Student-led projects share some advantages with faculty-led projects, as students form intellectual relationships among themselves. Yet when a project is entirely driven by students' initiative, their buy-in and commitment can be stronger. In a wholly online environment, student-led meetings may serve as an important generative space for collaboration and social bonding. Such spaces promote “intrinsic” motivation among students and “andragogic” teaching styles, shown to be beneficial to developing adult methods for learning that are “portable, dynamic, and student owned and controlled.”
The authors of “Integrating Collaborative Learning Inside and Outside the Classroom” discuss off-campus, student-led activities in response to open-ended course assignments at Wagner College. While these are not strictly “student-led projects,” their research shows that taking the risk of stepping back from activities and allowing students to lead “meant that students were given the space to direct the activities themselves and learn from that.”
The group defines its learning goal together and sets deliverables through a proposal process. Student leaders who take on such projects gain valuable experience in proposal writing, managing and tracking other students' participation, and planning the meetings—management skills that are widely applicable in professional settings.
Click on the group types below for an examples of real student-led projects that have worked for us.
See Resources for a sample proposal form and reflection prompt.
Students support other students to produce and/or publish creative work (the example here is writing, but could apply to other fields); shared student leadership model with faculty support; opportunity for students creating prompts or activities to learn how others learn (or how they can be inspired); inspiration opportunities for all participants; creative camaraderie.
Example: Write Nite, Hendrix –This group met biweekly to write together, working from a prompt. Students chose leadership roles, each with a specific task: (scheduling, site booking, promotion, and note-taker/attendance). A core group of student organizers shared the duty of crafting the prompts, with editing support from the faculty advisor.
Students support other students in understanding a new subject of interest; shared student leadership model with faculty support; opportunity for students planning activities to master the basics within a new subject; opportunity for organizers to learn how others learn; camaraderie based on shared interests; added opportunity for participants to learn about a new subject.
Example: Narrative Medicine, Hendrix—This group met every few weeks to analyze examples of narrative medicine essays and poems and to practice writing in the genre. Three students co-led the group, selecting the readings for each meeting, planning the discussion questions, and managing logistics. The student leaders attended a national conference on narrative medicine (in-person in 2019; to be virtual in 2020). The group hosted an end-of-year reading of the writing they produced.
Shared qualities with the above models, plus students within underrepresented groups support their peers in a discussion space distinct from classroom power dynamics; promotes leadership development within underrepresented groups. Could as easily apply to creative activities, creative spaces.
Example: Women in Philosophy, Sewanee – This group brought together a group underrepresented in the discipline of philosophy (women), with student organizers guiding weekly discussions of philosophical texts. Sewanee offered independent study credit to organizers who met with the faculty advisor and wrote papers.