Accessibility Tools
The current Covid-19 crisis is a good example of how students can shape the future of learning. Governments institutions and teachers are struggling to find the right ways to switch to online learning and online assessment for students. The question is however where are students positioned in this struggle? We hear that students are worried about the recognition of their courses they have concerns about their mobility programmes they have doubts about the integrity of their assessment procedures. But where institutions and teachers have the responsibility of finding the answers students are often not directly involved even though they do have a clear opinion on what is important to them.
Take the example of Tilburg University in the Netherlands which had planned to conduct online exams involving the use of a proctoring software which monitors students’ computer desktop webcam and audio. This decision had been taken without first consulting the students. Students started a petition because they saw the chosen assessment method as a violation of their privacy. The petition has already been signed by almost 5000 students. The university has therefore reconsidered its decision and most of the faculties now offer an alternative way to doing the exams. Why was this petition necessary? Why did the students and institution not cooperate on this matter from the very beginning?
This issue is not new: ESU has been advocating for better student involvement for many years and student-centred learning has been on the agenda of the Bologna Process already since 2009. Nevertheless the implementation of student-centred learning in practice is still lacking as we can conclude from the 2018 “Bologna With Student Eyes” report and an article by ESU Expert Aleksandar Susnjar and Vice President Gohar Hovhannisyan titled “Bridging the Policy-Practice Gap: Student-Centred Learning from the Students’ Perspective” forthcoming in the Routledge International Handbook on Student-Centred Learning and Teaching in Higher Education in July.
Implementation of student-centred learning in the university environment
Here is where it comes to the crucial challenge: Implementing student-centred learning is not about implementing new methods for students it is about students co-creating the learning experience.
For student-centred learning you can draft many beautiful policies but for it to be successful it must be part of the university’s environment; it is a change of culture. Student-centred learning including active learning and flexibility can only be established if students hold the responsibility of being active learners. Students should claim ownership of their learning programmes.
Even though it is the responsibility of the institution to provide the right environment to do this students have the responsibility to take this initiative. This needs to be promoted by teachers and the educational infrastructure from the first moment students enter the university. If we do not stimulate students to take this attitude from the very beginning of the learning process we cannot expect them to be active learners. Unfortunately the policies of higher education institutions rarely consider the need for students to be prepared for student-centred learning.
Positively stimulating an active attitude
Empowering students needs to be at the core of academic support. Current university education is often geared to push students to learn: students must prove in a test that they studied; students must show up at lectures or they will be dismissed from the course; all students must follow the same mandatory courses.
Instead the educational system needs to be designed to focus on supporting students to find their learning path. If the university environment would provide students with more flexibility and ownership over the programmes students would automatically take a more active approach.
Student representation
The ESU “Bologna With Student Eyes” survey of 2018 shows that students want to be a part of governance decision-making and improvements but they do not perceive their roles as being meaningful. Fifty percent of students’ unions reported in the survey that students do not feel that they are seen as full members of their academic communities. Especially at the programme level students do not feel involved; only 36% of the students’ unions (15 out of 43) reported that their students are perceived as equal partners at this level.
Reforms must target students’ place in the system to ensure partnership and possibilities for real involvement. It is important to include students in discussions about learning and teaching to have a constant dialogue about their learning process.
Only when working together can the best solutions be found. There is an institutional responsibility to provide for the infrastructure and enable students to be active but students must step up and claim their position. It is up to the students to show that their opinion is valuable and that it matters.
And then indeed sometimes students need to start a petition to show the institution that it is better to have the discussion all together. As in Tilburg in the end this led to a result that satisfies both the institution and the students.
