The Call for Abstracts for the Learning at City Conference 2023: Engaging students in collaboration and partnerships is now open.
Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June 2023
We are pleased to open the call for Abstracts, for the 13 Learning at City Conference, which takes place on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June 2023 at City, University of London. The conference will take place in person.
There has been an increased focus on student engagement and partnership over the last decade and we know that this enhances the students’ sense of belonging. The Student Futures Commission in collecting evidence for their manifesto (2022) heard how students felt empowered during the pandemic when they worked with colleagues in the Universities to co-create solutions and initiatives to support learning and well-being.
There have been a range of examples of students engaging in partnership to enhance their learning through involvement in teaching and learning initiatives and co-creation of the curriculum (Bryson 2014 & Sather et al 2014). Healey et al (2014) produced a model for such activity and guidance to support colleagues develop partnership schemes.
Since this time there have been many successful projects within institutions. As City moves forward with the new strategy and a key focus on the student at the heart of all activity, focusing on any initiatives that involve students as partners would provide an opportunity to share good practice.
Submit an abstract to share your learning about what worked and what might not have gone so well but your solution to this. Within this theme there are a range of sub-themes you could focus upon for your abstract and these include:
- Curriculum design and review
- Assessment design
- Learning and teaching approaches
- Activities and strategies that support students through their programme
- Activities to build and support learning communities.
We anticipate that this topical theme will provide excellent opportunities for discussion and, debate during the conference. Proposals for papers and posters are invited which relate to the overall theme and at least one sub-theme. We will have a maximum of five parallel sessions running so do think about which format might be most appropriate for you to present your work.
Papers
(These will be for 30 minutes but there will be two in each session)
Papers can be of ongoing work or work you plan to publish but you are not required to submit the paper for this conference.
If you are providing a paper you should plan to share your paper for no more than 20 minutes and then have 10 minutes for questions. You should have some questions prepared for discussion in case participants do not ask any.
Workshops
(These sessions are for 60 minutes)
If you are providing a workshop then try to keep your overview to 20 minutes and then have around 30 minutes as activity including feedback and sharing and, permit 10 minutes for questions at the end.
Posters
(The maximum size should be A0)
Posters will be available for participants to view throughout the conference. However, there will be a scheduled poster session in the programme so that you can discuss your posters with colleagues.
Deadline for submissions
Before you submit a proposal please read the guidance and use the Abstract submission template, ensuring you have prepared and have to hand all the required information.
The Closing date for abstracts is Friday 24 March 2023.
Submitting your proposal
Proposals should then be submitted via the Online Conference submission form.
Criteria for acceptance of proposals
Each proposal will be reviewed for acceptance at the conference against the following criteria:
- Relevance to conference theme and sub-themes clearly stated;
- Clarity and coherence of the proposal;
- Evidence of relevance to others across the University and beyond;
- Contribution to development, enhancement and scholarship related to the theme.
In order to ensure there are as many contributors to the conference as possible, you can only be named as lead contact on ONE proposal and as a co-presenter on ONE other. If you are involved in more than one submission we will try to accommodate this in the timings of the event- but this may not always be possible.
Feedback and Guidance
Once the proposals have been peer reviewed feedback will be sent to applicants by Monday 24 April 2023.
References
Bryson, C. (Ed.) (2014). Understanding and developing student engagement. Abingdon: Routledge.
Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in teaching and learning: A guide for faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. York: HE Academy
UPP Foundation Student Futures Commission (2022) A Student Futures Manifesto London Student Futures Commission (accessed 15/12/22)