Jisc Change Agents' Network Conference 2024

Lerner-educator co-creation has been described as a beneficial practice for promoting equity, empowerment, and engagement. However, research examining healthcare student experiences of co-creating during a course is limited. Existing research is focused on small groups of students who typically volunteer to engage in co-creation outside of their coursework. A lack of understanding of the different ways in which healthcare students experience co-creation makes it challenging for educators to integrate it into their pedagogy. The purpose of this phenomenographic study was to explore healthcare students’ experiences of learner-educator co-creation in the context of a graded interprofessional virtual simulation assignment involving all members of a class. 

Phenomenography focuses on identifying different ways that participants experience a phenomenon like co-creation, awareness of which is valuable to inform pedagogy. Nursing and navigation student participants shared their experiences through open-ended surveys, reflective journals, and semi-structured interviews. Students experienced co-creation in 4 increasingly complex ways: (1) supporting consistent student progress, (2) amending course expectations, (3) sharing decision-making, and (4) fostering mutual growth. Educators may reflect on these findings to help structure their co-creation approaches in ways that promote expanded awareness of co-creation to improve learning, access, and empowerment in courses.