it has been great experience designing a new module called “Event Engagement” (2019-20/ Final Year UG) as it also involved designing new assessments. To engage students, and link theory to practice, I brought in four different event organisers who had difficulties engaging their event attendees. The students were individually tasked to produce an engagement plan containing no more than 2500 words, that analysed key engagement measures and recommend new engagement practices.
This was a bespoke module that demanded students attend the guest speaker lecture and Q&A. Students were positive about having real world problems embedded into the assessment, have a role in co-creating solutions and the possibility of having their recommendations implemented. An unintended consequence was that these speakers also inspired my students about possible futures and broadened their horizons to see the world outside of their lecture room.
The assessment acknowledged the wider context in which higher education operates, and how students learn, both generally and within the subject area. Feedback was extremely positive and provided evidence that engaging students in activities designed with from industry can promote better teaching outcomes when linked to assessments. This approach promotes reciprocal benefits, for speakers, students, and lecturers, given they all contribute to and gain from each other (Zou et al., 2019).
Upon reflection, by acknowledging the power of these encounters, not only to engage students with their assessments, or have assessments linked to real world business issues, I saw the inspiration students and speakers drew from the encounters. I began creating a database of potential speakers for different modules.
Big thank you and shout out to Nanzy Sebata – Chief Executive Officer at Dorset Ethnic Minority Awards (and former grad from BU) who was guest speaker for one session. The awards are the county’s first-ever mainstream awards seeking to celebrate pinnacle members of the ethnic minority community in Dorset. Annually, they receive hundreds of nominations from the public, with the awards showcasing, celebrating and highlight positive Ethnic Minority trailblazers, who are excelling in their chosen fields across a broad spectrum of industries.
Another, big thank you to Saf and Tracey from BFX- the UK’s largest visual effects, computer games & animation festival, who also presented t – https://www.bfxfestival.com/
Reference
Zou, P., Sun, W., Hallowell, S. G., Luo, Y., Lee, C., & Ge, L. (2019). Use of guest speakers in nursing education: an integrative review of multidisciplinary literature. Advances in medical education and practice, 10, 175.