Partnership power: Our scholarship centre’s three pillars of student engagement

“We are recognised as a transformative institution that delivers for the 21st Century, through high-quality, digitally enabled education, research and partnership.”

This overarching vision of the Open University (OU)’s 2027-2032 draft strategy framework, outlines three key pillars for our future success. As director of the Faculty of Business and Law’s scholarship centre (SCiLAB), I am heartened by the central role which scholarship plays in meeting this vision, as the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) encompasses all three elements: education, research and partnership. Scholarship, simply put, is research into our teaching and learning to ensure our methods are evidence-based, offering the best opportunity for students to succeed. This blog focuses on the third pillar -  partnership -  by describing three crucial ways in which SCiLAB involves students, moving them from being mere participants to strategic partners and co-creators.

Integrating the student voice

Over the last few years, all Faculty Scholarship Centres at the OU have been trying to involve more undergraduate students in our scholarship work, both at a strategic level and as co-researchers. SCiLAB introduced student representatives on to our Advisory Board (strategic leadership council) in 2024-25 and currently have 3 representatives from OpenSU (the OU’s student union) attending our bi-annual meetings. This ensures that the student voice and student perspective is taken into account in discussions at a strategic level; discussions which include the funding priorities for scholarship seedcorn funding each year, the annual Centre priorities, and how to disseminate results of scholarship projects. 

Sometimes it is straightforward to implement student suggestions - for example, in our last meeting the student representatives highlighted the importance of funding projects which improve student retention, and this has been included in our funding priorities for the next academic year. Sometimes the issues raised are more difficult and require further discussions and consultation, and one such issue is discussed further below. However, having students as part of this strategic Advisory Board has ensured that the impact of scholarship on the students is kept at the forefront of our discussions.

Funding students as partners

The second way we work in partnership with our students is through our ‘students as partners’ scheme. Students are typically involved in scholarship projects as participants, where project teams seek their views through surveys, interviews or focus groups. From 24-25 we have also funded projects to involve students as co-researchers, where students work alongside academics to design and carry out the research. 

Students can now register their interest in being a partner with us and then be notified of relevant opportunities as and when they arise. And the involvement of students improves the scholarship being conducted - students are sometimes better placed than academic staff to carry out research with their peers. Initial feedback from our projects suggests that student partners drafting or reviewing student surveys and interview questions, or leading student focus groups or interviews, results in deeper and richer data.

In 24-25, 8 of our 15 funded projects involved students as partners, while this academic year 5 projects involve student partners. The students are paid for the time they spend on the project and also gain valuable employability skills which are recognised by a digital badge. 

Student feedback continues to improve the students as partners scheme. For example, input from an OpenSU Board of Studies representative indicated that many students would like to be involved with scholarship but were unaware the opportunity existed. In response, this academic year we are working with OpenSU to publicise the work of our Scholarship Centre, highlight the benefits of scholarship and explain how students can get involved. At the last Advisory Group meeting, one of our student representatives highlighted that international students were excluded from working as a student as partner as they do not have the required work visa. This is a more difficult issue, and we will be working on a solution for these students in partnership with our student representatives (which might involve non-paid opportunities or alternative ways to recognise their input). 

Facilitating co-creation

The third way in which students are involved with our scholarship work is through scholarship projects which involve student–staff partnerships or student co-creation. Recent projects include a partnership of staff and students investigating the teaching of legal research skills on law modules, and this led to a student-designed poster, a jointly-written blog and a joint conference presentation by the team. Another project sought to capture best practice for module teams co-creating tutorial materials alongside students, while a second worked with autistic students to develop recommendations for drafting inclusive assessments. The peer-mentoring project was developed by students working alongside academic staff, and you can discover more about the project, plus view a short video which includes the students’ views on scholarship.

Liz Hardie

Liz is the Director of SCiLAB, the Scholarship Centre for innovation in online Legal and Business Education for the Faculty of Business and Law. She is also a senior lecturer in the Law School, working for Open Justice leading a variety of voluntary legal projects. 

Liz has worked for the law school since 2006 as Associate Lecturer, Student Experience Manager and central academic. As Teaching Director she led the introduction of the OU's new LLB from 2020 - 2023.