Student-led, employer-focused, extra-curricular activity

Dr Glynis Perkin – Loughborough University

Fiona Lamb – Loughborough UniversityAlison Ahearn – Imperial College London

Overview

• Student-led Activity – what it involves

• Student-led Symposia – how it works

• National Student-led Symposia – still evolving

• Student Presentations – international audience

• ‘Practice Transfer Custodians’ – student-led activities adopted by seven universities

Student-led, Employer-focused Activity

Extra-curricular

activity

Student-led,

employer focused activity

Student-led, employer-focused activity is started and run by

students themselves

Benefits of Student-led Activity

Development of employability skills that enable students to stand out from the crowd:

• Interaction with employers

• Communication

• Project management

• Team working

• Fundraising

• Finance management

Setting-up Student-led Activity

• In 2010 Loughborough University set up student-led activity with HE STEM funding

• Imperial College London has well-developed and extensive student–led activities

• Loughborough staff and students were helped by Imperial staff and students

• Good working relationships developed

Getting Started

• Contacted employers and members of Professional Bodies – asked for support and ideas

• Students e-mailed and invited to a meeting

• Ideas discussed and students asked to apply for start up funding - a template for bids was provided

• Meeting to select successful bids – four chosen

Examples of New Student-led Activities

Loughborough - EcoFuture an energy saving challenge

Loughborough - Mars Aerobot an interactive display for the National Space Centre

Examples of New Student-led Activities

Loughborough - JCB Digger model for young school children (later activity)

Loughborough - Engineers Without Borders – work with older school children

Loughborough - CEIT – Chemical Engineering Industrial Trips

Examples of Established Student-led Activity

Imperial College London – housing and sanitation in El Salvador

Imperial College London – Robogals -introducing young women to engineering and technology

Student-led Symposia

Further HE STEM funding obtained for two student-led symposia to showcase the activities:

• One at Imperial College London and one at Loughborough University

Symposia Committee:

• Students undertaking activities who wanted to be on the organising committee were invited to submit a written expression of interest

• Committees formed and given funding

• Running an event checklist given to each committee

Staff are delegates (not organisers)

Student-led SymposiaOrganised by students:

• Programme• Delegate packs• Name badges• Promotional materials• Catering preferences• Registration• Invited speakers• Directions to the event…

The students had a ‘just in time’ approach

Symposia

Loughborough University – June 2011

Imperial College London – March 2011

Video produced by Loughborough students is available on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jakbi3KrM_4

Loughborough Symposium Committee

An Example of Additional Benefits

• EcoFuture communicated with a senior member of staff at an energy provider company

• Member is an invited speaker at the symposium

• EcoFuture obtain funding of £500 from this company

• They use this funding to set up a wind turbine activity

Latest Symposium

• May 2013 at Loughborough

• Students ran a workshop on preparing funding bids

• Keynote speech on motivation and sustainability

• Question and answer panel session

• Full programme available at: http://www.student-ledprojects.com/#/about/4569781687

National Student-led Symposium

• Idea developed from the first two symposia

• Event held at Imperial College London in November 2011

• Loughborough and Imperial students met students from Brunel

• Still evolving and relationships developing with various student societies

First National Student-led Symposium Poster

Student Presentations• Loughborough and Imperial students with staff

co-authored a paper presented at the first HEA STEM conference in April 2012

• Loughborough and Imperial Students participated in delivery of a workshop at the EE2012 conference

• Loughborough and Imperial Students presented a poster at the EE2012 conference

Poster of Activities

Practice Transfer CustodiansAwarded HE STEM ‘Practice Transfer Custodian’ funding – other universities are able to bid for funding and help to adopt the activities

• 7 universities adopt the practice of student-led activities

• Event organised and attended by staff and students from the 7 ‘adopter’ universities

• Set up a national e-mail list for student-led activities

• Produced a guide - ‘Development & Implementation of student-led projects: a checklist’

• Workshops developed for staff interested in setting up student-led activity (attended by staff from over 30 HEI’s)

Development of a checklist to help set up Student-led projects

Finally

Thank you to Bauman Moscow State Technical University for hosting this event