Linking student research and public engagement in learning and teaching

This site is all about embedding public dissemination into course unit design.  It aims to help practitioners to embed the public dissemination of student knowledge and understanding into course unit design.  Our experience shows that students develop employability skills and contribute to social responsibility by taking part in activities geared towards public dissemination.

All around the University of Manchester, people are putting on courses that recognise this, and ask students to respond creatively to tasks geared towards engaging with different kinds of public.  This website is designed as a resource to share this experience, and explore different aspects of the challenge of asking students to put their work in the public domain.

What students said about doing research for public dissemination.

 
This resource offers information on current practices in the University and beyond, on the possibilities and constraints related to different platforms and genres of dissemination, and evaluates the different ways in which student knowledge and understanding can be made available to a wide range of potential stakeholders.  It provides the necessary resources for course unit directors to integrate impactful public dissemination tasks into their course unit design, including appropriate assessment models.

Explore the different pages of the site to find out about:

First steps
How to approach the integration of student research and public engagement into course unit design?

Curriculum
The curriculum is the starting point for developing student research opportunities appropriate to the level of studies. How can you exploit your course unit’s inherent connection to public engagement? What to do if you need to construct that connection?

Aims

The selection of the format for research outputs follows the statement of the aims for public engagement. What is the public engagement product/activity aiming to achieve? How do different aims relate to engagement formats and platforms?

Assessment tasks

What kinds of assessment tasks and models are available? What are their benefits and challenges?

ILOs and marking criteria

How to formulate appropriate learning outcomes and marking criteria for public engagement products/activities?

Dissemination

Engagement platforms

What kinds of platforms are available within and outside the University? What likely impact do they have? What are the resource considerations?

Partners

Which partners are available within and outside the University? What opportunities and threats does collaboration involve?

Codes

Which academic and professional codes of conduct need to be adhered to in relation to different public engagement products and activities?