ENroute Yearbook 2019-20
Students as Colleagues : briding the gap between students and lecturers Anitha Karthik , School of Engineering & the Built Environment , Associate Fellow
Student as Colleagues is an award-winning , innovative programme to review teaching practice across Edinburgh Napier University . It is a rewarding programme which allowed me not only to peer review my colleague but also gain the ‘ experience as a colleague ’ while still being a PhD research student . I was provided with training sessions to peer review the teaching practices of the willing staff member . I observed the lectures of my colleague and met with both the staff and the students . The parallel training and development sessions on classroom management , professionally reviewing peers , and providing constructive feedback were greatly beneficial . This was certainly a developmental tool which increased my professional capacities as an aspiring educator . The focus group which I conducted allowed the participating students to share their learning experience , provide their feedback and highlight areas of improvement required in their opinion . During both student discussions and my observations , I was able to evaluate , assess and provide constructive feedback . I was able to relate and fully understand the operation of this programme , therefore developing me as an educator . Having successfully completed the programme , I was pleased with the results in that my role had valued the student satisfaction and their learning experience while assessing the colleague ’ s performance and enhancing their teaching experience .
I had the opportunity to discuss my experience with this programme in my fellowship application , describing how a student can gain significant experience and exposure to the role of an educator , pedagogical decision-making , expectations of teaching practices of the HEA and associated learning . This also made a positive impact on me personally as an educator and the way I can be beneficial to the organisation via an extra-curricular activity .
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