student engagement in university classes where varying levels of PBL methods of instructions are in use. Higher Education Research & Development, 24(1), 5–20.
Allin, L. (2014). Collaboration between staff and students in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: The potential and the problems. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 2(1), 95–102.
Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216–224.
Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college?. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Barnett, R., & Hallam, S. (1999). Teaching for supercomplexity: A pedagogy for higher education. In P. Mortimore (Ed.), Understanding pedagogy and its impact on learning (pp. 137–155). London: Paul Chapman.
Bauman, H.-D. L., & Murray, J. J. (2010). Deaf studies in the 21st century. In M. Maschark & P. E. Spencer (Eds.), Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education (Vol. 2, pp. 210–225). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2006). Intellectual development in the college years. Change, 38(3), 50–54.
Bovill, C. (2014). An investigation of co-created curricula within higher education in the UK, Ireland and the USA. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 51(1), 15–25.
Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., & Felten, P. (2011). Students as co-creators of teaching approaches, course design and curricula: Implications for academic developers. International Journal for Academic Development, 16(2), 133–145.
Bovill, C., Felten, P., & Cook-Sather, A. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching (2): practical guidance for academic staff and academic developers. International consortium on educational development conference, Stockholm, Sweden, 16–18 June.
Bryson, C., & Hand, L. (2007). The role of engagement in inspiring teaching and learning. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 44(4), 4–14.
Carey, P. (2013). Student as co-producer in a marketised higher education system: A case study of students’ experience of participation in curriculum design. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 50(3), 250–260.
Chapman, P., Blatchford, S., & Hughes, S. (2013). Lightening up the dark side: A partnership approach between a students’ union and the university. In C. S. Nygaard, S. Brand, P. Bartholomew, & L. Millard (Eds.), Student engagement: Identity, motivation and community (pp. 271–289). Faringdon: Libri.
Cook-Sather, A. (2011). Layered learning: Student consultants deepening classroom and life lessons. Educational Action Research, 9(1), 41–57.
Cook-Sather, A. (2015). Dialogue across differences of position, perspective, and identity: Reflective practice in/on a student-faculty pedagogical partnership program. Teachers College Record, 117, 2.
Cook-Sather, A., & Agu, P. (2013). Students of color and faculty members working together toward culturally sustaining pedagogy. In J. E. Groccia & L. Cruz (Eds.), To improve the academy: Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development (Vol. 32, pp. 271–285). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cook-Sather, A., & Li, H. (2013). Lessons from international students on campus living and classroom learning. Conference of the professional and organizational development network in higher education. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November.
Delgado-Bernal, D. (2002). Critical race theory, Latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: Recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 105–126.
Delpish, A., Holmes, A., Knight-McKenna, M., Mihans, R., Darby, A., King, K., & Felten, P. (2010). Equalizing voices: Student-faculty partnership in course design. In C. Werder & M. Otis (Eds.), Engaging student voices in the study of teaching and learning (pp. 96–114). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Dunne, E., & Zandstra, R. (2011). Students as change agents: new ways of engaging with learning and teaching in higher education. Bristol: ESCalate Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Education/University of Exeter. http://escalate.ac.uk/8064. Accessed 7 August 2014.
Errington, E. (2001). The influence of teacher beliefs on flexible learning innovation in traditional university settings. In F. Lockwood & A. Gooley (Eds.), Innovation in open and distance learning. Successful development of online and web-based learning (pp. 27–37). London: Routledge.
Felten, P., Bagg, J., Bumbry, M., Hill, J., Hornsby, K., Pratt, M., & Weller, S. (2013). A call for expanding student engagement in SoTL. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 1(2), 63–74.
Felten, P., & Bauman, H.-D. (2013). Reframing diversity and student engagement: Lessons from deaf-gain. In E. Dunne & D. Owen (Eds.), Student engagement handbook: Practice in higher education (pp. 367–378). Emerald: Bingley.
Gärdebo, J., & Wiggberg, M. (2012). Importance of student participation in future academia, In J. Gärdebo & M. Wiggberg (Eds.), Students, the university’s unspent resource: Revolutionising higher education using active student participation, (pp. 7–14). Pedagogical Development Report 12. Uppsala Universitet.
