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Reflecting on and evaluating SaP initiatives is vital to understand the experiences of both students and staff involved in the partnership (Burnie et al., 2021). It’s highly recommended to undertake reflection and evaluation activities at various points in a project rather than only after its completion. This way, a feedback cycle can be created to enable continuous improvement and the creation of reporting, as well as making students feel heard at a partnership level.
Consider developing a pre-project reflection session or survey with students and staff to capture their initial understandings of SaP, their expectations for the partnership, professional development interests, and other key topics useful to surface at the outset of a project. Incorporating reflective activities from the beginning of a partnership can establish a baseline of understanding that may be interesting to compare after the project when examining the learning and development outcomes of an initiative.
At the start of your Students as Partners project you probably set out to create a “…reciprocal process through which all participants have the opportunity to contribute equally…” (Cook-Sather, Bovill and Felten (2014). But how do you know if you’re on the right track? Below are some thought prompts that you can use to circle back to your intentions and evaluate how your project is going while there’s enough time left to change. You may want to print this or modify it to create your own version; where possible we’ve identified and included questions from the first checklist, and questions from our experiences. We recommend you complete this with your student partners, even if you consider it separately and come together for a conversation to work towards a shared understanding.
| Themes | Criteria | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Personalised and supportive learning opportunity for student partner(s) |
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Possible ratings:
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| Time management |
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| Student as Partners Project Milestones or Objectives |
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End-of-project reflections and evaluations with staff and students can be undertaken using a variety of approaches, including surveys, focus groups, and written reflections. Consistent with the partnership model of working together, student partners can play an active role in designing and co-facilitating these activities. Another useful idea is to seek permission from participants to use content from the reflection and evaluation activities in testimonials for future promotions.
When designing your reflection and evaluation activities, creating space for more open-ended responses will help capture the broad range of learning and personal and professional development from the initiative. For example, evaluations with student partners have found SaP projects developed their confidence, enhanced their study and professional skills, helped them forge new social connections, and provided them with a sense of making a difference and more deeply appreciating how the university works (Burnie et al., 2021). Themes within staff feedback have also revealed some interesting findings, with staff benefits centring on an enhanced sense of trust between staff and students, a deeper understanding of the student experience, a perceived shift from traditional hierarchical models of expertise, and increased motivation (Burnie et al., 2021).
Regardless of which approach you and your student partners choose, engaging in reflection and evaluation activities can support a shared understanding of the value of SaP which, in turn, can increase engagement and advocacy for the continuation of SaP initiatives.
The following list contains some areas you may like to explore in your SaP reflection and evaluation activities.
Experience of the project
Experience of the partnership
Personal development and social connections
Professional development