Creative Students Creating Business was a UKRI/OfS-funded project to determine good practice curriculum-based Student Engagement in Knowledge Exchange (SEKE). We explored over 100 projects, collaborations between students, external organisations and educators producing models of benefits and good practice. Our deliverables included:
- 2 findings reports
- A showcase event and a conference
- A toolkit for HE good practice collaborative SEKE with learning resources for students, lecturers and external collaborators
Our community of practice launched out of the CSCB project acts an additional legacy outcome of the CSCB project.
Student engagement with external organisations and businesses is mainstreaming in the curriculum, providing a means of practical learning, applying discipline knowledge and developing skills for effective collaboration and innovation e.g. consultancy, community outreach and business development. This project explores 100 in-curriculum projects to determine the benefits and practices that maximise the project outcomes from the perspective of students, organisations and educators. We created a toolkit of advice and guidance for the same groups of people to enhance the success of their interactions.
Based on our interviews with 83 individuals including students, academics, external partners, and senior managers, indicate that the perceived success of SEKE projects is significantly impacted by the implementation of certain processes and practices including:
1. Positive recruitment of partners in SEKE projects
2. Co-creating the opportunity or project brief
3. Matching the students and the opportunities
4. Clarifying responsibilities and expectations
5. Preparation for the students
6. Sufficient project resources - time and finance
7. Effective communication
8. Positive/supportive team dynamics
9. Purposeful, timely feedback and support
10. Evaluation of the project
11. Celebration, reward and recognition
12. Upholding equality, diversity and inclusion
13. Sustaining a supportive institutional environment
Our survey indicated that there are differential learning outcomes based on gender, nationality, stage of study and disadvantage despite mainstreaming learning in the curriculum. e.g. males perceived the development of human, identity and psychological capital less than females; disadvantaged students perceived less social capital development compared to other students; Non-UK/Irish students appear to benefit more from SEKE in terms of improvement/ development of human capital dimensions.
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This project contributes towards the following SDG(s):