Goldsmith, M., & Gervacio, N. (2011). Radical equality: A dialogue on building a partnership—and a program—through a cross-campus collaboration. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education: Spring (3) Article IV. http://teachingandlearningtogether.blogs.brynmawr.edu/archived-issues/may-issue/radical-equality. Accessed 28 Nov 2013.
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. York: Higher Education Academy.
Healey, M., & Jenkins, A. (2009). Developing undergraduate research and inquiry. York: Higher Education Academy.
Healey, M., Jenkins, A. & Bovill, C. Students as partners in learning, In J. Lea (Ed.), Enhancing learning and teaching in higher education: Engaging with the dimensions of practice. Maidenhead: Open University Press. (in press).
Hughes, C., & Barrie, S. (2010). Influences on the assessment of graduate attributes in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(3), 325–334.
Hutchings, P., Huber, M. T., & Ciccone, A. (2011). The scholarship of teaching and learning reconsidered: Institutional integration and impact (Jossey-Bass/Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Jarvis, J., Dickerson, C., & Stockwell, L. (2013). Staff–student partnership in practice in higher education: The impact on learning and teaching. 6th International Conference on University Learning and Teaching (InCULT 2012). Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 90: 220–25.
Keeney-Kennicutt, W., Baris Gunersel, A., & Simpson, N. (2008). Overcoming student resistance to a teaching innovation. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(1), 5.
King, C., & Felten, P. (2012). Threshold concepts in educational development: An introduction. The Journal of Faculty Development, 26(3), 5.
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Shuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J. (2010). Student success in college, creating conditions that matter. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ling, T. (2000). Unpacking partnership: The case of health care. In J. Clarke, S. Gerwirtz, & E. McLaughin (Eds.), New managerialism, new welfare (pp. 82–101). London: Sage.
Little, B., & Williams, R. (2010). Students’ roles in maintaining quality and in enhancing learning—is there a tension? Quality in Higher Education, 16(2), 115–127.
Mann, S. J. (2008). Study, power and the university. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
McCulloch, A. (2009). The student as co-producer: Learning from public administration about the student–university relationship. Studies in Higher Education, 34(2), 171–183.
Mihans, I. I., Richard, J., Long, D. T., & Felten, P. (2008). Power and expertise: Student-faculty collaboration in course design and the scholarship of teaching and learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(2), 16.
Moore, N., & Gilmartin, M. (2010). Teaching for better learning: A blended learning pilot project with first year geography undergraduates. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 34(3), 327–344.
Moore-Cherry, N., Healey, R., Nicholson, T., & Andrews, W. Inclusive partnership: Enhancing student engagement in geography. Journal of Geography in Higher Education (in press).
Nixon, J. (2011). Higher education and the public good. London: Continuum.
Nygaard, C., Brand, S., Bartholomew, P., & Millard, L. (Eds.). (2013). Student engagement: Identity, motivation and community. Faringdon: Libri.
O’Meara, K., Terosky, A. L., & Neumann, A. (2008). Faculty careers and work lives: A professional growth perspective. ASHE Higher Education Report, 34(3), 1–221.
Sheth, J. N., & Stellner, W. H. (1979). Psychology of innovation resistance: The less developed concept (LDC) in diffusion research. Faculty working papers, College of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Shulman, L. S. (1993). Teaching as community property. Change, 25(6), 6–7.
Simkins, S., & Maier, M. H. (2010). Just in time teaching: Across the disciplines, across the academy. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus.
Swedish National Union of Students. (2014). Improving teaching and learning in Swedish higher education: A student centred perspective. Stockholm: Globalt företagstryckeri.
Taylor, C., & Robinson, C. (2009). Student voice: Theorising power and participation. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 17(2), 161–175.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., Felten, P. et al. Addressing potential challenges in co-creating learning and teaching: overcoming resistance, navigating institutional norms and ensuring inclusivity in student–staff partnerships. High Educ 71, 195–208 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9896-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9896-4