Students as Partners: Empowering our students

Author and presenter

• Alistair Chong, School of Management, TSBE

Abstract

There may be a perception today that students today do not graduate with the skills to interact with and interview in a work environment, or the ability to build research outputs. Using entangled pedagogy, and the value of place-based learning, how can we ensure that our students are getting the knowledge and application skills in preparation for their life after university? This presentation links with the Australian Universities Accord highlighting that “[T]ertiary education providers have deep connections to their communities that go well beyond education and research” (Department of Education, 2024, p.1). It builds on this principle by creating partnerships in a Students as Partners program: where students gain a sense of leadership, place and belonging while at university (Crawford, Lewis & Kelder, 2024). In the units BAA612 Enterprise Communications and BMA202 Business Strategy, 250+ students were required to find, interview (using a semi-structured interview process) and report on an organisation. They were then required to transcribe the interview. They were provided feedback on their ability to present their findings. Potential employers found this worthwhile with one saying, "the analysis done by students was useful to my business and it was interesting to interact with students and see how their business understanding increased". This Lightning presentation will focus on the Students as Partners deployment and opportunities for its expansion into other units. Students as Partners in the research space enables students to practice research and interview skills. Existing partnership with organisations such as StartUp Tasmania can be leveraged to build student skills, knowledge and research outputs.

Reference

Crawford, J., Lewis, G., & Kelder, J. A. (2024). Authentic student leadership development: Structural equation model testing differences among student leader populations. Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 41(2), 191-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/20590776.2024.2365846