Student perceptions of enhancement

QAA Cymru has published a new report detailing the outcomes of a study of how enhancement of the student learning experience is perceived by students at Welsh providers.

The study of Student Perceptions of Enhancement comprised a series of 12 focus groups involving 40 students based at three further education colleges, seven higher education institutions and two alternative providers. The participants included full-time, part-time, international and mature learners studying between Level 3 and 7, as well a number of students' union sabbatical officers.

The students surveyed observed that small programme-level or department-focused enhancements were often as impactful as larger-scale strategic initiatives across a provider.

The research also found that its participants were generally positive about the range of student voice mechanisms available to them, although some felt that student representatives were not always sufficiently visible - while student representatives themselves acknowledged the challenges in attracting engagement in these mechanisms from other students.

Online feedback initiatives were welcomed as a means to enable an inclusive approach to student engagement. However, many participants cited a lack of time as a reason for not engaging with enhancement opportunities. Several noted they were keener to engage with feedback mechanisms if the quality of the teaching was perceived as good, thereby helping to improve their provision even further.

The concept of students as partners was frequently cited at school or department level, but (apart from SU officers) participants in the focus groups tended not to see themselves in such partnerships at institutional levels. Variations in engagement with enhancement opportunities could also be seen across different areas and modes of provision, and several part-time students stressed that personal and work commitments often meant they had less time to become as engaged in such activities as they might wish to be.

'The findings of this research reveal key areas of good practice demonstrated by - as well as challenges faced by - initiatives to engage students as partners in enhancement processes', says Christine Jones, who led the study for QAA Cymru. 'This engagement is essential to our work at QAA, and is a key priority for Medr - Wales's Commission for Tertiary Education and Research - as well as for providers, policymakers, student and sector organisations and funding bodies across the devolved nations and beyond. We very much hope that the learning shared by this report will prove useful to all those interested in the enhancement of quality of teaching, learning and the student experience.'