“Being a student voice rep is a very rewarding experience. You get the chance to represent your peers on important issues within the department and actually have a say in how modules are run. It is extremely satisfying to see that the feedback submitted by the student voice reps is received thoughtfully and acted on by the department. In general, I feel IATL really values their student’s voices” – Noor, Centre for Lifelong Learning, Student Voice Rep for Public Engagement 2021-22 

IATL’s Student Voice Reps are some of our unsung heroes. They are the team of students who volunteer (or are volunteered) to represent the opinions, thoughts and experiences of the students on our modules, not just at the end of the module, but as it is happening, right in the heart of the learning. The insights they provide feed into our module reviews, evaluations and inform our action plans. They have made a huge impact, from helping us redesign our module pages to consulting on assessments and new modules. 

In our recent Focus Group, not only was it fabulous to bring the group together – all from different disciplines and different modules, but it was also great to meet face-to-face, with not a muted mic or frozen screen in sight! We discussed all aspects of the student experience, from how students first heard about IATL, to ideas around learning, assessment and community. We also discussed the benefits and challenges of taking an interdisciplinary module. And what better place to hear ideas on how we can do better, to learn from their experiences and move on to improve the quality of IATL’s provision further? 

What came out loud and clear was that our students value the opportunity to meet and work with students and academics from different disciplines, a great meeting of minds where you can examine, research and challenge through different lenses or perspectives. Dare I say it, assessment was even perceived to be “fun” and the feeling of ownership over assignments helped to inspire and make assessment seem more relevant and useful for developing CVs and interview skills. The group also provided a lot of food for thought with suggestions to extend and improve the work we do further in areas such as Student Wellbeing and Assessment.

It is only fitting to finish with one of our Student Voice Reps. Mudrika is an Economics student who took Entrepreneurship: A Critical Perspective 2021-22 

“The value of the role of IATL Student Voice rep according to me: 

IATL takes the initiative of bringing students from all disciplines to one classroom and adds a fresh essence to the traditional learning methods. It is great to know the weight it puts on the feedback from the Student Voice reps acting as an impetus to improvements."