A Preliminary Investigation into Trust in Staff Student Partnerships

1. A Preliminary Investigationinto Trust in Staff Student Partnerships Dr. Sharon McClements Mr Gervase Cunningham Mr Mark McKane Lecturers in Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management SCOBE

2. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • A staff student partnership is a learning experience that places the student ‘at the heart of the system’, (Higher Education White Paper, 2011).  • By placing students at the centre of their educational needs, students can  • become ‘actively engaged in the enhancement of their learning’, (Curran, 2013).  • Active engagement in the partnership ‘benefits both students and the schools concerned’, (Barnes et al., 2011),

3. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Successful Staff Student Partnership:- • Requires a joint commitment to ‘shared responsibilities and cooperative or collaborative action’, (Levy et al., 2011). • Yet there is a trend that the partnership has focused on consultation rather than collaboration.  • Collaborationin the partnership requires staff and students to build a partnership with shared commitment to learning

4. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Building and maintaining shared commitment requires trust:- • Trust is a multidisciplinary issue and has been applied to different academic fields (Ebert 2009), • Trust in the partnership ‘enables more open communication and knowledge sharing’, (Savolainen, 2010) • trust ‘is a connective device’ that can build and maintain a partnership, (Ikonen and Savolainen, 2011); • therefore without trust the partnership would not flourish.

5. Preliminary Investigation into attributes of trust in Staff Student Partnerships Electronic student survey: 140 students on the BSc Hons Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management Programme Years 1-4

6. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Categories of Questions: • Section A–Awareness and understanding of Staff Student Partnerships • Closed and Open ended questions • Section B – Rank importance of Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Closed and Open ended questions.

7. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Response Rate – 42% response rate (62/140)

8. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section A – Awareness of Staff Student Partnerships:

9. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section A: Importance of Students as Partners in their Learning:-

10. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Benefits of Staff Student Partnership ‘The student perspective’:- • Both the student and staff member can learn from each other • A staff student partnership will give the student the confidence to speak up relating to any issues he/she may have • Knowing that someone is there to listen and direct the student is vital and builds trust between the two parties • Able to communicate better, ask questions without feeling like they are burdening them

11. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Benefits of Staff Student Partnership ‘The student perspective’:- • Increased understanding of the topic • increase sense of community • Allows students to enjoy class more. Being more involved with the lecturer makes the student more aware • good working relationship • Students may receive a more engaging experience, and take greater responsibility for their own education

12. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Barriers to Staff Student Partnership ‘The student perspective’:- • Perceptions- "I am the teacher, you are the student“ • Student maturity • A lack of motivation, • Fear of feedback being seen as criticism. Lack of opportunities to give honest and meaningful feedback. • Timeis a major barrier to more effective staff student partnerships.

13. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section B – Importance of Trust in Staff Student Partnerships:-

14. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section B – Importance of Trust as the basis of Staff Student Partnerships:-

15. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section B – Importance of Shared Responsibility:-

16. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section B – Trust as a connective device in staff student partnerships:-

17. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section B – Importance of Trust as a Basis for Open Communication:-

18. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Section B – Importance of Trust as a Basis for Knowledge Sharing:-

19. In One Word identify the most important attribute of Trust in a Staff Student Partnership: • Familiarity • communication • Confidence • Information • Sharing • Caring • Diligence • Respect • Commitment • cooperation • Trustworthy • To believe what one person is telling you

20. Trust in Staff Student Partnerships • Conclusion and future area’s of research • The key findings of this research present an insight into students' perceptions on the dynamics of the staff student partnerships • The salient attributes of trust in staff student partnerships • The benefits of working in a partnership based on trust • Advancing knowledge and understanding on what constitutes a successful staff student partnership in higher education. • Comparison with staff perceptions of trust in the Partnership • Trust in a Staff Student Research Partnership