December 4, 2015, by Natalie Balchin

Be the change you want to see in the world!  Get involved in the Students as Change Agents Module

The module, Students as Change Agents is giving students the opportunity to make a difference to teaching and learning while developing project management and communication skills.

Stephen Cox along with the Maths Change Agents Team for 2015-16

Projects can be commissioned by schools or students can submit their own idea. Mentored by staff, students are working in groups or individually and taking the lead in a variety of activities:

• creating learning resources
• setting up peer support
• conducting surveys and focus groups
• co-designing modules.

Last year Alice Wright completed the Students as Change Agents module for her work in setting up Peer Assisted Study Support (PASS) in Maths. PASS is a series of student-led tutorials to help first years  bridge the gap between A-level and University study. Alice is now doing a second Change Agents project and is doing the follow-on module, Students as Change Leaders.

Alice shares her experiences from last year:

How do you feel being a part of the Students as Change Agents programme has positively influenced the overall student experience?

Being a part of the programme has allowed me to work closely with my department. I now have a role within the department and the scheme will become a significant part of first year learning, which is great! Each first year that comes through the department will know about PASS and I can say that I helped to set it up.

Do you feel changes have been implemented?

 Yes, the PASS scheme is now a part of all first year timetables and sessions occur every week. Part of the Students as Change Agents programme was to produce materials and these have now been used in the sessions.

How have you actively contributed to your project?

I was directly involved with the planning stages of the PASS scheme, offering a student perspective on how the scheme could run. [We then agreed session topics and in pairs devised learning materials.] Now, I am in the role of Senior PASS leader and am able to see the PASS scheme progress.

 What was your experience of working with fellow students and staff members?

I was able to work alongside the director of the scheme as well as the three other students on this project. We split the work up so it really wasn’t too hard and it was great to be able to get a variety of opinions.

Do you have any tips for students considering applying for the programme with a project idea already in mind?

Go for it! I was worried that it would be a lot of work and be quite time consuming but doing the programme as a group meant that it was very straightforward.  It’s also great to be formally recognised for the work we did as part of the programme.

For more information about Students as Change Agents and what’s involved in this Advantage Award module, take a look at the web page and Workspace.

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