Students and their peers
Introducing collaborative practices that maximise students’ opportunities to engage with – and learn from – their peers is a fantastic way of building relationality.
Several positive effects for students are linked to this type of relational learning, such as enhancements in cognitive learning, engagement, and personal growth.4 Asking students to engage with their peers as part of their learning experience will:
- Enhance students’ active engagement with their subject.
- Expand the range of feedback sources, so students aren’t just receiving feedback from teachers.
- Further develop students’ learning, as engaging with peers usually requires students to explain and justify their justification.
- Help students recognise what is considered good work and how better understand the expectations for the course or programme.
Small steps
Several, relatively simple steps can be taken to create relationships between students and their peers.
- Use active learning techniques within the classroom – for example, ask students to think, pair, share – you set a question or problem, then ask students to think about it on their own, talk about it with another student and then share it with the class.
- Move from large group to smaller group activities – the first activity is for the whole group, which divides into two for the next task. Then groups are divided again until students work in pairs or as individuals.
- Use Canvas discussion forums to support collaborative working.
- Asking students to co-create their own criteria for a formative assessment task will help them better understand the requirements of the summative assessment tasks.
- Design opportunities for team and group work within your courses. In the first instance, this can be done in relatively small ways – providing opportunities within the face-to-face or online teaching setting, such as completing group problem sheets. As you grow in confidence and experience, more structured collaborative working can be introduced.
Through such collaborations, students become active co-creators by interacting with each other and at the same time improving valuable interpersonal skills.1 Such approaches are clearly closely aligned with collaborative and peer assessment.
Students and their peers in practice
Boosting writing skills with FeedbackFruits for first-year engineers: The ENGGEN 140 story
Discover how Peer Review was scaled to facilitate draft essay reviews in a 1,000-student class.
Personal chemistry: Engaging students at scale
In the world of first-year chemistry, with over 1,000 students, how do you create meaningful connections? Dr Kaitlin Beare has been experimenting with innovative approaches to foster relational learning at scale.
Sprachwellen: Crafting German skills through podcasts and storytelling
Engaging students in creative exploration of German language and culture.
Nursing ed reimagined: Fostering unity, igniting passion, and simulating life
Explore how Dr Miriam James-Scotter is challenging traditional mindsets and practices within nursing education.
Intellectual Property Law: From Zoom to interactive online learning
A Law course redesign emphasises student-centric learning, enriched with tutorials and quizzes.
Teaching purpose-led design using innovative Design4Conservation methodology
Dr Gabriela Baron integrates various pedagogies, including relational, indigenous, TEL, and assessment-for-learning methodologies in DESIGN 233: Design and the Natural Environment.
Transforming student engagement with Perusall
Sparking student-driven learning: How Perusall transformed reading and discussions in an Asian Studies course.
Developing students’ collaboration skills in BIOSCI 399
Helping develop students’ abilities to collaborate in teams comprised of people with different backgrounds and skills.
Making classics and ancient history accessible, inclusive and relevant
Maxine Lewis discusses relationality in her teaching practice within Classics and Ancient History.
Upskilling GTAs to enhance student experience
Learn about a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) training programme within the Faculty of Engineering.
See also
Online presence and community of inquiry
We discuss social presence and developing an online community.
Page updated 21/03/2023 (minor edit)
- Neely, Eva, Chinn, Victoria, Jones, Emma, & Uia, Tali. “Wikis in micro-communities: A collaborative and relational learning tool for health promotion”. In Akerman, Marco, & Germani, Ana. International Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Health Promotion: Practices and Reflections from Around the World. (2022). Springer International Publishing. 219-237.) ↩
- Quinlan, Kathleen, M.. “How emotion matters in four key relationships in teaching and learning in higher education”. College Teaching 64, no. 3 (2016): 101-111. ↩
- Maunder, Rachel, E. “Students’ peer relationships and their contribution to university adjustment: the need to belong in the university community”. Journal of Further and Higher Education 42, no. 6 (2018): 756-768. ↩
- Barkley, Elizabeth, F., Major, Claire, H. & Cross, K. Patricia. Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. 2nd ed. (2014). The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. New York, NY: Wiley & Sons, Inc. ↩