Empowerment and Partnership in Student Engagement was a significant virtual event co-created by StudentSurvey.ie, Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and the National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP).
The event was attended by over 300 attendees. A lively discussion took place during the event on Twitter, and this commentary can be viewed by searching for #StudentEngagement.
Guided by three main themes - Provocative Partnerships, Impact and Embedding Student Partnerships in Higher Education - the event explored the interrelated concepts and priorities of student engagement, from empowering students and staff to collaborate and to co-create impact in enhancement, to embedding partnership in quality assurance and enhancement processes.
Against a background of pandemic restrictions impacting on traditional programme delivery and the student experience, the conference organisers believe a focus on the topic of student empowerment and partnership has never been more timely.
Watch/ Rewatch each session
Viewers are advised that, due to issues with internet connectivity, the quality of the video of Dr. Lucy Mercer-Mapstone's & Ms. Sophia Abbot's joint presentation as part of Session 1 is not great. Viewers may prefer to watch the version available in the Keynote Presentations section of this page, and then revert to the recording of Session 1 for the presentation by Dr Cathy Bovill and the excellent questions and answers section at the end of the session.
Featured Speakers
The conference featured a series of speakers including:
- Mr. Simon Harris, TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Opening Comments)
- Ms. Lorna Fitzpatrick, President of the Union of Students in Ireland (Opening Address)
- Dr. Lucy Mercer-Mapstone, Lecturer in Curriculum at University of Sydney
- Ms. Sophia Abbot, PhD in Education at George Mason University, USA
- Dr. Cathy Bovill, Senior Lecturer in Student Engagement in the University of Edinburgh
- Ms. Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, Vice-President of Higher Education for the National Union of Students UK
- Ms. Gohar Hovhannisyan, Vice-President of the European Students' Union
- Mr. Sjur Bergan, Head of the Council of Europe's Education Department
- Ms. Karena Maguire, Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Communications QQI (Closing Reflection)
Watch/ Rewatch each Speaker
Discussion Paper on Impact
Sue Hackett (Quality and Qualifications Ireland) and Dr Siobhán Nic Fhlannchadha (StudentSurvey.ie Project Manager), as members of the StudentSurvey.ie Analysis and Impact Group, put forward a Discussion Paper on Evidencing Value through Impact as part of the Impact session (see above for recording of Session 2: Impact).
Read more HERE.
To download the paper, please click HERE.
StudentSurvey.ie National Report 2020 Launch
Finally, a sincere word of thanks to Laura Flynn and the whole team in QQI, and Oisín Hassan and the whole team in NStEP, who made organising this event such a pleasure.
Thank you to the StudentSurvey.ie co-sponsoring organisations, StudentSurvey.ie Steering Group, Analysis and Impact Group, Communications Group, PGR Working Group and National Report Editorial Group. A special thank you to Kevin McStravock for launching the StudentSurvey.ie National Report 2020.
Thank you to the staff and students in the higher education institutions which participate in StudentSurvey.ie, in particular colleagues in IT Carlow, IT Sligo, LyIT, TCD, UL for providing submissions on the impact of StudentSurvey.ie as part of the Impact session. Thank you also to Sue Hackett, who co-authored the StudentSurvey.ie Discussion Paper on Impact, and Mairéad Boland in QQI for providing the QQI perspective.
Finally, a massive thank you to the first year students Opeyemi, Clare, Olga, Ian, Caitlin and Ali who provided us with their insights and experience in their video submissions, and to Kate Wood in the Irish Universities Association for video design.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
